2022-2023 Message from the Mayor and CEO
Darebin recognises its responsibility to provide a safe and healthy work environment for employees, Councillors, contractors, suppliers and visitors.
Message from the Mayor
The vibrant people of Darebin have shown in no uncertain way over the past few years how unified they are when dealing with adversity. They continue to fill me with immense pride every day in how we tackle ongoing issues with an unwavering sense of community and togetherness.
Our community tells us that challenges such as the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing climate emergency are leading dinner table conversations across Darebin. The financial strain our residents are under has been in sharp focus as we’ve looked to shift our priority actions and adapt to best serve the needs of our community.
Our priorities at Council have always been shaped and guided by our Community Vision, which was designed with and for the community. We remain committed to providing transparent and honest processes and decision-making when it comes to how we responsibly serve the municipality.
As we progressed throughout this year, Council strongly took onboard the report from Municipal Monitor John Watson. I thank him for his support and guidance throughout his time at Darebin. We accept this as an important opportunity to address the challenges highlighted by the Monitor’s report, and as a Council we are committed to delivering the Good Governance Action Plan.
I’d like to thank my fellow councillors for their hard work and commitment to serving our community throughout 2022/2023. It’s been an honour to work alongside them and I look forward to continuing our work together in the new financial year.
This year we also welcomed our new Chief Executive Officer, Peter Smith, who has more than 25 years of experience across the government sector. Since joining in October 2022, Peter has been instrumental in delivering required changes to our revised Council Plan 2021-25, associated 2023-24 action plan and 10-Year Financial Plan. I thank him for his work and leadership as we continue to navigate through shifting challenges. I’d also like to say thank you to interim CEO Rachel Ollivier, who provided stability and leadership as we negotiated the first few months of this year.
Our Council and community thrive thanks to the wonderful people within it. Our interconnected city is 150,000 residents strong and something I love most about our pocket of the world is how Darebin embraces and celebrates people from all walks of life. This year was particularly special for many reasons, but I was overjoyed to welcome back Darebin’s ability to host citizenship ceremonies again for the first time since 2017.
It has been a privilege and an honour to officiate at these ceremonies and to welcome new Australians into our growing community. Since these ceremonies resumed, we have welcomed more than 500 new citizens to Darebin, and I’m delighted that we can look forward to accepting many more in the future.
Throughout the year, we have continued to advocate strongly for the Darebin community in a host of areas. I was proud to lead Darebin’s delegation of fellow councillors to attend the Australian Local Government Association Conference. This was an important opportunity to voice the ongoing concerns of the people of Darebin and to help us secure more funding for our community-based projects from the Federal Government.
An initiative I’m particularly proud of is Council’s continued work with the State Government on the Revitalisation Reservoir Project. Since 2020 we’ve worked together as part of the Reservoir Suburban Revitalisation Board to commit about $3.5 million in Victorian Government funding to 25 different projects in Reservoir’s main activity centre. So far this year we have completed the ‘Bike it Rezza’ project, along with footpath improvement works along Spring Street and High Street. We’re looking to continue to work with Reservoir Revitalisation Board to create more local jobs, skills and training opportunities.
Our advocacy efforts have also continued for the retention of the Preston Market. The cultural, social and historical significance of this local landmark is vital to so many across not only Preston but wider Melbourne. In April this year, this advocacy and the hard work of our community was recognised as the Premier announced the State Government’s support of key findings of the Standing Advisory Committee’s report, including stronger heritage controls to protect the market. Council remains strongly committed to protecting Preston Market and its traders into the future and will continue its advocacy work in this area.
I was honoured to represent Council along with previous Mayor Cr Lina Messina in signing a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aboriginal Housing Victoria (AHV). This significant moment commits us to working in partnership to improve access to housing, services and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The MoU signed in November, also commits us to exploring rates concessions on all AHV-managed properties in Darebin, and to explore the availability of housing stock, working in partnership with AHV to increase the wellbeing, community participation and inclusion in Council’s services for people living in AHV-managed homes.
Darebin’s diverse community gained a beautiful new space this year, as the purpose-built Darebin Intercultural Centre opened in the heart of Preston. This has been designed in partnership with Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Traditional Owners and members of Darebin’s diverse community. It is situated on the corner of High and Gower streets, in former Council office space now transformed for community use. It represents a significant step forward in fostering inclusion and understanding among people from diverse cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds, and is a shining example of celebrating diversity to create a more inclusive, compassionate and harmonious world.
Along with the exciting launch of the Intercultural Centre, Council continued construction of the Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre, with 90% of the project complete at the end of the 2022/2023 financial year. The facility is on track to open to the community in late 2023. The Intercultural Centre has been awarded a 6 Star - Green Star - design rating by the Green Building Council of Australia, which represents ‘world leadership’ in environmentally sustainable building practices. This is another huge step towards Darebin’s commitment to sustainable infrastructure that will serve our city for decades to come.
