NEW digital systems are set to modernise services at four councils in the Hume region, including Mansfield Shire Council, as part of a major IT transformation project.

Project CODI, or the collaborative digital transformation project, has been progressing well since an initial agreement was signed between the councils in 2022.

The main functions are expected to be rolled out across all four councils by the end of 2025.

By adopting the same set of systems across Mansfield, Murrindindi and Strathbogie Shires and Benalla Rural City, the project aims to streamline and standardise work processes across those local government areas to boost work efficiency and minimise system management costs.

Mayor Cr Steve Rabie said the transformation will make it easier to access council services.

“Our customers will benefit from being able to use of some of our new systems directly,” he said.

“A great example is Greenlight – our new planning and building portal.

"We finished this roll out in October this year and it’s already giving developers greater visibility and control over their applications.

“Other systems will be internally focused, like the new payroll software."

"You may never see it, but it will streamline a lot of necessary internal work and ultimately reduce the cost of those tasks."

Project CODI will transform council’s work in a wide range of areas, including Information management and record keeping, planning, building, and regulatory

services, finance, rates and property, customer relationship management, payroll, and health and wastewater management.

The planning and building system and information management system have now been rolled out at Mansfield.

The regulatory component is expected in first quarter of 2025, and others by the end of 2025.

Each area is being led by the council with the strongest performance in that area, allowing the others to learn and benefit.

“Learning from neighbouring councils and restructuring our work processes is a huge part of the project,” said Cr Rabie.

“Since Mansfield Shire Council has been strong on information management, we’ve helped lead the way in adopting Microsoft SharePoint as a records management system.

"It has just been rolled out here and at Murrindindi, and now the other councils will be able to adopt our methods and our setup.

"We get the same opportunity to learn from other councils in areas where they are doing well.

"Working in partnership across the different areas makes CODI a really complex project.

"It’s a testament to our good project management that we’re on budget and on track for completion by the end of 2025."

The total expected cost of the project is $4.88 million, split equally across the four councils.