Before the first item ¶
00:00:00 Councillor Finzel: Good afternoon and welcome to Noosa Council Services and Organisation Committee meeting Tuesday the 10th of March 2026. Good afternoon Chair. Good afternoon. Commencing at 1.30pm. I note all councillors are in attendance and at this stage I don't think we've got any observers. Is that correct? That's right. Good. Thank you. Welcome Mr CEO and the staff. We'd like to do the acknowledgement of country. Noosa Council proudly acknowledges and respects Australia's First Nations people and their deep and abiding connection to this country. We recognise the Kabi Kabi people as the traditional owners of the lands and waters of the Noosa area. And offer gratitude for their careful custodianship of this unique environment over thousands of years.
2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY ¶
00:01:00 We have everyone in attendance with no apologies. Can we have a confirmation of the minutes. Mayor Wilkie: Move and Madam Chair that the minutes of the Services and Organisation Committee meeting held on 10th of February be received and confirmed. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Happy to second. I'll take that to the vote. That's unanimous. Speaker 2: On line? Councillor Finzel: On line. On line. Anyone live? Yes. Yes. Thank you. Are you up with that? Anyone in seconder? Thank you. We're up to item number five, there are no presentations. Item number six, no deputations. That brings us to agenda item seven, reports for consideration of the committee. That takes us to item 7.1, administrative action complaints management policy and procedure. We welcome Di Stewart to the table, who I might add has written a really comprehensive
4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES ¶
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4.1 SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DATED 10 FEBRUARY 2026 ¶
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7.1 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE ¶
00:02:00 report and we'd like to thank you and your team for your contribution. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. So good afternoon Chair and Councillors. Today I'm presenting a report on Council's administrative action complaints management policy and associated procedure, which have been comprehensively reviewed and updated to modernise Council's approach and align with contemporary best practice. At its core, this work supports Council's commitment to high quality services underpinned by transparency, accountability and responsiveness. And it recognises the community's right to provide feedback, including complaints about Council's decisions, actions or inactions. And just as a starting point, there are clear statutory requirements for Council to maintain an effective administrative action complaints framework. Under section 268 of the Local Government Act, Council must adopt a process for resolving
00:03:00 administrative action complaints. Furthermore, section 306 of the Local Government Regulation requires a complaints management process that effectively manages complaints from receipt to resolution and which is supported by adopted written policies and procedures, which is why I'm here today. Council also has ongoing obligations in the law for record keeping, ensuring the public can access the policy and procedure and monitoring complaints trends and evaluating effectiveness, which is found in the latest annual report, if anyone's interested online. The governance branch routinely reviews governance policies to ensure they remain fit for purpose, compliant and aligned with best practice. I must note the review commenced in 2022 for this piece of work. However, progress was affected by resourcing constraints, competing organisational priorities
00:04:00 and the development and implementation of a new complaints system solution for Council. The policy work has now been completed following extensive consultation, trials, feedback and expert advice, both internally and externally. So in a nutshell, updated policy is now a clearer high level governance document and it includes things such as alignment with Council's organisational goals. It includes a more comprehensive and comprehensive policy framework, including modern sections such as review cycles, definitions and the purpose. It also includes high level complaint management principles aligned with the Australian standard, which is the Australian standard for the guidelines for complaint management in organisations, which we didn't have before. There's a clearer explanation of Council's three level complaint management approach. We have improved guidance on how to submit complaints for complainants, including how to submit anonymous complaints, third party submissions and support options. And we have a dedicated section on complainant rights and what complainants can expect,
00:05:00 improving visibility and clarity. Importantly, the operational detail like scope definitions, reporting processes in more detail and the distinction between what is a service request versus an administrative request. So really, the policy stays genuinely high level. The updated procedure document that accompanies it is designed to support consistent practice across Council and includes clear alignment with Council's framework through sections like scope and review schedule, updated process steps. So we have steps one to five that really show the complainant how complaints are managed in line with current practice and industry best standard. And supporting governance sections, including clearer roles for complaints and how to manage files and responsibilities for teams across Council. What the Council's role in all of this as well. Relevant legislation underpinning this, associated documents and a human rights statement
00:06:00 for compatibility. If adopted, governance will implement changes through advice and training to relevant teams and continue to manage and monitor Council's complaint portfolio with the updated documents published on Council's website to meet our statutory obligations. From a risk perspective, adopting the updated process will be a significant step forward in reducing the risk of non-compliance, essentially, which can otherwise lead to reputational damage and breaches while improving transparency, accountability and supporting trust with the community through good governance. Finally, a few minor amendments will be applied prior to publication, such as word changes. However, they are not significant in nature and do not change the meaning of the document. So councillors. The recommendation is that Council will repeal the current 2018 AAC policy and adopt the two documents in both attachments and authorise the CO to make any minor amendments prior to
00:07:00 the publication. I guess one final point of this is both documents have been written in a way that they can stand alone as well, in case someone in the community only wants to read one and still understands what it's about and how to use it. I think it's important to understand how they can essentially lodge a complaint with Council. I hope that gives you a summary. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Good summary. Thank you. I've read the report. I'm satisfied. I have no questions. I think it's been thorough. We've heard it has alignment to all the regulations, requirements. In my mind, it has provided further opportunity for our residents. I think it's been thorough. The people we serve, our beneficiaries, to have a really open and direct pathway to be able to air their complaints and be guided by staff if they reach out.
