REDLAND City Council is set to formally note the findings of a sweeping external service and efficiency review next week with the confidential Deloitte report warning the organisation faces growing structural pressures as demands on council services continue to intensify.
The review, commissioned following a Mayoral Minute in March 2025, examined every area of council operations — from organisational structure and service delivery to governance, technology and resourcing — in what has been described as one of the most comprehensive internal reviews undertaken by the organisation in recent years.
While the report stops short of describing council as an organisation in crisis, it identifies what Deloitte calls “material issues” that could hamper council’s ability to meet future demands if left unresolved.
Among the key findings outlined publicly in the agenda papers are concerns about fragmented accountability, duplicated capability across departments, increasing complexity in managing major infrastructure and assets, and limited organisational capacity to deliver large-scale change programs.
The report also warns council lacks sufficiently consistent performance measurement and return-on-investment systems to support future financial and service trade-offs as pressures grow.
According to the agenda report, Deloitte found Redland City Council had evolved incrementally over time rather than through a deliberate “end-to-end service lens”, creating inefficiencies and unnecessary management layers in parts of the organisation.
The review states population growth, rising service expectations, infrastructure renewal demands and rapid technological change are placing increasing pressure on council’s current operating model.
Despite those findings, the report also acknowledges council delivers “a wide range of valued services” and benefits from “a committed workforce with deep local knowledge and pride in place”.
“The Review confirms that Council is not an organisation in distress,” the agenda states.
“It delivers important outcomes and is supported by people who are deeply committed to the community.”
The confidential report itself will not be publicly released at this stage, with councillors being asked to keep the attachment confidential due to legally privileged and commercial-in-confidence material.
Council engaged Deloitte following a lengthy procurement process involving 29 submissions, overseen by a probity advisor from Thomson Geer.
The review process included interviews and workshops with councillors, executive leadership, senior staff and subject matter experts over several months.
An advisory group comprising the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chief Executive Officer and senior executives met monthly throughout the review process.
The Deloitte report was delivered to council on May 1 and includes a detailed service catalogue, organisational analysis, transformation recommendations, a proposed implementation roadmap and high-level cost-benefit analysis.
However, next week’s recommendation does not commit council to implementing any of the recommendations at this stage.
Instead, councillors are being asked simply to note the report as the final deliverable under Deloitte’s engagement.
The agenda papers state any future decisions to adopt recommendations, restructure services or alter staffing arrangements would come back to council separately for consideration.
The matter will be considered at Redland City Council’s General Meeting on Wednesday, May 20.
