Thu 04 Sep 2025
View event detailsRegistration & Coffee
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM (30 mins)
Opening from Public Sector Network
10:00 AM - 10:10 AM (10 mins)
Welcome from Chair and Scene Setter
10:10 AM - 10:30 AM (20 mins)
From Hype to Impact: Establishing the Right AI Strategy for Your Organisation
10:30 AM - 10:50 AM (20 mins)
As AI continues to evolve at pace, organisations face increasing pressure to adopt emerging technologies. But doing so without a clear, grounded strategy can lead to costly missteps. This session unpacks how to move beyond the noise and towards tangible, long-term value creation.
- Distinguishing between AI hype and genuine strategic value. Learn how to identify what is essential, what is extraneous, and what should be set aside.
- Understand where AI can deliver measurable impact, where risks are often underestimated, and how to strike the right balance between innovation and caution.
- Establishing the foundational elements. Governance, data quality, and system integration as prerequisites for realising meaningful AI opportunities.
- A practical framework for evaluation and adoption. Gain insights for assessing AI vendors and solutions to ensure alignment with your organisational needs, minimise inefficiencies, and maximise return on investment.
Simplicity of Experience = Trust. How Can We Deliver a Personalised, Relevant Service to Build Citizen Confidence in Local Government? - Presented by Redman Solutions
10:50 AM - 11:10 AM (20 mins)
- Evolving the Council Meeting Process to Build Trust
- Delivering Transparency by involving all Stakeholders
- Strengthening Local Democracy through Engagement
AI on the Move: Brisbane's Smarter Suburban Corridors Project
11:10 AM - 11:30 AM (20 mins)
- Using AI and smart tech to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow on key suburban routes.
- Supporting population growth with data-driven infrastructure and transport planning.
- Collaborating across government and industry to modernise transport ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
Roundtable 1: Round Table Booking Brilliance: Unlocking Efficiency in Community Facility Management
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (60 mins)
- Streamlining Booking Processes – Explore practical strategies to reduce administrative bottlenecks in facility bookings and simplify workflows.
- Maximising Staff Capacity – Free up staff time to focus on high-value work and deeper community engagement.
- Driving Smarter Resource Management – Implement efficiency measures that boost impact, improve service delivery, and set a leadership example.
Roundtable 2: Empowering Local Economies: How Councils Can Strengthen Small Business Resilience
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (60 mins)
In a landscape where 43% of small businesses fail to turn a profit and 75% of owners earn less than the average wage, councils have a unique opportunity to drive meaningful change through targeted digital and financial initiatives.
Compounding these challenges, 43% of Australian small businesses have increased their prices due to inflation pressures. Many of these issues stem from limited financial literacy, poor cash flow management, and a lack of marketing capability, all of which impact economic resilience across LGAs.
In this 60-minute roundtable session, join fellow economic development and community engagement leaders to examine how council-led programs can boost small business performance, reduce failure rates, and foster long-term economic development at the local level.
This highly interactive session will explore:
- The economic cost of low financial literacy and poor cash flow in small businesses (and what it means for local economies)
- Why limited marketing capability remains a major barrier to SMB growth and resilience
- How councils can drive economic development by supporting access to digital marketing education and training
- The growing gap in digital confidence and awareness of AI-driven tools that could improve small business sustainability
Roundtable 3: Invisible Burdens: The Real Cost of Customer Communication in Local Government
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM (60 mins)
Even in an era of digital transformation, many councils are still reliant on outdated, manual processes for sending customer correspondence — printing, folding, enveloping and posting letters in-house. These activities quietly drain budgets, slow response times, and divert skilled staff from higher-value priorities.
Forward-thinking councils are replacing these hidden inefficiencies with secure, automated digital solutions that deliver communications directly from desktop to letterbox, mobile device or inbox, without the manual handling.
In this session, we’ll reveal the true burden of legacy workflows and explore Digital Mail solutions that cut costs, accelerate delivery, improve transparency, and free up staff.
Brunch & Networking
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM (30 mins)
Innovation in Local Government Procurement - Transforming Policy to Foster Agility
1:00 PM - 1:20 PM (20 mins)
This keynote will highlight how the City of Moreton Bay has transformed its legacy procurement policies to foster innovation and better meet community needs. By introducing a Strategic Contracting Framework with an innovation exemption, the council enabled more agile, responsive procurement processes that facilitated collaboration with startups and businesses. Attendees will learn how adopting exceptions and a relationship-based approach can unlock innovative solutions and help local governments overcome traditional procurement barriers.
Local, Targeted, Trusted: How Councils Can Automate Communications With Confidence - Presented by Constant Contact
1:20 PM - 1:40 PM (20 mins)
Discover how AI and automation can streamline council communications while maintaining sovereignty, security, and trust with your community.
- Explore how councils can adopt AI and automation while maintaining data sovereignty and system security.
- Unpack key trends in responsible tech adoption and oversight in public sector communications.
- Learn how to future-proof community engagement and stay compliant without compromising innovation.
As AI continues to transform digital services, local governments are uniquely positioned to lead by example by balancing innovation with responsibility. In this keynote, Constant Contact will explore how councils can embrace AI and automation while safeguarding data sovereignty and ensuring system security.
We’ll unpack key trends in responsible tech adoption, with a spotlight on how public sector organisations can maintain clear oversight of public communications. Discover how councils can future-proof community engagement, streamline time-sensitive communications, and remain compliant, all without sacrificing innovation.
Creativity and Innovation in Local Council – How to Unleash Innovation in Your Organisation
1:40 PM - 2:15 PM (35 mins)
- Tech efficiencies: How can local councils harness AI and innovation to foster creativity and enhance efficiency.
- Culture: How does technological innovation influence the workforce, workplace culture and employee engagement?
- Managing risks: What risks and threats accompany innovation, and what strategies can be employed to manage them effectively?
Closing Remarks from the Chair
2:15 PM - 2:20 PM (5 mins)
Event Close
2:20 PM - 2:20 PM (0 mins)
