A proposal to more than double the staff who deal with Government Information Public Access (GIPA) applications was adopted by councillors at the July meeting of Central Coast Council.
The estimated annual cost of the additional resources to process GIPA applications received by Council is $203,600 per year.
Council says the increased revenue from GIPA applications is difficult to assess but it is not likely to fully offset this increase.
The Council has come under pressure from the Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) at least three times this year for failing to deal with GIPA applications on time.
GIPA requests generally see members of the public request information from Council such as this one from a resident in the run up the elections.
And this one from respected local historian Merril Jackson.
The July meeting of Council saw it decide to revise the 2025/26 Budget and the Long Term Financial Plan in September as part of the 2025 Quarterly Review to reflect an allocation of funding to increase resources to manage GIPA applications.
In the current calendar year, Council’s two dedicated GIPA Officers have considered and completed decisions on 92 formal GIPA applications, and 957 informal GIPA applications.
“The volume of these applications is significantly greater than in comparable councils, all of which also retain higher workforces in this area,” Council said.
The councillors agreed with an Executive Leadership Team proposal to increase the size of the GIPA team by two full-time equivalent positions.
“These roles will allow for development of greater proactively released material and facilitate more customer self-service tools,” Council said.
Councillor Jared Wright successfully added an opportunity for the community to provide feedback on Council’s GIPA processes.
“While we have approved the funds, I do think it is important to take a step back and look at the broader processes in place,” he said.
“Funding is only one aspect and a stocktake of our policies and protocols around distributing that information is equally as important.
“I think that Council and the Councillors have acknowledged that we need to get this information out the door quicker.
“That is why I am calling on the community to share their feedback and experiences with the GIPA process.
“The Motion I moved last night will bring the matter before the Governance and Finance Committee on Tuesday, August 12.
“This meeting will be live streamed and open to the public. Please reach out to me via email to share these experiences and feedback.
“The goal is to make sure that our GIPA processes are best meeting the needs of the community,” Wright said.
Merilyn Vale
3 unactioned complaints so council doubles the staff so the ratepayer pays 200k in extra salaries so they can procrastinate with extra staff. Yay where do I apply.