Integrated Planning and Reporting Manual - Division of Local ...

6. THE ANNUAL REPORT
Councils are encouraged to consider preparing a comprehensive State of the Environment report
prior to 2011/2012 where they have established a partnership arrangement on a regional and/or
catchment basis. This will enable the establishment of the environmental indicators that are required
to assess whether environmental objectives are being achieved. Councils that continue to do their
own State of the Environment report are also encouraged to consider completing a comprehensive
report before 2011/2012 to ensure that their environmental reporting is integrated with their
Community Strategic Plan.
6.6 Other reporting requirements
There are also reporting requirements included in the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005.
It is important not to simply present this report as a ‘checklist’. Think about presenting the
information in a way that is helpful to the reader. For example, some of the required information
could be included as part of Council’s reporting against relevant Delivery Program performance.
The requirements from the Regulation are:
Legal proceedings
Legal activities can involve considerable cost for councils. The community is interested in how
Council is pursuing these matters, the results of the procedings and any lessons learned in the
exercise. Registered companies are required to report on these aspects, so it is reasonable to
expect that an organisation the size of a council will do so too.
In summarising legal procedings, it is not necessary to list, for example, every single traffic fine that
was contested in court. These matters can be grouped together under headings such as “traffic
matters”, “companion animals”.
Where there is a significant matter involving substantial sums of money, this should be described in
more detail.
Contracts awarded
This provides residents with an overview of where major amounts of money (over $150,000) are
being spent and the goods and services that were received. It is an accountability requirement to
demonstrate that the proper processes have been followed in awarding contracts. In reporting this
information, councils should also consider reporting a group of contracts awarded for a particular
project that together exceed $150, 000.
Private works and financial assistance
This gives a transparent view of any work that was carried out by Council on private land and how
this work was paid for. It also covers grants of financial assistance to individuals. Residents and
ratepayers are obviously interested in ensuring that individuals do not receive a special advantage
at the expense of other ratepayers. However, there may be occasions where this work has been
done for community benefit and it is important to share this information as well.
Details of external bodies, companies and partnerships
This provides residents and ratepayers with an overview of the type of business ventures that
Council may be involved in with other organisations and how these arrangements operate.
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