Enhance Council Interdepartmental Collaboration suite

The Enhance Council Interdepartmental Collaboration suite:

• clarifies the roles and responsibilities of all council departments in the permit application process
• provides guidance for directing customer enquiries to the right place
• establishes processes for working together.

The suite includes these tools:

Business concierge information pack – provides Council Officers with an explanation of the Business Concierge function, and when and how other departments should refer customers to the Council Business Concierge function.

Business departmental prompts - internal trigger checklist – a list of each council department’s business permit and registration prompts to tell staff which permits may be required, no matter which council department receives a business enquiry.

The scenarios in this document are helpful prompts to learn more about the business and which council departments must be involved for each business application (e.g. for pre-application meetings) to ensure a coordinated application process.

Communication guidelines – simple guidelines and standards to help council staff get the most out of working with colleagues to help support businesses through the approvals process.

It includes practical examples and a way to document agreed methods of engaging with colleagues across regulatory teams.

Business pre-application meeting agenda (council and customer versions) – an agenda template for pre-application meetings.

It includes questions that staff can ask businesses to understand their plans for setting up the business and their progress in their business planning and journey.

In this meeting, the business will learn more about:

• permits they may need (including indicative permit fees, if applicable)
• issues they should consider
• information or documents they must provide to complete their applications.

Pre-application meetings are particularly important for businesses with complex, multi-permit applications.

Business approvals cross-departmental committee terms of reference – an agreement among representatives of various council departments (e.g. Economic Development, Customer Service, Statutory Planning, Building, Environmental Health, Local Laws).

It establishes a cross-department committee to support departments to provide a consistent experience for business customers.

Business permit pipeline review action meeting agenda – a meeting agenda template for regular meetings across regulatory areas of council and the Business Concierge function.

The aim of these meetings is to review and update on the progress of outstanding business applications.

The template includes a suggested general discussion on trends and small actions to make the overall permit approval process more efficient.

Business service agreement - permit pipeline collaboration - an outline of the agreed principles and ways that the Business Concierge function will work with other key council teams involved in business permit approvals (e.g. Building, Health, Planning).

How these tools can help

Councils can customise all these tools to suit their individual circumstances, to support staff to help business applicants navigate the regulatory approvals process.

This suite helps councils establish a permit pipeline review process and structure to:

• review business applications across council departments
• identify blockages
• escalate cases as required.

The tools also promote inter-council collaboration to encourage:

• interaction and transparency
• the sharing of successful ideas
• communication of best-practice methods.

These tools benefit councils by:

• enabling more coordinated and efficient, back-of-house business application processes
• creating more consistent processes and better outcomes for business customers.

Support to apply these tools

• Business Friendly Councils (BFC) initiative: read about how the BFC products were developed and how your Council can get involved in the BFC activities.
• Contact the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, BFC team at: regulationreform@ecodev.vic.gov.au to discuss your need or get help customising this template to your council’s requirements.