Message from the General Manager

2020/21 was certainly a year like no other for Georges River Council. Council has tackled the challenges of COVID-19 head-on and we have proved to be an agile, robust and highly capable organisation that delivers for our community.

Endorsed by Council in May 2020, our award-winning, $47 million Economic and Social Recovery Program (ESRP) prioritised the needs of our local community in the form of immediate, targeted support, complementing the support packages provided by the Australian and NSW governments.

Building financial sustainability

Over the past three financial years, the long term forecast has illustrated Council’s deteriorating financial outlook over the 10 year period. Georges River Council’s financial performance in 2020/21 was positive and attributed to the 2020/21 Budget Strategy, in sustaining operations whilst Council works towards a surplus in future years. The results of 2020/21 have confirmed the accuracy of the forecast and reinforced the need for development and application of strict budget strategies and a special rate increase to overcome the financial challenges presented to the Council.

Key strategies adopted

We adopted some key strategies and policies during the year including the Innovation Strategy, Community Property Strategy, Transport Strategy, Waste Strategy and Affordable Housing Policy.

Achieving excellence

Despite another challenging year, Council staff continued to work incredibly hard to deliver high quality services to our community. We were recognised in the Australasian Reporting Awards for Council’s 2019/20 Annual Report, Keep Australia Beautiful NSW’s Sustainable Cities Awards, the Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards and Cities Power Partnership Awards. Council was also a finalist in six categories of the Local Government Professionals NSW Local Government Awards, with one win and two highly commended.

Our 2020 community satisfaction survey produced pleasing results with 87 per cent of the residents surveyed responding that they are satisfied with Council’s performance. The results also showed an increase in resident satisfaction across 10 of the comparable 41 services and facilities provided by council and identified the most valued aspects of living in the Georges River LGA as accessibility, location and the natural environment.

During the year our staff completed in excess of 70,000 services requests and responses to correspondence whilst also exceeding the annual target for both performance indicators and improving on our community satisfaction levels.

We have continued to nurture the strong relationships we have built with Service NSW, University of Technology Sydney, St George Business Chamber, City of Parramatta and City of Canterbury Bankstown to work collaboratively to maximise opportunities for our residents and businesses.

Finally, I would like to thank the community for their support and contributions through engagement, participation and feedback.

Gail Connolly General Manager

Detail of mural by artist Mandy Salter, a.k.a. MAN De.