00:08:00 I'm satisfied. I'm really excited to see that we've been able to move forward despite the few little pickups along the way. We've got ourselves to this point, which is should promote and engender trust in our community that we have ticked all the boxes and in terms of governance that we can with confidence move forward. So thank you for the report. Any questions? Mayor Wilkie: I just have one question. From the perspective of a member of the public, how will the process change for them? And how will this policy change the way your staff manage administrative complaints? Speaker 4: The process won't change for members of the public. I think what will change for them is there is greater clarity and readability so that we won't be getting, hopefully we'll be getting less inquiries around certain steps and what occurs in them because of that level of detail and improvements that we've done
00:09:00 in that space. So from a process point of view, we are applying the same process we had in 2018, but we've modernised it. We've updated it. We've actually been more transparent. We've included the extra things we do in the procedure that members of the community want to know, which is fair. And it also helps our staff understand the process steps that go along as well. So it's a modernisation and improvement. What was the second part of the question? Mayor Wilkie: How will the process change for your staff in assessing administrative complaints as a result of this policy? Speaker 4: I think it's an improvement in communications and clarity. I think it's an improvement in communication and clarity for the community, so less inquiries, but also when we guide teams to complete administrative action complaints, we have a better baseline to use to educate and train staff as well.
00:10:00 So overall, it's just good governance. It's a strengthening of our current framework. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Jess, is there any questions from you online? Councillor Wilson: No questions. Diana's done a really thorough report. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Well, I'm happy to move. Mayor Wilkie: Happy to second it, Madam Chair. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. I have nothing further to add. I think it was very comprehensive. I'm just interested to see outcomes and how we move forward and how we can track through data and record keeping. Does this lower complaints? Do people say that the process is more efficient? And let's wait and see how our community engages with the changes and then how we move forward with the outcomes. So thank you. We'll take it to the vote. Jess? Yeah. Yes.
00:11:00 That's unanimous. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. I hope you get to use it less and less. That's all right. That's the truth. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. That takes us into agenda item 7.2, review of sitting fees, audit and risk. And we welcome staff member John C. Wolfe to the table. Good afternoon and welcome. Speaker 2: Good afternoon all. That's a lot of time for me as well. It's amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Just providing a quick overview of the report. This report seeks an amendment to the sitting fees paid to the external members of audit and risk committee. There are two external members on the audit and risk committee, one of whom serves as a chairperson. A review and benchmarking of sitting fees that was conducted in 2025, the first half of 2025, as part of the appointment of a new external member and chairperson.
7.2 REVIEW OF SITTING FEES - AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE ¶
00:12:00 That was conducted. The review indicates that the current market average across similar and smaller category Queensland councils are approximately $2,000 for the chair per meeting and $1,300 per meeting for the external member. This is quite significantly above what is paid by New South Wales Council at the moment and it is therefore recommended to increase the sitting fees consistent with this benchmarking and to adopt the amended fee schedule to apply commencing with the first regular meeting of the 2026 meeting schedule which was held on the 20th of February 2026. The purpose really is to attract suitably qualified candidates to our autonomous committee and to retain those and reimburse them appropriately in line with industry standards. Any questions?
