New organisational structure for Council

Published on 19 June 2020

A new three-directorate organisational structure for Macedon Ranges Shire Council has been finalised by Chief Executive Officer Margot Stork.

The changes primarily involve reducing director positions from four to three, and a realignment of departments and senior manager roles, and will come into effect from 1 July.

The three new directorates are Planning and Environment, Corporate and Community, and Assets and Operations. An examination of the functions of each of the units within the former Community Wellbeing directorate was undertaken to help inform where those functions would best sit under the new three-directorate structure.

Following the announcement of the proposed organisation changes to staff in March, many discussions on the proposed new structure were held with staff both face-to-face and online. More than 100 submissions were received from staff keen to have input into the process.

“This has not been an exercise with a focus on finding redundancies,” Ms Stork said. “Ten positions under the old structure have been made redundant, however it is important to note these have been replaced by 10 new roles, so there has been no net loss of jobs.”

Four of the roles to be made redundant are currently vacant. The six staff whose roles are not in the new structure are now able to apply for new roles through and Expression of Interest (EOI) process, which is currently underway. If the new roles are not filled at the end of this time, they will be advertised.

Ms Stork said the changes will assist in creating an organisation that is responsive, agile, communicates well cross-organisationally, and which is better able to deliver on Council’s commitments, changing external influences and expectations of government, and the community’s evolving needs and expectations.

“Council has many commitments to deliver and we want to serve our community as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Ms Stork said. ‘I am confident this new structure will assist us in achieving this.”

Mayor, Cr Janet Pearce said the new organisation structure reflects Council’s focus on becoming more efficient and responsive.

Cr Pearce said the CEO had kept Councillors well briefed during the organisational review in the past few months and the transition to a new three-directorate structure.

Ms Stork said Council had a skilled and committed team working to deliver the best outcomes for the community, and the new organisational changes would assist them in this work.