Leadership in local government reform: strategic direction v administrative compliance

This paper reports on a survey across 26 Victorian local councils which assessed the impact of local government reform - boundary restructuring - compulsory competitive tendering, across-the-board rate cuts and rate capping, on the management and organisation of local government organisations in that state. It highlights the fact that leadership, planning and performance management is essential in responding to these reforms. It also reveals that some councils have been able to assist employees to make the shift to an outcomes-oriented deliverer of local services while others have made much less progress and are still focused on the traditional, compliance-oriented culture of local government administration.