Gannawarra Annual Report 2011 - Gannawarra Shire Council

20
GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK
Gannawarra Shire Council supports effective and democratic corporate governance and
leadership through commitment to and observance of democratic processes and legislative
requirements.
The community has many
opportunities to provide input into
Council’s decision making processes
by participating in community
consultation, in community planning
groups, in public forums, in Council
Question Time, talking to their local
Councillors, by taking up the
opportunity to make submissions to
Council, completing feedback forms
and providing comments to customer
service. In the future use of social
media as a component of Council’s
Communication Strategy 2011 – 2014
will be implemented to provide a
further opportunity for community
input.
In accepting office the Mayor and
Councillors accept certain duties and
responsibilities. This is signified by
subscribing to the declaration of office
which requires Councillors to give a
solemn undertaking that they will fulfil
the duties of office faithfully and
impartially, to the best of their ability
and judgement.
Council’s authority is exercised as a
collective when sitting as a Council;
individual Councillors do not have
power to make decisions.
In carrying out the responsibilities of
public office the Mayor and
Councillors are bound by the Local
Government Act 1989 and the
principles of good governance. In
addition to providing guidance to the
Mayor and Councillors, the Act
provides mechanisms in the form of
penalties, ranging from a written
reprimand to disqualification from
office, that assist in circumstances
where misuse of power and authority
GANNAWARRA SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2011
might occur. The community also
contributes to good democratic
governance by participating in
Council elections, being involved in
community consultation programs
and community planning groups, and
informing Councillors of issues in their
wards requiring Council’s attention.
In order to represent the community
effectively, Councillors are required to
attend meetings regularly and to vote
on all matters which require a
decision. The Local Government Act
1989 clearly sets out the roles of
Councillors and the additional roles of
the Mayor, including responsibility for
the orderly conduct of meetings of
the Council, decision making and for
exercising powers and duties given by
the Council.
Ordinary Council meetings are held
on the third Wednesday of each
month. Community members are
welcome to attend the meetings and
put forward questions in the
designated Question Time. Local
media is also welcome to attend the
meetings for the purposes of reporting
on proceedings. Chief Executive
Officer Rosanne Kava presents a
regular segment on local radio station
3SH the morning following each
ordinary Council meeting to make the
information from the meetings known
to the Gannawarra community.
Council also distributes on average
more than one media release per
week on Council activities and liaises
with local, regional and state media to
facilitate interviews and coverage of
events and projects within the
Gannawarra Shire. During the January
2011 flood event this extended to
liaison with international media to
obtain coverage for the Gannawarra
communities impacted by the floods
and in order to disseminate key Shire
messages on flood relief and recovery.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Risk management is the process of
planning, organising, directing and
controlling the resources and activities
of an organisation in order to
minimise the adverse affects of
accidental losses on the organisation
at the least possible cost.
Gannawarra Shire Council is actively
committed to the minimisation and
treatment of risks, the development of
risk management opportunities within
its sphere of operations, and the
provision of a safe living environment
for the entire community. Council’s
commitment to this policy means the
adoption of the following measures:
• Ensuring there are adequate
resources allocated to risk
management including one EFT
position for a Risk Management
Coordinator to enable the risk
management function to be
effectively undertaken throughout
Council operations
• Empowering each management
position within Council to
undertake risk management within
their area of responsibility to
ensure organisation-wide risk
management occurs
• Setting in place the administrative
controls to enable effective risk
management practices to be put
in place