On average, each council across Australia is missing out on potential annual savings of more than A$3 million per year through inefficient document production processes, according to new research from Objective Corporation (ASX:OCL), a specialist provider of content, collaboration and process management solutions. 

Across the country, this equates to approximately half a billion dollars in hidden costs to be saved each year for Australian local government.

Similar research conducted by Objective in the United Kingdom uncovered potential savings for the public sector of GBP £1 billion.

On the back of this and the launch of Objective’s solutions in ANZ, research has been conducted across a large sample of documents from 120 Australian councils, to map activities, costs and resources supporting the creation and publishing of documents. The findings have identified an untapped area for cost savings and performance improvements in the document creation lifecycle.

Tony Walls, CEO, Objective Corporation, says: “The sheer number of documents, many of which are statutory, produced each year by local government lent itself to this research. This study aims to highlight where, when and how real savings can be delivered against a backdrop of financial constraint and increased pressure for better service delivery to the community.

“Our research suggests business transformation and process efficiency improvements, through the use of our uCreate and uEngage solutions, offer local authorities a new opportunity for savings.”

Key findings include:

• A$3 million can be saved by individual councils in the document production process through improved business processes, design and print
• On average, an Australian council has 2,458 live and current documents in the public domain
• The average annual production of documents is 782 for an Australian council, made up of more than 9,000 pages of new content each year
• 64 per cent of documents produced by local authorities are of low design standard, with little or no structure, formatting or style. Half of all documents produced have no branding whatsoever.

This activity can cost a large Australian council up to A$10 million a year.

• In terms of hidden costs, a council could save up to A$2.6 million by improving business processes
• A council could save up to A$568,000 as a result of improving the way they use graphic design services
• Improvements in print management can also deliver significant savings, of up to A$300,000.

Walls added, "These figures present a very strong case for councils to consider adopting best practice creation and publishing processes for policy and planning documents, to provide a significant and viable option for delivering ‘hidden’ savings.

“Our experience in the United Kingdom, where Objective’s solutions have over 50% of local government market share, shows that councils have become experts in managing tight budgets over the years.

“However they are likely to be facing tighter financial constraints in the very near future, which will extend over a long period of time. Our research identifies substantial cost saving opportunities that are achievable for councils across Australia. These savings can be converted into providing better services at a lower cost to the community,” he concluded.

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Objective Corporation (ASX: OCL) today announced the launch of its community and collaboration solutions – uCreate, uEngage and ePetitions – in Australia and New Zealand.

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Objective Corporation (ASX: OCL) today announced that Durham County Council’s Regeneration and Economic Development Service (RED) is set to make large cost and efficiency savings by implementing uCreate and uEngage to streamline the creation of key policy documents and improve engagement and collaboration with citizens and stakeholders.

Objective’s Limehouse solutions will provide a robust platform for effective collaboration, consultation and publication of the many complex documents that the council has to produce.

The council’s Planning Service, part of RED, originally selected the solutions to support it in the production of its Local Development Framework (LDF). Having experienced the effectiveness of the solutions for this project, the Directorate made a strategic decision to expand their use to include the management of its new Local Transport Plan (LTP3), Housing and Economic Development Strategy documents.

Ian Thompson, Corporate Director of RED for Durham County Council, stated: “uCreate and uEngage will allow us to adopt a more efficient way of creating and producing policy documents that involves all key stakeholders. In so doing it will also help us to engage more effectively with the people we serve. This ensures that the services that Durham County Council provide, meet the requirements of the local community.”

Tony Walls, CEO, Objective Corporation stated: “Our solutions proved their own worth within the Planning Service of Regeneration and Economic Development at Durham County Council, giving them the confidence to extend their use for additional statutory documents. Local authorities are looking for innovative ways to save money and meet efficiency targets – our solutions enable councils to achieve these objectives.”

“Durham has a statutory responsibility to produce a wide range of strategic documents relating to key policy issues. However, by using our solutions, it can significantly reduce the costs that are traditionally associated in documenting its plans for local transport, housing and economic re-development in the local area, enabling more money to be allocated to the delivery of front-line services,” he added.

Durham will realise significant benefits using the solutions, including a substantial reduction in the time taken to write, edit, review, format, update and publish each document, and cost savings in the design processes. uCreate and uEngage greatly simplifies the design process, negating the need for external designers.

Furthermore, the council will benefit from more effective, controlled and auditable processes, with streamlined analysis and reporting capabilities, once the documents are released for public consultation.

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Northumberland County Council, geographically the largest in England, created in April 2009 as a result of local government reorganisation, is delivering a best-of-breed content creation, publishing and stakeholder consultation process in its Strategic Planning department following the implementation of Objective Corporation’s (ASX: OCL) Limehouse solution.

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Objective will be exhibiting at this event. Be sure to visit the Objective stand to see Objective 7, live in action.

For further information and a copy of the program, visit the conference website or contact us.

Auckland Regional Council (ARC) has eliminated costly outsourcing of document production by implementing a SaaS solution that handles collaboration and change management.

The demand from government for efficient PDF solutions has driven DocsCorp to expand its integration capability to include Objective, a leader in ECM solutions for local government in Australia and New Zealand.

On average, each council across Australia is missing out on potential annual savings of more than AU$3 million per year through inefficient document production processes, according to new research from Objective Corporation, a provider of content, collaboration and process management solutions.

<P>Objective believes it can save each local council in Australia more than A$3 million per year by means of a hosted document authoring and collaboration platform, based on the platform it acquired from Limehouse Software (UK).</P>

Australian developer Objective Corporation has provided applications to improve the transport, housing, and economic activities of Durham County Council in England.