Introduction

This chapter presents a case study from a city council in Australia. It shares how the council, having recognized the need for a long-term strategy for managing its records, adopted a knowledge management approach to implementing a solution. Five years on electronic recordkeeping is part of normal business processes and the success of the changes is due to the development of a sound and strategic framework, the people involved and the software deployed.

The business context

Introduction to Darebin City Council

The origins of local government in the area now occupied by Darebin City Council (DCC) started in 1854 with the proclamation of the Epping Roads Board. Various amalgamations and divestments and renaming of shires, boroughs, towns and cities within the region occurred regularly throughout its history, with the last major amalgamation of all or parts of five municipalities in 1994 when the City of Darebin was formed. The City now occupies 53 square kilometres of the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It includes 55,000 properties, 900 hectares of parkland, 5200 businesses and a population of 128,000 residents, with over one-third from countries other than Australia.

The Council owns a range of physical assets, including over 600 km of roads, 2000 km of drains, 300 buildings, 450 hectares of parkland and over 45,000 street trees. Its main industry sectors are manufacturing, retail, property and business services, with a small but rapidly expanding hospitality sector. The Council itself is the municipality's largest employer, with over 800 full- or part-time permanent staff and many more in casual positions (City of Darebin website www.darebin.vic.gov.au). It offers a range of services typical of local government in Australia: arts, culture and recreation; business and food health services; community health and safety; community services (aged, disability, family and children); customer service centres; disability access; environmental information; multicultural services; parking and transport; pets and local law enforcement; planning and building; public health information; rates and valuations; rubbish and recycling.

The Council's organizational structure has remained the same since the last major change in 2000. Headed by the Chief Executive Officer, the departments are: Asset Management, City Services, Community Services, Corporate Services, Culture and Leisure, Environment and Amenity, Strategy and Governance.