1. A career in Local
Government
Presented by
Associate Professor
Roberta Ryan

2. ABOUT ME
• Joined UTS:CLG and
ACELG as Director
beginning of 2013
• Expertise in social policy,
organisational evaluation
and learning, policy and
program evaluation,
stakeholder engagement,
applied policy research
and advice
• Research partnership
between UTS and NSW
Department of Planning
and Infrastructure around
planning reforms focusing on community
participation in new
system

3. • Commenced operation 1991
– Australia’s largest and longest
serving dedicated Centre for
Local Government
• 3 core strands
– Research
– Training and Professional
Development
– Research Consultancy
• Learning programs
– PhD Program and Masters of
Local Government
– Graduate Diploma in Local
Government Management
– Graduate Certificate in Local
Government Leadership
– Graduate Certificate in
Development Assessment
– Executive Certificate for
Elected Members – launching
in October

4. • Commenced operation 2009
• Federal Government funded
consortium (UTS:CLG,
UCanberra, ANZSoG, LGMA
National, IPWEA)
• 6 program areas
– Research and Policy Foresight
– Innovation and Best Practice
– Governance and Strategic
Leadership
– Organisation Capacity
Building
– Rural/Remote/Indigenous LG
– Workforce Development
• LGMA National prepared
Local Government National
Workforce Strategy in
partnership with the sector
for ACELG
– Upcoming release of
Australian Local Government
Workforce and Employment
Data Set

5. •
•
•
Government’s at all levels
have recognised the increasing
importance of local
government to society and the
need for a resilient workforce
in order to ‘future-proof’ local
government
Strategic objective 3 promotes
local government as a placebased employer of choice
through offering flexible
working arrangements
To promote local government
as a place-based employer,
local governments often have
innovative working
arrangements and HR
approaches including 9 day
fortnights, tele-working and
shared services

6. AUSTRALIAN LOCAL
GOVERNMENT WORKFORCE
AND EMPLOYMENT DATA

7. AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
WORKFORCE AND EMPLOYMENT DATA
• Undertaken to support implementation of National
Workforce Strategy
• Survey instrument piloted with councils around Australia
• Survey launched November 2012 – closed late January 2013
• 232 metro, regional and rural councils participated
– Representing over 67,000 employees, about a third of estimated
total LG workforce (ABS – 192,500)
– Participating council staff numbers: largest 2,433 / smallest 18
• Results compared with other sources to confirm accuracy
(i.e. ABS, NSW Division of Local Government)
• Poor representation from some jurisdictions - underscores
importance of taking nationally consistent approach

8. QUESTIONS ABOUT
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total employees
Age / gender
Occupation
Employment status and hours
Managerial occupations
Workforce planning
Diversity planning
Culturally and linguistically diverse, disability and indigenous
status
• Education and training (including apprenticeships, in-house
training and training budgets)
• Vacancies, new starters and staff turnover

9. Rural (%)
Regional (%)
Urban (%)
Local
Government
State
Government
Federal
Government
Education
Health Care
and Social
Assistance
Mining
Agriculture
WORKFORCE DISTRIBUTION
•
•
LG also more evenly distributed when compared to large government service
delivery industries and traditional regional and rural industries.
So, the industry that provides the best employment opportunities where you
live may in fact be local government!

10. WORKFORCE DISTRIBUTION
• Workforce distribution analysis also identifies:
– On average, local government employees represent 5% of LGA
workforces
– More than 60 regional and rural LGAs where local government
employees make up over 10% of the total local workforce
– 25 regional and rural LGAs where local government employees
make up over 20% of the total local workforce
– 7 regional and rural LGAs where local government employees
make up over half the total local workforce, and
– 17 regional and rural LGAs where local government is the
major employer within the community
• So, there are careers for everyone, everywhere!

11. 18-24
25-34
35-49
Local government workforce - ABS Census
50-59
60+
National Labour force
AGE
•
•
LG workforce older than national workforce (particularly 50-59 year cohort)
This means future career progression opportunities will open up as current
employs retire

12. Female
46.2%
Male
GENDER
•
Local government needs more females!
53.8%

13. Male
Female
34.7%
30.5%
30.2%
21.1%
19.8%
15.4%
14.0%
10.9%
5.0%
4.3% 4.7%
2.7%
Postgraduate
Degree Level
Bachelor Degree Advanced Diploma Graduate Diploma Certificate Level
Level
and Diploma Level and Graduate
Certificate Level
High school only
EDUCATION LEVELS
•
Local government employs people with a diverse range of educational
qualifications!

14. Full time %
69.77%
Part time %
Away from work %
24.27%
5.96%
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
•
Local government offers flexible working conditions (part time often suits
new parents wanting to start a family, so local government is a family-friendly
employer!)

15. NT
Tas
SA
WA
Qld
Vic
NS
W
0%
10%
0-9hrs
20%
30%
10-14hrs
40%
15-19hrs
50%
60%
20-24hrs
70%
80%
25-34hrs
90%
100%
35-40hrs
HOURS WORKED
•
•
More flexible working arrangements in NT and, in particular, Victoria
Looking at working hours per week – local government provides a range of
part time roles range for 0-9 hrs through to 25+ hours

16. Corporate services
36.98%
Engineering / infrastructure
28.44%
Human / community services
Planning
20.85%
12.73%
OCCUPATION STREAMS
More staff employed in core business streams (Corporate services and Engineering / infrastructure)
Significance of Human / Community Services workforce reflects increasing provision of these
services by LG

17. 84.6
62.8
64.0
54.0
46.0
37.2
36.0
15.4
Corporate service governance
Male
Engineering/Infrastructure
Human and community services
Environment/Planning
Female
GENDER REPRESENTATION BY OCCUPATION STREAM
•
•
Relatively even gender balance in Corporate Services / Governance
Corporate Services / Governance encompasses the majority of senior
management positions – so both males and females have the opportunity to
progress through to senior management levels!

