Adelaide City Council

I was the Senior Strategic Communications Adviser for Adelaide City Council

I reported directly to the Chief Executive Officer and worked directly with the Lord Mayor and CEO, as well as with other Council staff. I held this position from September 2005 until January 2007. Please scroll down to find out more about Adelaide City Council, my role and responsibilities, and some key achievements.

adelaide city council

Adelaide City Council is the local government body covering the Adelaide CBD and city area, North Adelaide and the Adelaide Parklands. Adelaide is the Capital City of South Australia.

The Council is guided by the elected Lord Mayor and Councillors, with administration and operations under the guidance of the Chief Executive Officer. During most of my time at the Council, the Lord Mayor was the Hon. Michael Harbison and the CEO was Mal Hemmerling.

Adelaide provides approximately 300 services throughout the area guided by a strategic plan that, during this period, identified key priorities to be addressed through Resident, Workforce, Student and Visitor Growth Plans. The Council had more than 900 employees.

Learn More about Adelaide

My Role

As the Senior Strategic Communications Adviser, I had oversight of and responsibility for all communication activities for the Adelaide City Council. I also provided media advice for the Lord Mayor and the CEO. This did not include personal election campaigns, or tourist and marketing communication for the City of Adelaide.

I was responsible for:

Leadership and management across departments and as a member of the senior leadership team
Counsel to the CEO and Lord Mayor as senior adviser
Stakeholder, reputation, marketing, media and internal communication
Management of the communication team
Departmental budget and planning

I established the Communication team culture by defining team values and behaviours, and utilising Balanced Scorecard Planning and Reporting. The team values and behaviours were:

Achievement - We Will:

Deliver quality outcomes on time
Drive or assist other ACC Business Units to achieve strategies and goals
Acknowledge and recognise achievements of ourselves and of others

Collaboration - We Will:

Communicate openly, clearly and effectively
Respect and understand the roles and responsibilities of others
Foster cross-divisional and intra-team working relationships

Customer Commitment - We Will:

Assist all other areas of Council to understand and utilise strategic communications to the benefit of the organisation as a whole
Have respect for all customers
Provide a high level of service to all customers
Actively listen to customers
Deliver on agreed actions

Integrity - We Will:

Work to create, maintain and improve trust between ourselves and others for the benefit of the organisation as a whole
Take ownership of our tasks and responsibilities
Pursue opportunities for self-improvement and development
Take pride in our work and in the organisation
Take a positive approach to our work

Innovation - We Will:

Foster an environment which encourages new ideas and innovative thinking
Identify problems and create solutions for ourselves and for others in the organisation

Achievements

Strategy and Reputation Management

Adelaide named by The Economist Magazine as the best place in Australia and the fourth best city internationally in which to conduct business
Persuaded political and managerial leadership of the need for third party endorsement, joint statements and closer working ties with key stakeholders to add credibility to statements, which resulted in positive coverage and partnerships for the Adelaide City Council
Presented, developed and received approval for Communications Business Plans and Budgets from Executive team and Council
Counselled the Chief Executive Officer on applying for a further term as CEO, and handled the decision and exit communications, obtaining positive coverage of the departing CEO’s role, decision and contribution to the City
Invited to be a speaker at the International Association of Business Communicators National Conference in Vancouver in June 2006 on “PR as part of the solution in a troubled world” after a similar presentation in Melbourne in November 2005

Community Engagement

Attended community and business group meetings and represented Adelaide City Council
Worked with Precinct Groups, including Hindley Street, Hutt Square and East End, to improve reputation through joint community programs, including the Rundle Street market and the City Safety Campaign
Initiated and implemented a Rundle Mall Christmas period attraction joint communication plan working with business groups, the Property Council and retailers, resulting in significantly reduced critical media articles from previous years, and helping to increase visitor number
Improved external relationships with business groups, culminating in joint projects and events with the Property Council of Australia and agreement from Business SA to limit public criticism of the Council
Planned and implemented major long term communication and media projects on the Adelaide City Council Representation Review examining the electoral systems for the Council

Stakeholder Communication Planning and Implementation

Implemented major communications plans for ACC strategic development program including the $400 million Central West Development, the $6 billion Adelaide Development Plan and the $640 million City West development plan
Coordinated and edited the Annual Report, and drafted key oversight sections, including the Lord Mayor and CEO messages
Drafted speeches for the Lord Mayor for public events, conferences and meetings, including theming, research and fact checking
Developed and implemented a media plan for providing journalists with story leads during quiet media periods
Spokesperson and media contact for Adelaide City Council

Issues and Crisis Management

Worked with Emergency Services bodies to develop coordinated action and communication plans for emergencies in the City of Adelaide
Implemented the announcement of the delay to Adelaide City Council elections and the communications for the review of the electoral system
Created and implemented the media strategy for the controversial State Government tram extension project
Developed and implemented the Communication Strategy on the introduction of water restrictions, including an issues management program specific for the Adelaide Park Lands and another for drought impacts on the City
Developed the issues management program for the State Government’s proposed Victoria Park grandstand project involving further building on the protected Adelaide Park Lands
Reactive media actions including responding to an explosion of a Pirie Street Building, levels and nature of parking fines in the City and statements on Government proposals

Internal Communication and Training

Completion and implementation of the internal relationships plan with an improvement of better than 20% on benchmarked approval levels
Completed a review of all internal communications and the introduced Vision & Values program, ViVa, and completed an innovative internal relations plan
Presented and conducted training on leadership and communication for the future leader’s program (See Presentation)

Team Leadership and Management

Introduced Balanced Scorecard Planning and Reporting for the Communications team
Managed a team of three, responded to media inquiries on approximately 40 different issues per week while providing services and advice to all other areas of Council operations (approximately 300 services)
Evaluated tenders for media monitoring services, and research and consultation services