Summary
In May 2015, the Minister for Primary Industries appointed the Natural Resources Commission as an independent auditor of Local Land Services for two priority performance audits - governance and communications.
In April 2016, we provided a final report to the Minister on the audit of Local Land Services' communications.
The audit identified good operational communications practices including comprehensive policies and protocols, effective media monitoring, and improving engagement with external stakeholders.
While many examples of sound on-ground communications practices were identified, the audit also highlighted insufficient valuing and prioritising of communications as a core business function. This has prevented Local Land Services from maximising customer service and stakeholder engagement efforts.
As a young organisation, Local Land Services is still maturing and it is to be expected that some aspects of communications are still evolving. However, to resolve the fundamental leadership issues identified in this audit, a significant change in Local Land Services’ approach to communications as a core business enabler will be required.
We recommended the appointment of a full-time Senior Communications Manager to the Executive Support Unit to drive many of the necessary changes. A number of other recommendations relate to communications culture more broadly and highlight that it needs to be a shared responsibility across the organisation.
In December 2016, the NSW Government supported all of our recommendations.