Just twelve months in to a three-year program, the City’s plan for corporate recovery is more than 50 per cent complete.

Born from an extensive assessment of operational effectiveness, the Corporate Recovery Implementation Plan (CRIP) was developed under the direction of the City’s three Commissioners and Chief Executive Officer.

The CRIP sets out to re-establish the organisation as an exemplar of local government. It provides the direction required to unlock the City’s full potential by creating an organisation that is customer centric in its decision-making, strategic in its thinking and agile in its response.

The Plan was launched in May 2019 following extensive reviews into the organisation’s operational effectiveness. These reviews identified critical areas of operational and cultural improvement and the swift progress has been made.

Corporate recovery actions to date have been wide ranging. The organisation has established an Alliance structure with more collaborative Executive and Managerial Leadership Teams. In addition, the City has produced an integrated management framework, updated the Strategic Community Plan, developed a Procurement Transformation Plan and Financial Systems and Process Transformation Plan, revised how it manages risk and overhauled its stakeholder engagement approach.

Additionally, operational cost savings of approximately $10 million have been realised this financial year, which will provide ongoing recurrent savings.

This journey of extensive transformation was set in motion when, in March 2018, the Minister for Local Government suspended the City’s Council, announced a formal Inquiry into the City of Perth and appointed three Commissioners to perform the duties of Council.

The recovery journey started with establishing a clear united direction with Commissioners, then getting a high-performance Executive in place, followed by a leaner management structure and a community and customer centric culture in place.

The City’s journey is far from over and there is still room for significant improvement, but the City is proudly heading in the right direction to become an outstanding exemplar of a well-respected local government.