Council operations Working for Victoria team working hard
Published on 26 August 2020
Council’s new part-time Working for Victoria staff are making a big difference to the health and safety of our communities.
By far the most visible sign for the community of the Working for Victoria (WFV) employees would be their involvement in the regular cleaning of frequently touched surfaces in shire open spaces and streetscapes.
The nature of the work that the WFV team is doing is quite diverse from hygiene through to outdoor furniture repair to full scale renovation.
An exciting project currently underway is repainting council-owned buildings and facilities such as the Stawell Town Hall lobby and customer service office area which will give the much-prized historical building a freshen up.
In Scallan Street, the WFV team have completed a full scale renovation of the toilet block. Some of the upgrades include improved ventilation and lighting, upgraded internal surfaces to improve hygiene and cleaning, tiling, painting, hand dryers and soap dispensers and new baby change tables.
In addition there has been a complete refurbishment of the special needs toilets. Other improvements include new roofing, the installation of energy efficient LED lighting and upgrades to plumbing fixtures.
The Victorian Government Working for Victoria (WFV) funding has helped Northern Grampians Shire Council to engage seven staff in the shire operations department for a six month period. These staff are primarily employed to keep council assets well maintained and safe for public use during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The staff are based at the operations depots in Stawell and St Arnaud.
Under the WFV initiative, council has hired three facility and building maintenance support officers working, two outdoor cleaners/general labourers and one inventory and asset administration officer at the Stawell depot.
Despite repeated advertising on social and print media, only 0.6 of the outdoor cleaner/general labourer positions in St Arnaud are filled with council keen to fill the remaining allocation of these roles.
Northern Grampians Shire Council CEO, Liana Thompson, is thankful for the state government funding and the hardworking contributions of the Working for Victoria staff.
“It is fantastic to see so many projects being attended to in such a short period of time,” she said.
“The Working for Victoria staff are an essential workforce that allow us to keep our shire in a hygienic and well maintained manner during the Coronavirus Pandemic.”
“It is very pleasing to see our shire amenities in tip-top condition and our heritage buildings return to their historical best. We actively encourage residents living in the St Arnaud area to apply for the remaining vacancies too.”