Our work
- developing key organisational strategies and associated programmes of work
- health checks and audits
- acting director roles to establish new teams, services and deliver transformational work programmes.
Sunshine Coast Council
Sunshine Coast Council enhances public access to information
Sunshine Coast Council, as one of the largest local governments in Queensland, generates, receives, and holds vast amounts of information in the conduct of its business. It was recognised there was a need to examine council’s information management practices and that there was also broad community interest in doing so. As such Council recommended that an external independent review be conducted.
Achieving the right balance of making as much information public as possible while also ensuring Council protects the communities private information was a key goal.
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The Challenge
The Queensland Office of the Information Commissioner undertook an audit of Council’s Information Management. A key recommendation of the audit was that council adopt a push model of information release, with information classified as public unless there was a legislative reason for it not to be.
Following the audit, it was recognised there was a need to examine council’s information management practices and that there was also broad community interest in doing so.
To better ascertain community sentiment towards Council’s information management practices a public survey was conducted. It was evident from the survey that the community often found council information difficult to access and that the reasons for maintaining confidentiality were not well understood.
The Solution
Council endorsed the establishment of a Project Steering Committee comprising the Mayor, CEO, and selected Councilors to oversee the review project along with independent external subject matter expert members. After a competitive expression of interest process Matt O’Mara was appointed to the Steering Committee to provide independent subject matter expertise.
The Result
The project resulted in a number of improvements to Council processes and practices in making statutory meeting information available. Results included fewer items being treated as confidential at council meetings and a systematic approach taken to the release of confidential information once conditions requiring confidentiality were satisfied.
A key outcome was also a detailed implementation plan that would enhance existing improvements by making previously confidential information even more accessible and easier to find. The final recommendations were endorsed by Council which included:
• Review scope and logical order of training modules and formalise a plan for modules’ completion
• Update and operationalise Council’s Information Access and Management Policy
• Update and operationalise Council’s Custodianship Policy
• Operationalise the recently developed Administrative Access & Right to Information Policy and Guideline
• Ensure information systems that are source of truth for Council’s records and information have up-to-date information security classification labels
• Improve how Council communicates its processes and efforts to make Council meeting information available to the public
‘I recommend that Council recognise the invaluable contribution made by the Steering Committee
and in particular its external member Matt O’Mara.’
Victoria Nelson, Coordinator, Councillor Governance
‘Throughout the process the contributions from Mr Matt O’Mara were really insightful and obviously came from a
place of great knowledge so I think his input was invaluable and I would like to acknowledge him’
Councillor Maria Suarez
Upper Hutt City Council
Information Management Strategy (IMS) and Information Services Strategic Plan (ISSP) provide roadmap to address key issues and establish required capabilities to deliver on Council's goals.
Upper Hutt city has the third largest area of city councils in New Zealand after Dunedin and Auckland. With a population of 46,00 residents, Upper Hutt City is a growing urban city with the population, residential demand, and demand for commercial space projected to grow. Upper Hutt’s growth rate is set to be one of the highest in the region, with the population forecast to increase by over 25,000 (55%) over 30 years.
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The Challenge
The new Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team had a number of objectives they wanted to achieve with the design and implementation of the information management strategy and the ISSP.
This included addressing key problem areas:
• Legacy systems and business processes driving unsustainable levels of inefficiency
• Ways of working are hindering provision of consistent, customer-centric experiences.
• Lack of the required capabilities limiting Council’s ability to anticipate and meet changing expectations.
• Absence of an overarching information management strategy and ISSP resulting in ad hoc and inadequate investment in business improvements.
The Solution
After work shopping the current state with the senior leadership team and key staff from across the council Matt developed both the Information Management Strategy and the Information Services Strategic Plan.
The Result
The implementation of the information management strategy and the information services strategic plan resulted a number of benefits including:
• Significantly increased business efficiency
• Business processes effectively supporting the delivery of Council services.
• Improved responsiveness to customers
• Staff have the tools and information to effectively perform their roles
• Total cost of ownership for ICT investment was well understood with a clear strategic asset management plan for ongoing investment
• Compliance improvements
Port Macquarie Hastings Council
Information Management Strategy provides roadmap and workstreams, removing barriers for staff in easily accessing information they require to perform their roles.
The Port Macquarie-Hastings region totals 3,686 square kilometres. With a population of over 80,000 (predicted to grow to 103,000 by 2036), Port Macquarie serves as the business and tourism hub and is the major regional centre for the area. The council has 600 staff and manages an asset base of approximately $2.7 billion with an annual operating budget of $200 million.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council had experienced significant challenges in the past two years including severe drought, fires, flooding, and a global pandemic. These challenges along with demographic changes make the effective use of information vital.
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The Challenge
Successfully managing and utilising information is fundamental to the efficient and effective delivery of services provided by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (PMHC). Staff rely on information daily to perform their roles and deliver a wide range of functions and activities. In the absence of an overarching Information management strategy there was a tendency towards tactical and reactive initiatives rather than a long term strategic approach.
The tactical approach contributed to a lack of an organisational view of information. This resulted in a fragmented information landscape and a significant information deficit in terms of having a single view of related information.
With the appointment of a new Chief Executive in February 2021 and a new Group Manager, Digital Technology in December 2019, there was substantial support to improve the current state through the development of an information management strategy.
The Solution
Matt in collaboration with the information and data team interviewed key staff from across the council to identify and validate key themes, issues, and opportunities. This helped inform the development of an information management strategy that outlined a pragmatic programme of work to address key issues. The information management strategy also supported the implementation of the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF) within Council. The ABEF emphasizes effectively using data and information for evidence-based decision-making and fostering corporate learning and knowledge.
The Result
The information management strategy provided a roadmap outlining the workstreams to remove information barriers while also developing the required strategic information management capabilities within Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to deliver on the Council’s strategic outcomes and operational needs.
After being involved in the current state analysis interviews with Matt staff were excited about the future possibilities and information management capabilities that would improve how they worked and provided services to customers.
The strategy provided a clear vision for council informing information would be digital by design. This included the development of information management principles, contextualized to the council, and based on best practice. The principles underpin information governance and inform the effective management of information in the context of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.
New Zealand Customs Service
i3 was engaged to develop an information management strategy (IMS) following a Chief Ombudsman’s report recommending a comprehensive IMS.
Founded in 1840 and employing approximately 1,569 staff, the New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) is the oldest government department in New Zealand. Customs provides border control and protects the New Zealand community from potential risks arising from international trade and travel, as well as collecting duties and taxes on imports to New Zealand.
Effectively managing and using information is fundamental to the Customs operations and attainment of its strategic goals.
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The Challenge
The Chief Ombudsman’s review on OIA compliance and practice within Customs highlights a number of opportunities for improvement in relation to Customs’ tools, policies and training for record keeping and information management.
One of the Ombudsman’s key findings was that Customs lacked a comprehensive information management strategy, related policies and procedures, and staff training on record keeping and management. During interviews conducted during the review staff mentioned the difficulty in locating information and where to store information.
The Solution
Following a current state analysis which involved interviewing a range of staff from across customers including all of the senior leadership team Matt developed a comprehensive information management strategy. A key focus of the strategy was to address the issues and business needs raised by staff in the current state analysis.
The Result
The Information Management Strategy (IMS) provided a clear roadmap that identified the required capabilities and programme of work to ensure information management activities will efficiently and effectively contribute to the delivery of organisational outcomes. This included detailed workstreams focusing on governance, foundational information management capabilities, business focused areas aimed at addressing specific staff issues and building advanced capabilities. The IMS was endorsed by the Customs Executive Board.