[Skye Collett]

Hi All,

Can I get some feedback regarding individual Council’s approach to assessing Hardship applications.

I have heard of other Councils adopting a Hardship Committee that meets monthly to assess and determine outcomes on these applications. I have also heard of delegations for Hardship increasing as high as Director level and staff beneath that level are unable to offer approvals.

Any advice or assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Trevor Holland]

G’day Skye

Here at Lithgow Council we have a Hardship Committee that meets on an as needs basis.

Our committee is made up of three (3) officers.

Myself as Revenue Manager, Finance Manager and Customer Service Team Leader.

We meet on an as needs basis when Hardship Applications are received.

Regards
Trevor

[Pete Timmins]

Hi Skye,

We also have a Hardship Committee that meets as required and consists of our CFO, our Debt Recovery Officer, an AR Officer and myself as manager.

Regards
Pete

[Darryl Telfer]

If a committee was charged with determining hardship applications, I suggest including an officer from a Community Services area of Council to ensure the assessment process has (and importantly is seen to have) balance with input from someone independent to finance.
We did this once before at a Council Skye will be familiar, to address claims of hardship caused by a rate structure change. This was before that Council had a hardship policy so the “committee” was not “formal” but I believe it added balance to the matter.

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