Member Profile

“Council is committed to monitoring the shire’s economic, social and environmental performance over time. To this end Council has adopted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) approach to sustainability reporting. The GRI is a framework for defining content, ensuring quality and enabling comparison on economic, social and environmental performance. This is our first Management Plan to incorporate GRI Principles and Indicators. We intend to implement GRI at our own pace taking into account our capacity, the needs of management and the benefits to stakeholders.�

Nick Berman, Mayor, and Robert Ball, General Manager, Hornsby Shire Council Management Plan 2007/2008 – 2009/2010, p. 2.

Hornsby Shire Council*, in Sydney, New South Wales, has responsibilities for the planning and management of the shire, providing the essential infrastructure and services, environmental and health protection, social planning, cultural planning, guardianship of community assets, protection of heritage assets and facilitation of local economic development.

The preparation of a Management Plan is required under the NSW Local Government Act 1993. The Management Plan provides information to the community about council’s future activities. The Plan outlines council’s strategic direction and summaries key actions, performance measures and resources required to deliver these activities in any given year. The Management Plan also incorporates information relating to council’s annual budget, together with forecasts for at least the following two years. Once adopted by Council, the Management Plan becomes council’s principle instruction to its organisation for the coming year. Council reports achievement against its Management Plan each quarter, usually within 6-8 weeks of the end of the quarter.

Hornsby Shire Council’s Approach to GRI

In December 2006, Hornsby Shire Council endorsed the approach to gradually align their reporting to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Framework. They noted that by using a respected framework such as the GRI to report on its economic, environmental and social performance council would be demonstrating both clarity and consistency in it’s reporting. To advance their sustainability reporting, Hornsby Shire Council joined the Centre’s 2007 Australia and New Zealand Reporting Alliance.

The new Management Plan 2007/2008 – 2009/2010 contains a suite of disclosures and indicators from the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework Version 3.0 (G3), and the Sector Supplement for Public Agencies, some of which will be reported on in the quarterly progress reports. By choosing this approach Hornsby Shire Council have linked their planning and reporting frameworks, ensuring that sustainability is a core component of their organisation, rather than an add on.

The Management Plan is divided into the following sections:

Strategic Direction – six strategic themes focus efforts towards the vision of ‘creating a living environment’. Each strategic theme has a range of performance indicators (including those based on the GRI Reporting Framework) to demonstrate progress towards this vision.

Capital Works – outlines capital works projects to be undertaken in 2007/2008, including funding sources.

Supporting Information – includes a summary of the Council’s Social Plan Report, an important reference document for the social strategies and activities of Council.

Financial Information – sources of income, rating structure, estimated grants and subsidies, and debt service ratios.

Budget and Operating Result – budget and operating result for 2007/2008

The Organisation – includes the management and governance structures of Council, and other information relevant to Council’s human resources.  

Hornsby Shire Council’s approach to planning and reporting is a good example of how an organisation can use existing processes where possible, to begin the sustainability reporting journey.

To view the report, go to:

www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/yourcouncil/index.cfm?NavigationID=766

*Hornsby Shire is located 25kms north of the Sydney CBD. Hornsby Shire is known as ‘The Bushland Shire’, since more than 65% of the shire is bushland. The 2005 estimated population (ABS Census) was 157,204, with 25% aged 17 years and under, and almost 10% aged 70 years and over. The census identified 70% of the people in the shire were born in Australian and 30% born overseas. Over 40,000 people work in the shire, and of those workers 49% also live in the shire. Using household income as an indicator of socio-economic status, Hornsby Shire residents have a high level of economic advantage in comparison to most other areas of Sydney, with 75% of residents either owning or purchasing their own homes.