Taituara Governance Forum, Wellington New Zealand
The Infocouncil – LG Hub Governance Professionals Forum
by Infocouncil Team | 25th September 2023 | General News
Infocouncil is proud to be associated with Taituara Local Government Professionals Aotearoa. It is wonderful to see the organisation go from strength to strength. This year marked the 11th consecutive year we have sponsored their annual Governance Forum.
After three years of lockdowns, our Sales and Marketing Manager Nick Szentkuti was thrilled to attend in person in beautiful Wellington New Zealand. With over 60 attendees from 30 councils, the Forum provided an opportunity to meet our dedicated Infocouncil administrators in person - and meet governance professionals who might use our solution in the future.
Highlights
The Forum was very graciously hosted by Kenneth Aiolupotea, General Manager of Democracy and Engagement, Auckland Council. The two-day program was packed with topical and informative content relating to NZ Local Government.
New Zealand has a streamlined two-tier government system with 78 Local, Regional and Unitary councils. As in Australia, councils range in size from mega-council Auckland, with 10,000 staff, to small councils with less than 100 staff.
A highlight was a panel discussion with four local government Maori members. While Australia will be voting to recognise an indigenous voice in our constitution for the first time, in New Zealand four Maori parliamentary seats were established in 1868, with that number increasing to seven in 2002. At the local government level 35 councils have now adopted Maori wards, with Bay of Plenty Regional Council leading the way in 2001.
Here at Infocouncil, we have observed the growing use of Maori language in council business papers! We introduced support for macrons several years ago to ensure we can meet this requirement.
NZ Infocouncil User Group
The Forum provided the perfect opportunity to launch an Infocouncil User Group for our New Zealand Infocouncil Administrators. Infocouncil has worked closely with Auckland and Christchurch Councils in particular over the years to develop functionality to meet particular NZ requirements. The User Forum will allow us to engage directly with our New Zealand administrators to share knowledge and identify functional requirements.
If you weren’t able to attend the Forum and would like to be part of the User Group, please email sales@infocouncil.com.au. We are planning our first meeting to take place online before Christmas.