00:13:00 Mayor Wilkie: Thank you Madam Chair, thank you for the report, thank you for the comparative rates of pay, it's very instructive to see where New South Wales Council sits with these rates of pay. The work done by the independent chairman and the independent member of the Ordinary Risk Committee is very important work, they have a high level of expertise and their recommendations are critical. We've been getting away with paying significantly less than market rate for some time, and it's only right that they are paid accordingly, so I fully support the increase in remuneration for these very important committee members. Councillor Wilson: I'll speak to it too. I think this is long overdue, and thanks again for the benchmarking information that proves that. And thanks also to our board and committee members who have accepted much lower rates, but who have ordered so much more.
00:14:00 Well said. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Councillor Jess, do you want to speak to this motion before us? It's a gender item. No, thank you. Yeah, I'd just like to say thank you for the work. It's great that we've got the alignment to benchmark against what other councillors are paying. We get really good people at the table that work hard in this position, so it's timely. So, thank you. We'll take it to the vote. Jess? Yes. That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Councillor Finzel: That takes us to agenda item 7.3. Update to council representation on various groups, boards and expectations. External groups, 2026, mid-term review. Mayor Wilkie: Madam Chair, may I move to the general committee meeting for a further report, please?
7.3 UPDATE TO COUNCILLOR REPRESENTATION ON VARIOUS GROUPS, BOARDS AND EXTERNAL GROUPS 2026 (MID TERM REVIEW) ¶
00:15:00 Councillor Finzel: Certainly. I'll second that. Second vote, we go. Okay. Does anyone wish to speak to that? Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, Madam Chair. If just further information is required, there's some discussion about the appointments, and also the workloads involved. So, getting a bit more information about what's actually in touch with these appointments. Councillor Finzel: Okay. So, question through to the Chair. To you. You're the Chair. Oh, sorry. To the CEO. My apologies. Maybe I'm projecting where I want to be. Ooh. Ooh. Yeah. Definitely wish for it. Yeah. So, how will this proceed? Have you got enough time to address the issues and the questions raised, or? Speaker 1: Yeah. There's been some requests for further information for this report. So, we're happy to provide that and bring it to the general meeting, which is next week.
00:16:00 So, we will have time to put that information together and bring it for decision or ratification next week at the general meeting. Councillor Finzel: Yeah. So, no concerns around capacity for the staff to deliver? No. Fine. Good news. All right. Take it to the vote. Jess? Yes. That's unanimous. Thank you. That takes us to agenda item number eight. Reports for noting by the committee. Taking us to item 8.1. Noosa Holiday Parks Update Report to 31st of December 2025. I invite to the table Robyn Mercer and Kim Williams. Thank you. Speaker 3: Good afternoon, all. Good afternoon and welcome. Thank you. So, by way of a summary, the report in front of you for noting is the six-month operational update for the Noosa Holiday Parks Program, covering the period from 1 July to 31st of
8.1 NOOSA HOLIDAY PARKS UPDATE REPORT TO 31 DECEMBER 2025 ¶
00:17:00 December 2025. Overall, the program has delivered a strong and stable performance during the first half of the financial year. Revenue in the first half of the financial year. Revenue and expenditure are both tracking closely in line with budget expectations. And the program has generated an operational surplus of approximately $473,000 within that six months. Revenue was at 31st of December at $56.7 of the annual budget, while operating expenditure is sitting at approximately $55.7. So, that's a balanced performance indicator that the business unit is on track to meet its financial targets. Overall, visitation, the parks welcomed just over 31,000 guests through the three sites for the six-month period. And that represented around 52% of last year's visitation within that six-month period. That, again, bodes well. And forward bookings for the year remained strong with more than 41,000 visitors secured
00:18:00 and approximately $4.4 million in revenue committed for the remainder of the financial year. Thank you. Looking ahead, work is also underway on the Noosa Holiday Park strategic plan, which will help ensure the portfolio continues to evolve in line with the destination management plan and ensures the portfolio remains contemporary and financially sustainable into the future. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Question? Councillor Phillips. Oh, no, sorry. Councillor Wilson. Sorry. Councillor Wilson: Thanks for the report and all the data in that report. So, great to see you as always. Just a quick question on the waste management section of the report, which was interesting, that there's materially different outcomes between the parks after the audit. So, just wanted to confirm, are there the same kind of facilities at each campground, but just the nature of the different visitors there attracting waste in different ways?
