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ALGIM Learning Exchange Awards 2026

The ALGIM Learning Exchange hosted a celebratory awards evening to recognise team and individuals from the Australian Local Government sector.

This included the following categories:


2026 ALGIM Learning Exchange Awards Photos

Project of the Year Award


Sponsored by Information Leadership


Projects are assessed across five areas that together reflect strong, sustainable local government delivery.



Judging theme

What it considers

Benefits

Outcomes for communities, staff and customers.

Innovation

A distinctive, original or sector-leading approach.

Collaboration

Meaningful contribution from stakeholders and partners.

Project management

Sound governance, delivery, risk and budget control.

Success and effectiveness

Evidence, measurable results and transferable lessons.



Award overview


The ALGIM Project of the Year Award celebrates outstanding local government initiatives that demonstrate innovation, collaboration and measurable impact across the areas shaping the future of the sector, including data, cyber security, artificial intelligence, web and digital, and customer and process improvement.


The award recognises projects that deliver meaningful outcomes for councils and communities while showcasing leadership, creativity and excellence in modern local government practice. The winning project is also nominated for the international LOLA awards program, providing an opportunity to share Australian local government innovation on the world stage.

The winner will also receive $1,000 prize money.

 2026 WinnER r 

Shared Cyber Security Services for Regional Local Government

City of Greater Bendigo, in partnership with three regional councils and 3Columns

Regional councils face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, often without the budgets or specialist teams needed to operate enterprise-grade security services independently. Led by the City of Greater Bendigo, this project brought four councils together to create a shared, scalable cyber security model that combines 24/7 managed threat monitoring and response with practical governance, risk and compliance support.

Delivered from concept to operation within 12 months, the model gives councils access to stronger threat visibility, incident readiness and governance capability at a substantially lower cost than standalone delivery. Its modular design allows each council to participate according to its maturity and priorities, creating a repeatable pathway for other regional councils to strengthen cyber resilience.


4
regional councils

24/7
monitoring and response

12 months
concept to operation

30%+
provider cost reduction

Why it stood out

  • Combines operational cyber defence through managed SOC/SIEM with longer-term governance, risk and compliance uplift.
  • Uses shared procurement and investment to make enterprise-grade capability affordable for resource-constrained councils.
  • Balances a common service model with local decision-making and different levels of cyber maturity.
  • Creates lasting sector value through shared resources, ongoing collaboration and the Regional Cyber Security Forum for Local Government.

Recognised team

City of Greater Bendigo IT Team; partner council representatives; and managed SOC/SIEM delivery partner 3Columns.

 2026 HIGHLY COMMENDED 

Multi-Channel Gen-AI Chatbot Implementation

Moorabool Shire Council

Moorabool Shire Council implemented Citibot to give residents convenient, 24/7 access to verified Council information through web chat and SMS. Residents can ask questions, find information and submit requests using natural language, including through the memorable SMS service 0468 ASK MSC.

The project goes beyond a website-only chatbot by establishing a multi-channel service model, with future expansion to WhatsApp identified in the nomination. Routine enquiries can be handled instantly and consistently, helping customer service staff focus on more complex interactions while providing Council with better insight into common questions and emerging service needs.

3,248
questions in seven months

24/7
web chat and SMS access

1 SMS
simple entry point

Project highlights

  • Provides consistent responses drawn from verified Council information, supporting accuracy and trust.
  • Extends access beyond business hours and reduces reliance on higher-cost phone and in-person channels.
  • Uses a phased rollout and clear escalation pathways so complex enquiries can still reach staff.

Recognised team

Leanne Manton, Manager Customer and Communications; Angela Koya, Customer Experience Coordinator; and Anne Kwiecinski, ERP Applications Support Officer.

 2026 HIGHLY COMMENDED 

Shared Services Initiative: Rural Councils Records Management Transformation

Wellington Shire Council and East Gippsland Shire Council

Wellington Shire Council and East Gippsland Shire Council have built a long-running shared-services partnership to strengthen records and information management across two regional councils. The model brings capability, systems and practical delivery together across organisational boundaries, helping both councils improve services and work more efficiently than either could in isolation.

The Rural Councils Records Management Transformation initiative advances how information is managed, protected and accessed through cloud-based technology. It is designed to improve transparency, safeguard community data, reduce paper use and manual handling, strengthen cyber security and create a foundation for future innovation. The partnership also provides a practical shared-services model whose lessons can support other local governments.