18. Total
Male
Directors
Female
Managers
Coordinators / Team leaders
MANAGERIAL OCCUPATIONS
•
•
Mostly male, particularly in senior management
Higher female representation in lower level management

19. AGE BY OCCUPATION
• Occupations with highest • Occupations with lowest
number of employees aged
number of employees aged
50+
50+
– CEO / General Managers
– Labourers / plant operators
– Community transport
operators / bus drivers
– HACC / child care /
community services
– Works / infrastructure
managers
– Finance / payroll
– Communications / media
– Urban planners /
environment
– Community engagement
– Lifeguards / fitness
instructors / pool attendants
– IT / GIS
– Greenkeepers
– Arts / culture

20. 11.8
Have an established workforce plan
which is in place throughout the
council
10
17.3
Have developed and are
implementing our work force plan
Have substantially completed a
workforce plan
46.4
14.5
Have commenced work on a
workforce plan
Not planning to do a workforce plan
at present
WORKFORCE PLANNING
Councils in NSW more likely to have established or implementing workforce plan – this is the
kind of good practice the National Workforce Strategy is building on and why many local
governments are recognised as employers of choice

21. Ageing workforce/impending retirement
Legislative requirements/Training/skills not avaliable locally
Competition for recruitment
Limited HR/Workforce planning resources
Staff retention
Leadership/development at team leader and coordinator level
Insufficient funds/councils not able to afford additional staff
Knowledge management/transfer
Competition with city councils
Succession planning
Attracting younger workers
Population growth/increased expectations
Development of a skills audit/matrix to inform future training …
Investment required in new equipment for ageing …
High cost of living/housing locally
Lack of consistant, sector wide data
Threat of amalgamation
WORKFORCE PLANNING
TOP ISSUES

22. Indigenous employees as proportion of total workforce
Total
4.62%
Northern Territory
Tasmania
Western Australia
South Australia
55.29%
2.70%
3.65%
1.66%
Queensland
Victoria
New South Wales
7.11%
0.57%
2.92%
INDIGENOUS WORKFORCE
•
•
•
CoAG public sector indigenous employment target – 2.6% by 2015
Around a third of the LG indigenous workforce are employed through
Community Development Employment Projects
So you have the opportunity to work with a diverse range of people with
interesting backgrounds and experiences!

23. VACANCIES
• Around 13 vacancies per council at time of data collection
• Around a third of vacancies not currently being advertised
• Significantly higher long term (+6 month) vacancies in Qld
and NSW
• Vacancies most likely for the following occupations:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Engineering (16%)
Design/survey/drafting (10%)
Childcare/early childhood development (10%)
Director/senior management (10%)
Planner (7%)
Leisure/pools/gym attendant (6%)
Ganger/general hand (5%)

24. IMPLICATIONS
• LG plays a leading and active role to enhance regional
and rural community outcomes
• LG provides you with the opportunity to influence the
services that respond to your community’s unique
needs
• Given LG makes up about 5% of local workforces, LG is a
key employer in every community – meaning you have
a great work/life balance by working close to home
• Local government employees people across the full
spectrum of educational qualifications

25. IMPLICATIONS
• Local government is looking to increase gender equity
and the number of females in
Engineering/Infrastructure roles, and males in
Human/Community Services roles
• Highly educated females in senior management
roles, means LG will be a future leader in gender equity
• LG leading the way in attracting and retaining talent
through continued offering and promotion of flexible
working arrangements

26. IMPLICATIONS
• Large proportion of Engineering/Infrastructure
workforce approaching retirement – so there are a
range of jobs opening up in these fields
• LG leading the way in terms of indigenous employment
and offer the opportunity to work with a range of
people from diverse and interesting backgrounds
• But, vacancies are not as readily advertised – so you will
need to approach your local government directly
through their website.
– Local government employment opportunities are also often
advertised in newspaper careers sections

27. What’s great about
working in local
government?

28. What is great about working in local
government?
• ADMIN/CLERICAL - An experience smorgasbord and
career springboard
• PLANNING - Play Sim City in the real world
• ENGINEERING/BUILDING - Shaping our whole
environment with your own hands
• ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH/COMMUNITY SERVICES Guardians of our 21st century lifestyle
• CORPORATE SERVICES - Achieve something greater
than profits for shareholders
• Love where you live? A career in local government lets
you get close to your community and help understand
and influence what makes it such a great place to live

29. What are the benefits of working in local
government?
• The diverse activities of local government means there are
careers for everyone – meaning you can do what you love!
– It also means that no one day is the same – helping to build your
skills across a range of areas and increase employability!
• Local governments are significant employers in regional and
rural areas – so there are careers for everyone, everywhere!
• Local government offers opportunities for career progression
– many local government staff are approaching retirement
and as they do, opportunities for progression will open up
• Local governments are a range of sizes – from small rural
shires to the 7,000 strong workforce of Brisbane City Council
– so there is an organisation that suits everyone
• Many local governments are already considered ‘Employers
of Choice’ – for example, Parramatta and Brisbane City
Councils

30. What are the benefits of working in local
government?
• Local government provides a significant number of part time
roles and offer flexible working environments, particularly for
working parents
• Many local governments have been recognised for providing
extensive ongoing training and professional development
opportunities – helping to increase long term employment
prospects
• The National Local Government Workforce Strategy
envisages future incentives for working in regional and rural
local governments
• Local government senior executives – of whom many have
decades experience in local government – are ideal mentors
for those wanting to start a long term career in local
government

31. Local government
employees shape the
world!