Participating in shared services will introduce new ways of working, including collaborative working between councils, improving efficiency and transforming operational structures to build capacity.

Benefits of Sharing Services

1. Improved service delivery

Community focus and improved customer service is a key driver for local government.  Shared services puts the needs of the community at the heart of delivery.  Shared services is orientated towards community needs, which means that services are designed with the needs of the community at the heart of the delivery, rather than for the administrative convenience of the council. Shared services free up resources, which means councils are able to focus on getting closer to the community and developing focussed frontline services.  Shared services:

• Improves services within council with the emphasis on Continuous Performance Improvement
• Enables real opportunity to reorganise services around community needs and redesign the way that councils do business.

2. Realised savings

The pressure to achieve value for money is always an issue for local government.  Competing demands for scarce resources means that local governments have to constantly re-evaluate the way in which business is conducted with citizens.  Shared services:

• Leads to cost reduction and efficiency with councils
• Avoids duplication of activity and costs
• Delivers economies of scale through collective purchasing power
• Ensures cost effective delivery of support services

3. Employment opportunities

It is evident across Queensland that the labour shortage is biting. The ability of councils to attract and retain skilled employees is becoming more and more difficult.

• QPG can deliver attractive local government jobs for Queenslanders
• All services will be delivered in Queensland by Queenslanders
• Broader career horizons for staff results in higher retention rates in a competitive market