Category Archives: Associate Information

Michael Courtney 

Welcome to the October edition of the Associates Newsletter and I hope you are all well and enjoying your work wherever you are today.

We’ve commenced the year with a steady pipeline of work and opportunities.  Again, I thank you for your ongoing support in the delivery of our projects.

Financial sustainability of many Councils is being challenged with costs increasing beyond the capacity of the growth in revenue due to rate capping & pegging in Victoria and NSW.

Councils in NSW are making applications for Special Rate Variations to lift their revenue base.

Faced with renewal of ageing infrastructure many Councils need to catch up their investment in assets to sustain service delivery. 

IPWEA Victoria’s annual state Conference is back in 2025, bigger and better than ever!

We learned lots from hosting IPWEA’s International Conference so we’ve levelled up our 2025 Conference with:

3 days of learning & development 2 networking functions 3 Technical Tours

We’re also going ‘back-to-basics’ with a program curated for public works professionals:

Roads, Traffic and Transport Integrated Water Management Waste and Resource Recovery Land Development Engineering Strategic Asset Management Public Works Project Showcase Information and Intelligence Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction

All this and more at Rydges Melbourne, newly-renovated and centrally located with everything you need for an inspiring Conference experience!

Alf Della Monica – Regional Manager VIC/TAS

The 2024 Victorian Local Government Elections will be held on the 26th October 2024.

Of the 79 Victorian councils, 39 will have multi-member wards replaced with single-member wards because of the Local Government Act 2020.

New Councillors will also be elected in Casey and Whittlesea for the first time since 2016 after councils were dismissed in February 2020 and March 2020 respectively. Moira’s council was dismissed in March 2023 and will not elect another council until October 2028.

Caretaker Period commenced on Tuesday 24th September (midday) and ends on Saturday 26th October at 6pm (Election Day).

Robert has been an Associate with CT Management Group since 2016 and has accepted assignments on many projects since that time. Robert has worked in the waste disposal and recovery area for the past 40 years. This award is self-described and recognises Robert’s excellence in the delivery of project assignments.

Location Lagoon Reserve, Project, Port Melbourne

Cost Council’s budget for this project is approximately $15 million. This includes an upgrade to the entire reserve including a new pavilion, cricket nets, public toilets, BBQ, picnic facilities, a reconstructed sports field, new sports ground lighting and upgraded path network. A large portion of the cost was allocated to the off-site disposal of contaminated soil and its replacement.

Cait Kirby – National Placements Manager 

In addition to cyclical operational requests tied to end-of-financial-year processes, Q1 saw a noticeable demand for executive management and specialised skills, likely driven by state-specific Council elections and legislative requirements.

Requests for expertise across corporate services, asset management, executive management and project management remained steady, reaffirming that clients continue to engage CT Management Group for senior-level expertise that builds competency, resilience, and operational effectiveness, while positively impacting community expectations and helping meet regulatory mandates.

Key Skill Set Summary for Q1

Project Management & Civil Works Coordination Interim Placement Requests: Senior Project Managers – Recovery, Civil and Capital Works Drivers: Large-scale capital works, infrastructure rehabilitation, and disaster recovery support Implication: Clients require Associates who can not only execute but lead complex infrastructure and recovery projects.

Jarrod Bryant – Regional Manager NSW

NSW Local Government Elections

NSW residents went to the polls on Saturday 14th September to vote in their local government elections. Across the 128 councils in NSW, the results of the elections have been announced and it has seen many Councillors and Mayors retain their seats. It is expected that this will result in a level of stability across many of the Councils in NSW.

The role that local government plays in the provision and development of community infrastructure can’t be overstated, nor can the importance of having robust and functional Councils to ensure these assets and services are provided to the community.

Jarrod Bryant – Regional Manager NSW

The NSW Government has recently released 5-year housing completion targets for 43 councils across Greater Sydney, Illawarra-Shoalhaven, Central Coast, Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle and 1 target for regional NSW to address the national housing crisis.

The 5-year targets respond to the NSW Government’s commitment under the National Housing Accord to deliver 377,000 new well-located homes across the state by 2029 as part of the National Housing Accord. These targets prioritise more diverse and well-located homes in areas with existing infrastructure capacity – such as transport and water servicing – which has been independently reviewed by Infrastructure NSW.

Alf Della Monica – Regional Manager VIC/TAS

The 2024 Victorian Local Government Elections will be held in October 2024.

Of the 79 Victorian councils, 39 will have multi-member wards replaced with single-member wards because of the Local Government Act 2020.

New Councillors will also be elected in Casey and Whittlesea for the first time since 2016 after councils were dismissed in February 2020 and March 2020 respectively. Moira’s council was dismissed in March 2023 and will not elect another council until October 2028.

Caretaker Period commences on Tuesday 24 September (midday) and ends on Saturday 26 October at 6pm (Election Day).

Michael Courtney 

Welcome to Financial Year 2024/25!

Another financial year passes, and I thank our staff and Associates for their continued diligence, reliability and much needed skills offered to our appreciative clients.

In 2023/24 we continued to see growing demand for Associate Placements in Councils reflective of the diminishing skills in the sector.

In the areas of project management, asset management, service planning and condition assessments we continue to see increasing demands for professional services.

At the same time in Victoria, there are an increasing number of Councils with state government appointed monitors. Monitors have generally appointed to oversee governance and behavioural issues within Councils.