REDLAND City Council has formally noted the findings of a major independent organisational review, with councillors backing further work on reform priorities.
The confidential Deloitte service and efficiency review – commissioned following a Mayoral Minute in March 2025 – examined every area of Council operations and warned that the organisation faced increasing structural pressures as service demands continue to grow.
The review was officially noted at last Wednesday’s General Meeting, with councillors unanimously supporting the motion while signalling that further work would now be undertaken to assess potential future reforms and priorities.
Acting Mayor Julie Talty said the review represented an important opportunity for Council to assess how it operates as the city continues to evolve.
“The review has identified that Council is not an organisation in distress but is at a crossroads where it is timely to consider the services needed for the city Redlands is becoming,” Cr Talty said.
“This provides a valuable opportunity to assess current operations and identify areas for potential future enhancement.
“The report also highlighted that we have a committed workforce with deep local knowledge and pride in serving our community.”
The Deloitte review identified what it described as “material issues” within Council’s current operating model, including fragmented accountability, duplicated capability across departments, limited organisational capacity to manage large-scale change, and inconsistent performance measurement systems.
The report found Council had evolved incrementally over time rather than through a deliberate “end-to-end service lens”, contributing to inefficiencies and unnecessary management layers in parts of the organisation.
Cr Wendy Boglary, who moved an alternate motion, described the review as “very in-depth” and praised the work undertaken by Deloitte and Council officers.
Cr Boglary said the review identified areas where improvements and future actions would be required.
“I’d like to ensure that improvements in this area are going to be taken, and that means we have to do actions as well as consideration and analyse the actions that are required,” she said.
“So, I therefore seek support for this alternate motion to ensure these future works will be occurring.”
Cr Paul Bishop also welcomed the review, describing it as the first exercise of its kind during his 14 years on Council.
Chief Executive Officer Louise Rusan said the review examined a broad range of operational, governance and service delivery matters, including consultation with staff and stakeholders.
“Using this opportunity to modernise how we plan, govern, and deliver services will ensure the organisation is as effective, efficient, and sustainable as possible now and into the future,” she said.
Ms Rusan said councillors would ultimately determine which recommendations, if any, Council would proceed with, over what timeframe.
At this stage, Council has not committed to implementing any specific recommendations contained within the Deloitte review.
