The Connected Council: Smarter Processes, Trusted Information, Better Community Services

Australian councils commonly face three interconnected challenges:

• Records governance and compliance: maintaining control of information across Microsoft 365, line-of-business applications and traditional repositories.
• Pressure to improve productivity: reducing administrative workload without increasing headcount or undertaking major system replacement projects.
• Legacy systems and information silos: records, planning, property, finance and customer service systems that don't work well together.

Current Australian council market activity reflects these challenges. Councils are upgrading core enterprise systems and moving documents from legacy records systems into Microsoft 365 while meeting state records obligations. They are also seeking information on automating governance and document workflows. PSN's 2026 Local Government Focus Day polling reinforces this. In Victoria, 50% of councils were exploring AI but remained cautious about risk and capability. Budget constraints were the most pressing challenge for 90% of Victorian respondents. In NSW, 61% were exploring AI cautiously, and process automation was the joint top 12-month priority (24%).

How can councils improve service delivery, productivity and accountability today, while building the trusted information foundations required for AI tomorrow?

Key discussion points

• Break down information silos across council systems: Connect information across Microsoft 365, electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS), and planning, property, finance, asset and customer service systems without replacing core applications.
• Automate council processes to improve community outcomes: Identify where automation delivers the greatest value, such as development applications, resident service requests and procurement approvals, to reduce manual administration and improve responsiveness.
• Treat information governance as a strategic imperative: Move beyond compliance by using records management, information security, accountability and transparency to build trust and meet regulatory obligations.
• Build an AI-ready council: Establish trusted, governed information as the foundation for AI, and address the risk, accountability, privacy and policy requirements councils face.

Who should attend

Large local councils in Australia, mainly on the Eastern seaboard (QLD, NSW and VIC), with some in WA and SA.

• CIOs and IT Directors
• Digital Transformation Managers
• Information Management leaders
• Senior operations leaders