Council connections at the idyllic coastal location of Kiama.
After each LGP network meeting a feedback form is sent out and last year there was a call from a council to bring one of the two southern region events to the coast. Listening to this, LGP decided on Kiama and was pleased to be rewarded with an excellent location and an engaged audience.
Kiama
It is estimated 900,000 people each year visit the Kiama Blowhole; that said the name Kiama is derived from the Aboriginal word “Kiarama” meaning ‘place where the sea makes a noise’.
Hosting the event at The Sebel Kiama Harbourside, the venue provided attendees an ideal location to hear from an agenda containing local council participation, insightful external speakers, and a sprinkling of LGP experts.
A warm open and welcome address was delivered by Joe Gaudiosi, Chief Operations Officer at Kiama Municipal Council. This helped set the tone for the day and allowed those in attendance to get a feeling for the local area.
The day’s proceedings started with an update from LGP. The presentation enabled the attendees, consisting of staff from 10 councils and 2 JO’s, the opportunity to hear LGP’s current strategic direction and an overview of activity that adds value for councils. A divisional update included the highlighting of the name change of ‘LGP Consulting’ to ‘Strategic Procurement Solutions.’
The council case study was sourced and delivered from a neighbouring council, this being Shellharbour Council. Wayde Peterson, Executive Director Business Enterprises spoke on the Shell Cove Harbour Project. This 30-year council/private sector delivery is now almost formed and, as I discovered on visiting while driving to the area the previous day, is a real asset to both the council, the community, and visitors to the area. To provide a scale of the area this project covers, it is comparable to the size of Darling Harbour in Sydney CBD.
LGP was joined by Lucy Forbes, Acting Senior Legal Policy Officer, Office of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner. This is the second year the Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s office has toured with LGP at our network meetings. The participation at these year’s run of events is to support the Guidance on Reasonable Steps (GRS) that was published in December 2023. LGP’s Modern Slavery Toolkit has been updated to reflect the requirements of the GRS and assist councils with ‘Council relevant’ tools to help with actions in this space.
From LGP, Candice Galvez, Senior Tender Administrator covered assessing risk and managing compliance. This topic gives real insight into the LGP tender process and what LGP assesses during tenders. This insight assists and enables councils to run effective RFQ’s via LGP panels. During the presentation Candice dived into council considerations, therefore giving the presentation real balance and a powerful insight.
In closing I would like to thank the travelling councils, JO’s, guest and LGP speakers who attended the Kiama event. Looking ahead to our upcoming Procurement and Engineering Networking Meetings on 7th and 8th of August in Sydney, the full agendas and registration can be found in the following link:
Events – Events – Local Government Procurement (lgp.org.au)
References:
LGP ‘Strategic Procurement Solutions’ – Strategic Procurement Solutions – Local Government Procurement (lgp.org.au)
LGP Modern Slavery Toolkit – LGP’s Modern Slavery Toolkit – Local Government Procurement
Case Study – Shellharbour Marina – World Class Marina & Boating Lifestyle Destination