Finally, we continued to show strong support for our arts sector by hosting our FUSE Spring and Autumn Festivals. In what has become one of the pillars of our creative community, the bi-annual events ran across a total of 32 days, 59 events and around 500 local artists, artistic groups and community organisations across the whole of Darebin. As a Darebin resident for a large part of my life, I have never felt more connected to the community than in my role as Mayor. Thank you all for making this such a beautiful area to live, work and play. I will continue to work tirelessly for our community and its ever-changing needs.
Cr Julie Williams
Mayor
Message from the CEO
In my first year here at Darebin City Council, it’s been clear that the dedication and devotion of our staff to our community is paramount.
This has been evident in all the challenges we’ve faced throughout the 2022/2023 financial year, and I’m delighted to be a part of a team that has tackled every obstacle with a resolute mindset and an enduring focus on serving our community.
My sincerest thanks go to all our Council staff throughout a year when we’ve had to re-prioritise our plans and goals for the future, while ensuring that we continue to deliver the essential and valued services that many in our community rely on. Our 1,270 staff have put in a tremendous effort to ensure we continue to thrive for everyone throughout Darebin. Alongside our staff are our wonderful community of volunteers who help deliver important work through Gardens for Wildlife, Darebin Toy Library, East Preston Community Centre, Bundoora Park Farm, our English Pronunciation Program, FUSE Darebin Events Program and our Community Grants.
I’d particularly like to thank interim CEO Rachel Ollivier, who was instrumental in ensuring the daily operations at Council continued to run efficiently before I joined the organisation. I’m grateful for her efforts and the work undertaken to make sure we remained on track to achieve our goals throughout the year and for ensuring a smooth transition to myself as the incoming CEO.
There’s so much to celebrate in terms of our achievements this financial year, starting with the incredibly strong engagement we’ve had with our community.
We’ve had a wide range of topics where we’ve sought and received an immense response from our Darebin residents, including multiple rounds of engagement on policies, such as our Climate Emergency Strategy, Parking Permit Policy, reducing harm from electronic gaming machines and the 2023/24 Budget, where we asked the community to advise us on the services and projects that were most important to them.
The engagement on the 2023/2024 Budget included more than 2,400 responses to our survey, 24 budget submissions, four community drop-in sessions and six sessions with culturally and linguistically diverse community groups. Our community was pivotal in helping us review the 2023/2024 Draft Budget by sending through feedback to shape how we continue to best serve them.
This follows on from several projects we’ve been proud to progress throughout the year, which include:
- providing 19,675 vaccinations to our community
- keeping members of our community connected and supported by providing 59,433 home support visits
- bringing the Darebin Resource Recovery Centre (DRRC) management and operations back in-house for first time in 16 years after being run by external contractors. Our first-year results include improved service delivery and environmental outcomes
- celebrating our fifth year of the Darebin Schools NAIDOC Yarning Conference with 430 Grade 5 students gathering at Darebin’s Bundoora Park
- our ongoing contribution to improving water quality at Edwardes Lake. This project saw improvements to water quality by strategic restoration projects, including planting of riparian areas of the Edwardes Lake and the low-flow bypass wetland
- planting more than 50,000 indigenous tube stock across 90 species plants as part of our Rewilding Darebin Program, along with three hectares of previously weedy grass areas converted to revegetation beds, with further infill of previously rewilded areas being completed
- a stretch of 1.2km along the eastern side of the Cheddar Road medium strip has been vegetated with 10,000 plants, in collaboration with the Revitalisation Reservoir Project
- expanding our food organics and green organics (FOGO) waste bins to all kerbside recipients
- having a key customer commitment focus, putting the customer experience at the heart of all actions we take within the organisation
We also made some difficult decisions following on from the recent Municipal Monitor report, which highlighted Council’s financial sustainability along with the need for investment in technology. Our financial challenges include addressing the cumulative impact of many years of rates capping where the capped increase in our income falls well short of the increase in our costs. Our construction, supplier costs, utilities and borrowing costs have all increased well above the rates cap.
To address these challenges, we undertook significant work during the year to reset our revised Council Plan 2021-25, associated 2023/24 Action Plan and our long term 10-Year Financial Plan to ensure that we remain in a financially sustainable position. Our focus throughout this work was to ensure that we will continue to be in a financial position to sustain the services and assets that best serve the needs of the community and to ensure that our community receives value for money while staying committed to our goals and strategic priorities that will realise our community’s vision for the city. It’s vital that we continue to carefully monitor the implementation of these plans and our budget going forward during this financially challenging environment. We’ve made a strong start to improving Council’s financial sustainability, but our work here isn’t done yet.
Thank you again to everyone in our organisation who has been a part of the journey this year. It’s been a period full of adjustments and change but I’m proud to work alongside a group of people who have never lost sight of delivering the best possible outcomes for everyone in our wonderfully diverse community.
Peter Smith
Chief Executive Officer