8.00 am – Arrival Coffee and Registration

8.15 am – Opening and Welcome

President’s Address, LG Professionals WA

8.45 am  – Opening Keynote Address: Trust takes courage to achieve the impossible LIVE STREAM

Dr Craig Challen is regarded as one of the best technical divers and cave explorers in the world. It was due to his prominent reputation that Craig was called upon to rescue a young Thai football team from the Tham Luang cave alongside his dive buddy Dr Richard Harris in a case that had the world on tenterhooks. In a delicate, 2-week operation it took extraordinary courage, determination and technical skills to successfully complete the harrowing rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a mile and a half underground. Craig will share how he had the courage to place trust in complete strangers whilst working in a team of over 1,000 people from all around the world with one common goal in mind.

9.45 am – Getting to know our Corporate Partners

10.30 am– Morning Tea - Trade display area

10.45 am  – Ethics in a time of change LIVE STREAM

 Cris Parker, Head of the Ethics Alliance and Director, Banking and Finance Oath

Being true to yourself is not as easy as it might seem. The context we work in and the levels of uncertainty we have experienced all have an impact on our decision making. How can we be the best version of ourselves and mitigate the minefield of life?

11.30 am  – CCC's role in the local government sector and key learnings from investigations

Wendy Endenbrock-Brown, Director Legal Services, Corruption and Crime Commission
Being true to yourself is not as easy as it might seem. The context we work in and the levels of uncertainty we have experienced all have an impact on our decision making. How can we be the best version of ourselves and mitigate the minefield of life?

12.15 pm– Lunch - Trade display area

WA Finance Professionals Annual General Meeting (all welcome)

1.15 pm  – Panel session - Inquiries in Local Government

An increase in the number of local government  inquiries in recent times has provided many opportunities for the local government sector to learn from the past and find new and innovative ways of working. This panel session will explore the policies, procedures, strategies and initiatives that have been borne to address the recommendations made by the various inquiries, many of which can be adopted by other local governments to ensure continuous improvement continues across the sector.

2.20 pm  – Concurrent sessions

SESSION 1

Keep calm and keep on communicating

Even when the news is not so good it's important to always keep communicating with your residents and ratepayers. Rates and budget time is no fun for anyone however, it's an opportunity to inform the community how their rates are utilised to continue to provide the services and activities they value.
This also assists in financial literacy in your community and in your organisation. A great internal and external communications plan can be low cost, need minimal resources - yet make a big impact.
The first step is getting the right people together and collaborating to achieve a shared vision.
Two very different local governments with different resourcing sizes and budgets will share their case studies covering rates and budget communication.

SESSION 2

Grant funding

Tara Whitney
Grant funding can provide financial assistance to your local government for a variety of different projects and outcomes. It is often essential to ensure local government projects and initiatives can not only go ahead but go ahead successfully for the benefit of the local community. However, grant applications can be daunting, time consuming and stress-inducing. Tara will share with you some misconceptions about grant funding, how to determine if your local government or project is eligible for grant funding and more information about who provides grant funding and where to find grants.

SESSION 3

The Top 10 tasks you should do as the Local Government's new Finance Manager

In this session we will discuss what we believe are the Top 10 tasks you should do as a new Finance Manager.
If you:

• have just been promoted to the role of Finance Manager at your local government,
• have recently taken on a senior accounting role at another local government,
• are new to the industry or,
• have firmly been in control of your local government's Financial and Accounting "levers" for quite some time

3.00 pm – Afternoon Tea

3.30 pm – e-invoicing in local government

4.00 pm – Closing Keynote Address: It takes trust to be courageous and courage to be trusting

Sharon is a girl from the North West who made good in the corporate world. Her career continues to grow. She has found success in industries dominated by males - including construction, mining, technology and infrastructure. Regularly smashing glass ceilings - she is often the first and usually the only female in the room. As a company director she plays a very important role in shaping organisation culture especially through creating clarity of purpose, vision and values.
During this session Sharon will explore the relationship between trust and courage. By sharing her own experiences, she will peel open the layers that lead to a winning culture. Life and work are multi-dimensional, and success can be achieved in both when we recognise the connectivity of the core values of trust and courage between and within communities, organisations, teams and ourselves. It takes trust to be courageous and courage to be trusting.

5.00 pm – Refreshments and Networking—Partners Trade Display Area

6.30 pm – Conference Dinner for delegates and partners.