A single source of truth has long been the Holy Grail of IT for many councils. Today, this is finally becoming not only a reality, but a game changer for the local government sector.

Over 150 Councils across Australia and New Zealand use Civica’s Authority enterprise software to manage their organisation while providing sustainable infrastructure and services, whether it’s to efficiently manage citizen interactions, employees, finances, assets, rates or a range of other functions.

Authority Altitude is the next evolution of Authority, bringing new levels of capability in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud solution that provides complete enterprise Local Government capabilities, accessible anywhere from any device.

The software is enabling councils to reduce costs by eliminating the need for expensive and high maintenance onsite servers and other hosting infrastructure, as well as streamling deployment and updates, which means less overheads and reduced risk for Councils.

It integrates easily with other software, helping to tailor individual setups and build an integrated technology ecosystem.

Cloud first council

Bundaberg Council, located the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, was determined to become a cloud first council. It went live with Authority Altitude as its chosen ERP system in April 2022, becoming a an early adopter of the technology.

“As a forward-thinking council my whole team wanted BRC to be a front runner for this modern delivery platform and with that we expected there to be issues, but the implementation went smoothly,” Bundaberg’s then CIO Mitch Miller says.

“There were only a couple of minor teething problems, and these weren’t an issue because we already knew they would be fixed quickly. Support has improved across the board. Definitely the right decision.”

Since the transition, 100 per cent of customer records are also now kept in one repository.

Miller says Council has seen increased efficiencies, simplified processes and an IT team that can now focus on improvements, rather than maintenance.

Fit-for purpose solutions

Covering a diverse region across southeastern Victoria, Wellington Shire Council’s (WSC) has a reputation for seeking innovative and fit-for-purpose solutions, especially when it comes to the systems its staff use every day.

Mat Dyce, Coordinator Business Transformation, recognised the many positives Authority Altitude would provide and knew that exploiting these benefits was key to an easier transition.

“Knowing that you don’t need to learn a whole new product was a very attractive proposition for us,” he says.

“We have so much IP invested in Authority already, in moving it to the cloud, most of the functionality remained the same.”

Dyce says 80 per cent of rates payments are now automated, and Council is seeing increased data integrity and compliance. IT staff have also been freed up to focus on business processes.

Streamlining purchase orders and requisitions

The Town of Victoria Park which serves southeastern Perth, Western Australia is embracing digital technologies to improve its services and operations.

The Town deployed Authority around twelve years ago, which helped to streamline and optimise its internal processes and enhance financial performance. However, as the current version was nearing the
end of its life cycle, the Town chose to opt for Authority 7.1 as a next step.

“It enables users to manage standing orders, purchase orders, and requisitions in a centralised
system, providing greater visibility and control over the procurement,” Ernie Prandl, Technology & Digital Strategy Manager says.

There’s been more than 100 staff hours saved per year for requisitions and 100 per cent digital and automated processes. There’s also been improved requisition monitoring because of the centralised platform, and on-click standard order processing saving staff time.

“Authority upgrade is a very positive step forward and appears to be a lot more user friendly. It gives pertinent information on the home screens which I think is very useful for the users of the application,” he says.