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Best value principles
The Local Government Act 1989 identifies six Best Value Principles that all councils in Victoria are required to comply with, which are summarised as follows. 1. All services provided by a council must meet quality and cost standards 2. All services provided by a council must be responsive to the needs of its community 3. Each service provided by a council must be accessible to those members of the community for whom the service is intended 4. A council must achieve continuous improvement in the provision of services for its community 5. A council must develop a program of regular consultation with its community in relation to the services it provides 6. A council must report regularly to its community on its achievements in relation to the best practice principles The council undertakes a number of processes to support the best value principles. To achieve best value, continuous improvement and to ensure the council remains responsive to community needs, Wodonga Council has embedded a rolling service review for all services and introduced a comprehensive service planning process in the 2018-2019 year. Community services including Wodonga Library, The Cube Wodonga, preschools, community centres and Bonegilla Migrant Experience conduct annual surveys and ongoing consultation with the community on the services they provide. Throughout the development of all of council’s plans and strategies, consultation is conducted with the community and key stakeholders on a cyclical basis. Following the election of the new council in November 2020, a series of community workshops and other consultation activities were conducted as part of the development of the Council Plan 2021-2025, review of the Community Vision: Wodonga 2033, the development of the annual budget and the new Financial Plan 2021-2031. In the 2019-2020 year, additional community consultation events were introduced and are planned to occur four to five times a year. The coronavirus pandemic affected in-person consultation events during the 2020-2021 year. There are several reports prepared throughout the year by the council that monitor the council’s performance standards against a variety of strategic indicators, including the annual budget, quarterly performance reports, Council Plan progress and the Local Government Performance Reporting framework which is available on the Know Your Council website.