00:19:00 Speaker 3: Yeah, great question. Thank you. And it was a great report to get operationally to understand. So, in terms of the waste equipment at each park, Boring Point, all parks have different size equipment. So, at Boring Point, the trucks will only do the household waste bins. So, the ones that we all have at our homes. So, there's a lot of them. At Noosa North Shore, there's big skips, which are almost half the size of this table. And then at Noosa River, there are the smaller skips. So, bigger than a household, but kind of in between. Those different equipment choices are driven by what's in the waste contract of the type of trucks that are going to those different parks. So, we're a little bit constrained there. We have a mix of general waste and recycling bins. Some of the other key differences are that Boring Point and North Shore, we have a central location for where the bins are located.
00:20:00 So, guests have to bring their own bins. They have to bring their rubbish in. And we make sure it's next to a road, so they can do it on a drive in or drive out. The reason for that is that they're dirt roads and we don't want the trucks moving around with kids and bikes. Whereas at Noosa River, there's a bitumen or asphalt road system, so there's bins dotted around. As to the difference in the contamination levels or the loss of recycling, we do have a higher proportion of international visitors at Noosa River, which may ... So, that's our job then to improve signage and information, which we're ... I've already been in touch with the waste team and we're working on that. And yeah, it's hard to understand why. The report has made some great recommendations about what we can do in terms of signage and maybe bin placement, so we'll put those into place and then I'd like to get another report done in maybe 18 months' time to measure against our baseline and see that we've improved.
00:21:00 Speaker 4: The strategy will also look at future opportunities around behaviour change and messaging and what messaging you get with your book, things like that, about how we manage our waste and resources here. So, yeah. Speaker 3: And there's a number of touch points there. It's about leadership in government and best practice, all the way down to the financial cost. The cost for waste management. The cost for waste has gone up year on year and we bear that cost like any other business was. So, you know, we can do away with a couple of bins because they're not needed or we can change behaviour, then that's a financial outcome as well. Councillor Finzel: Great. Fantastic. Thank you. Yeah. Especially around the education component, which is really important and aligning us with the destination management plan and ... Yeah. Speaker 3: It gives us insight into the behaviour of waste management in the visitor economy too. For sure. Yeah. Councillor Finzel: Yeah. That's really good news. It's really like where we're projecting and where we want to align through our strategies,
00:22:00 our corporate plan and our budget that's coming up. So, thank you for the report. I'm happy to move the recommendation. Happy to second it, Madam Chair. Thank you. Yeah. I'll speak to it. I think it's a comprehensive report. It's forward thinking. It's looking at how we keep the folio relevant with constant, you know, being able to address things as they emerge and as we try to stabilise, given the current economic climate. So, you do a great job as always. It's not an easy space to be in and we respect the work of your team constantly working to continuous improvement and good governance. Thank you. So, thank you so much and I'm really looking forward to how we align that with the goals of the DMP and engaging our community around education, waste and our visitors coming along and how we, you know, keep them on that step towards what we value.
00:23:00 So, thank you so much. Yes. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Thank you for the report. I just have a question. How is the industry going generally in terms of people choosing to go camping? Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, it's a little bit of a crystal balling. That's for sure. So, from a data perspective, occupancy levels across the state of Queensland, we can access that data from the Caravanning Association of Australia and they regionalise the state. So, we're included in the Sunshine Coast space. So, that year on year data up until December showed that the Sunshine Coast was still trending down in its occupancy. So, it's December compared to December of the year before. In land regions, I would say it's a little bit different. So, you can look at that and think, well, is it price and people are looking for a different or cheaper alternative, you know, in the Lake Somerset region, maybe, for example, although maybe the crocodile that was found in the dam won't come with that.
