Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

Quality certification for entire organisation

Quality assurance is a phrase often bandied about by both the public and private sector with little real commitment to its practical achievement. Manningham City Council in Melbourne's east has not only talked about quality assurance it has implemented a program earning it quality certification under international standard ISO9001.

This achievement, a major feat for an organisation the size of Manningham, has been gained in just over 12 months and makes the City Council. Manningham believes it is the first Local Government authority in Australia to achieve quality certification for the entire organisation. With the degree of change occurring in Local Government in Victoria in recent years, issues of quality and standards of service have been brought to the fore.

"Quality assurance has been a key element in our approach to Compulsory Competitive Tendering and the introduction of best practice processes into Local Government," said Adam Kempton, Chairman of Commissioners.

"Quality assurance has allowed the organisation to examine the way it provides services to its customers and how that service delivery can be enhanced or improved. The quality systems which we now have in place ensure that we can guarantee our customers that services are delivered on time, at cost and at a consistent standard of quality."

He said that customer survey data is showing that, since quality assurance has been implemented, there have been increases in the level of customer satisfaction across the whole organisation.

The certificate, presented recently to Manningham by the Victorian Minister for Planning and Local Government, Rob Maclellan, has the added advantage of providing Council with a competitive edge in the CCT environment and under the National Competition Policy.

Manningham will continue to pursue world best practice with the establishment of a Best Practice Working Group and the development of a Best Practice Matrix to enable measurement and foster continual improvements in leadership and service. Not resting on its laurels, plans are already under way to gain additional certification under ISO14001 for Council's Environmental Management System.

For further information contact Kim Behringer, telephone (03) 9840 9328.

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