Redland City Council will next week consider a progress update on a major review aimed at reshaping services, structures and decision-making over the coming years.
The External Service and Efficiency Review, commissioned in March 2025 by Mayor Jos Mitchell, found Council was not an organisation in distress but needed to modernise to meet growing service demands, infrastructure pressures and changing community expectations.
A report to the August 19 general meeting says the first 12 months of the transformation program will be delivered largely within existing resources and budgets, with Council seeking to limit disruption to frontline services.
The review identified four central concerns: a growing mismatch between services, organisational structure and accountability; increasingly complex asset and investment decisions; limited capacity to implement change quickly; and insufficient management information for future financial and service decisions.
It proposed nine “Signature Moves” to be implemented across three to five years.
Council has already resolved to absorb Redland Investment Corporation operations back into Council, while separate work is underway on a category-based asset management model and the future consolidation of the Water Commercial Business Unit.
Over the next year, officers will focus on six of the remaining reforms through three workstreams.
The first will develop a “Redland Blueprint” and refresh Council’s organisational structure, seeking to better align services, resources, responsibilities and governance with strategic objectives.
The second will focus on service planning, performance management, continuous improvement, internal support services, governance and reporting.
The third will target quicker service improvements, including reducing red tape, simplifying processes, improving customer experience and strengthening accountability.
Council says the program is intended to reduce duplication and inefficiencies, improve productivity and cost recovery, better prioritise investment, and provide faster and more consistent services for residents.
However, the report acknowledges potential risks including change fatigue among staff, competing priorities, workforce capability constraints and the possibility that promised benefits may not be realised.
It says any changes to reporting lines, roles or responsibilities would be managed under consultation obligations, with staff to be offered communication, feedback opportunities, training and support.
Councillors are being asked only to note the update and the proposed workstreams. Any future investment requirements or additional transformation activities will be subject to later budget considerations
