How your Council is working smarter for you

Crafting beach seating from old bridges, a watering system that turns off when rainclouds loom and a super-smart AI assistant that gives swift advice on granny flats ... Sunshine Coast Council is rolling out a wave of innovations to help offset financial challenges.

Like many local governments across Australia, your Council is grappling with increasing service delivery costs, reduced earnings and a rising population.

This reinforced the need for a more disciplined and forward-looking approach.

Council has been progressing a comprehensive, organisation-wide process to identify efficiencies, prioritise actions and reduce costs. 

Teams across the organisation have been challenged to produce innovative, non-traditional ideas to deliver more value for the community they serve.

Councillors were then consulted to refine the most viable options and elevate those that would generate the greatest benefit.

So, what has Council progressed?

Sunshine Coast Council Chief Executive Officer John Baker said significant work was undertaken before the ideas were presented to the Councillors. 

“The short-listed ideas were chosen based on their feasibility, impact and sustainability. All options were stress-tested prior to selection to confirm they were in the community’s best interest, were realistic and capable of delivering both immediate and long-term benefits,” Mr Baker said.

“Some initiatives took immediate effect such as changing some of our mowing services in hard-to-reach and dangerous locations by using robotic mowers. 

“Other initiatives focus on the medium term, including evolving the library model to better reflect how the community uses services today. This includes expanded options for reserving books online and collecting them from convenient hub locations.”

 At a glance: smart and sustainable solutions

This process was one part of a broader challenge to the organisation that Chief Financial Officer Keith Parsons asked the organisation to take a collective approach to improve Council’s long-term financial position every day.

“This can only be achieved through a whole-of-organisation commitment to responsible financial decision making and collaboration,” Mr Parsons said. 

“Just like a household budget, the big things matter but so do the smaller costs – they all add up.

“For example, significant strategic work is underway to strengthen how we manage our $9 billion in ageing assets. Including a complete reassessment of our entire framework for prioritisation and delivery.

“On the other end of the scale, we are now making beach access bench seats out of decommissioned bridges. 

“We are also very excited about initiatives to reduce costs through innovation and the use of technology. 

Clever ways to save money

“We have seen significant savings from our cloud-based irrigation system. Weather stations tell the irrigation system when to turn on and off. If it is a rainy day, there is no need for irrigation, in the past it would have run regardless. In the last year we have saved more than $160,000 based on the initial water costs and usage prior to installing the Hydrawise system and preserved precious water resources. 

“By helping the community manage their waste correctly, Council can unlock substantial savings. Glass placed in the correct bin can be recycled into sand and reused in circular economy projects. This aims to save us paying for new materials and reduces landfill. 

“Another more recent technology-based initiative is Council’s AI Development Assistant,” he said.

This new AI-powered online tool provides instant, reliable development guidance, anytime and anywhere. It provides answers to initial planning enquiries whether building a house, granny flat or deck, or planning an extension or renovation.

The tool allows our highly experienced development services officers to spend more time with community members who need that support.

A renewed focus on funding

Mr Baker said seeking partnerships and funding from other levels of government would also be key to Council’s financial sustainability.

“Councils across Australia receive just three cents in every dollar of taxation revenue, compared to 80 cents in the dollar for the Commonwealth and roughly 17 cents for the State Government, placing significant responsibility on local governments to fund services and infrastructure with limited direct revenue support,” Mr Baker said.

“The AI Development Assistant project was made possible through the Australian Government’s Housing Support Program.

“We’ve worked hard to secure funding that allows us to deliver projects that might otherwise have been delayed, cancelled or required full funding by Council. We recorded a 300 per cent increase in Australian and Queensland Government grants compared to 2024–25.

“The reality is we know we cannot maintain current services and meet future commitments without change. Taking responsible action now will allow us to meet community needs today, while setting us up for a strong and sustainable future.”