00:24:00 But I think, you know, that data is helpful, but then I return to how we're performing. I think we've been smart and mature with our pricing to respond to inflation, but not to over-respond. So, we're steady. We've got a good, solid, smart partner in Escape Parks on the revenue generation and the booking side of things. So, yeah, I think there's turbulent times ahead. It certainly hasn't been the easiest 18-month period. And I don't think we're quite out of it yet. But I think the things that we've put in place to stabilise and make sure that we're just steady and constant. Yeah. Has bode well. Mayor Wilkie: Can I ask how you manage your budget expectations to take into account this downturn? Because the budget expectations for the half year result are very good.
00:25:00 You're ahead of expectation. Speaker 3: Yeah. So, from a business model perspective, about four years ago, we took the approach to peg a lot of our costs to our revenue. So, if our revenue moves up or down, then our costs move up and down. So, we did that through having a revenue share arrangement for delivery of booking services, the onsite services, the grounds, the facility maintenance, the reactive maintenance onsite. All of those things are bundled into a management services fee, which moves up and down depending on revenue. Similarly, with water, electricity, gas, even road maintenance, instead of doing four cycles, I can just do three cycles maybe. And distribute it a little. So, from a business perspective, it's been about not having fixed costs that we bear regardless of what revenue and occupancy does. It means that they move in tandem as much as possible.
00:26:00 So, the revenue might drop or not meet budget expectations maybe, but the bottom line outcome should be fairly stable. So, look, you're hedging either way when you pick a business model. But so far, that's- It's worked. It's trending well. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: I'll speak to- Of course. Thank you. Thanks again for the report. The holiday parks are a very important part of Minnesota Council's operation, if only because they offer a low-cost holiday experience to families. And with the visitation numbers and the revenue, it suggests we are getting the pricing right. We're not overpricing. We're charging and pricing families out of the market. So, I'm very proud of the work done by the Noosa Holiday Parks. So, thank you for your management of it. Councillor Finzel: Thank you.
00:27:00 We'll take it to the vote. Jess? Yes. That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Lauren. Have a good afternoon. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you. That brings us to agenda item number five. This is a confidential session. That the meeting be closed to the public pursuant to section 254J3G of the Local Government Regulation 2012
9 CONFIDENTIAL SESSION ¶
00:28:00 for the purpose of discussing item 9.1, Proposal 4.0 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 Proposal for Council to operate the landfill and associated functions at the waste facility under an alternative operating model. Mayor Wilkie: Happy to second it. Councillor Finzel: Happy to second. Oh, sorry. Mayor Wilkie: I thought you moved it. Councillor Finzel: I did. Mayor Wilkie: My apologies. I'm happy to second. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Take it to the vote. Speaker 1: Yes. Councillor Finzel: Councillor Jess. Speaker 1: Sorry. Councillor Wilson: Sorry, yes. My mute takes so long. I need to keep it off mute. Sorry, mom. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: That's me now.
9.1 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - Proposed process for Council to explore future options for operating the landfill and associated functions at the waste facility ¶
01:08:00 Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Good afternoon and welcome back to our open session. We're currently on confidential session item number 9.1. Mayor Wilkie: I'm happy to move it Madam Chair. Councillor Finzel: I second. Mayor Wilkie: We're moving that Council note the report by the Waste Coordinator to the Services and Organisation Committee dated 10th March 2026 regarding the landfill operating model. B. Change the title of the report to read Proposed Process for Council to Explore Future Options for Operating Landfill and Associated Functions at the Waste Facility. And C. Proceed with the Implementation Plan as outlined in the report. I do so Madam Chair.
01:09:00 The Part B, we've changed the title of the report to make it more accurately reflect the process which Council is about to engage in. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Now any further comments from anyone else? Happy to take it to the vote. Jess? Yes. That's unanimous. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Thank you to the staff. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Finzel: That brings us to the meeting closure. Agenda item number 10 and the time is 2.40pm. I would like to extend my thanks to all fellow councillors and online. Councillor Jess, to the CEO and to the staff. Thank you for your contribution and Councillor Wegener for coming as observed. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you Madam Chair. Councillor Finzel: You're welcome.
10 MEETING CLOSURE ¶
Council's recording ends before this item. Where a meeting resolved to close its doors, that is what the end of the recording means — see what council discussed in private.