A course is on in New South Wales which hopes to breed a generation of better councillors and local government leaders.

Running a regional council is one of the most difficult jobs in the government workforce, requiring councillors to tackle multiple duties across planning, finance, legal reviews, reforms and other roles.

To help sitting members stay on top, the Executive Certificate for Elected Members has been launched, developed with support from the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG.

The course is part of the federal government’s National Skills Package for Elected Members, which has been installed to give councillors better access to vocational and tertiary education.

Participants enrolled in the Executive Certificate in NSW will be able to use some courses and resources at the TAFE NSW and the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).

“The course will help elected members to better understand their legislative responsibilities, and build their skills and capacity to have a positive and well informed impact on council decision-making,” said ACELG Director Roberta Ryan

“This will help ensure local governments have the leadership capability required to meet the needs of the community and to create productive, sustainable and inclusive local places for the future.”

Gone are the days when local governments’ responsibility ended with potholes and Christmas lights. Councils are now expected to operate as successful multi-million dollar businesses, but with much greater expectations from their diverse communities.

Extra functions passed down from state and federal tiers of government have seen regional authorities take on new tasks as well.

The Executive Certificate has been created with national and international research by ACELG in mind. The group have studies the ways local governments should perform, while also addressing the education and professional needs of council staff and elected members.

While the course as it stands applies to councillors in New South Wales, it has been designed to function around the country.

The Executive Certificate for Elected Members will be run as a pilot program in NSW, with other jurisdictions reportedly in discussions about rolling it out nationwide.

More information is accessible here.