2
regional councils

Since 2015
shared-services partnership

Cloud-based
records transformation

Project highlights

  • Shares specialist information management capability across two regional councils.
  • Uses a sustained partnership and common technology approach to reduce duplication and manual work.
  • Improves information protection and access while creating transferable lessons for other rural councils.

Recognised team

Wellington Shire Council and East Gippsland Shire Council records and information management teams.

 2026 FINALIST 

AI Autoclassification – Property Records

Golden Plains Shire Council, with Information Leadership

Golden Plains Shire Council held around 800,000 property records in SharePoint after migration from a legacy records system. Limited metadata meant staff could locate a property file but could not reliably identify its document type, apply retention rules or carry out defensible disposal. Manually classifying the collection was estimated to take one person 11.5 years.

Working with Information Leadership, Council deployed the Azure-hosted iWorkplace AI Autoclassifier. The service reads each file against Council-specific classification and retention rules, then returns metadata, reasoning and a confidence score. Around 600,000 files have already been classified at more than 90% accuracy, improving access to high-value records and enabling Council’s first digital disposal action in the Property File space.


600,000
files classified

90%+
production accuracy

25–30%
flagged as low or no value

Project highlights

  • Turns Council’s own records knowledge into an informing document the model can reason against.
  • Processes batches of up to 65,000 files a day, converting an 11.5-year manual task into an operational workflow.
  • Creates a reusable capability operated by Council’s Information Management Lead rather than a one-off vendor exercise.

Recognised team

Golden Plains Shire Council: Andrew Downie, Lena Wealands and Carolynne Roberts. Information Leadership: Grant Margison, Sarah Heal, Lydia Crowe, Alethea Lock and Conaugh Feehan.


2026 FINALIST


Antenno App Implementation Project


Moorabool Shire Council


Moorabool Shire Council introduced Antenno to give residents a simple, mobile-first way to receive relevant local updates and report issues. Place-based notifications help people stay informed about services, consultations, road closures and reminders, while structured reports can include photos and location data.


By integrating Antenno directly with Council’s customer relationship management system, reports move into operational workflows without duplicate handling. The result is faster triage, better data and a more coordinated response across communications, customer service and operational teams. The platform forms part of Moorabool’s wider multi-channel Customer Experience Strategy.

1,000+
downloads in six months

6 months
first-year target reached early

2-way
notifications and reporting

Project highlights

  • Geo-tagged, photo-supported reports give operational teams clearer information from the start.
  • Place-based notifications provide residents with relevant updates without unnecessary noise.
  • A staff beta test helped refine categories and workflows before the public launch.

Recognised team

Leanne Manton, Manager Customer and Communications; Angela Koya, Customer Experience


Training & Development Grant

Sponsored by Datacom

Award overview

The ALGIM Australia Training and Development Grant supports an individual to build skills, knowledge or capability that will benefit both their organisation and the broader local government sector. It recognises applicants who can clearly connect their proposed learning to their role, their council’s priorities and the challenges being explored through ALGIM’s Communities of Practice. The grant also celebrates a commitment to sharing that learning through presentations, practical resources, case studies, mentoring or other opportunities that allow its value to extend well beyond one individual

 2026 WINNER 


Leanne Manton, Moorabool Shire Council VIC


Moorabool Shire Council’s Manager Customer and Communications was seeking support to attend Global AI Cities 2026 and learn how leading cities are applying AI to improve services, customer experience, automation and decision-making. These insights would directly support Moorabool’s response to rapid population growth and increasing service demand, while helping Council expand on initiatives such as Citibot and other AI-enabled services. The learning would be shared through executive briefings, internal workshops, an ALGIM Community of Practice presentation and practical resources for the wider local government sector.


This grant provides Leanne up to $2,500 +GST toward approved learning & professional development



 2026 FINALIST 

Saad Aslam, Campbelltown City Council NSW 

Campbelltown City Council’s AI Lead was seeking to build the technical capability to take AI solutions from promising prototypes through to secure, governed and sustainable production systems. The proposed learning includes Microsoft and Anthropic training and certifications covering AI agents, Copilot Studio, Azure AI, the Claude API and the Model Context Protocol. The knowledge would be shared through practical workshops, reusable resources, case studies and ALGIM Community of Practice sessions, helping councils develop AI capability internally and reduce reliance on costly external providers.

Saad has received a Training certificate to undertake an ALGIM course of his choice over the next 12 months.

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