Implementing decentralised reform in local government: Leadership lessons from the Australian experience

This article presents a longitudinal case study of the methods employed by the general managers of two leading Australian local authorities in an attempt to introduce decentralised reform into their organisations. The article commences by detailing the nature of the respective general managers’ criticisms of the traditional divisional approach to local government strategic planning and provision of services as forming the driving motivations behind their reform direction. Their respective reform approaches are then charted, concentrating on the nature of the relationships the general managers consciously cultivated with key stakeholders in order to overcome resistance to change and remove obstacles to their visions. The article then outlines the mistakes made and the lessons to be learned in attempting to successfully implement decentralised change in local government.