NEWCASTLE council will see how its performance stacks up against other similar sized councils in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
City of Greater Geelong has asked Newcastle council to take part in a performance benchmarking exercise to see how it compares to councils with similar financial profiles, population sizes, coastal exposure and economic backgrounds.
At the last Newcastle council meeting, chief executive Jeremy Bath said Newcastle was picked because it is considered a "benchmark council" and one that other councils want to measure up to.
"It's very much a feather in our cap to be asked," he said.
"We responded to that by saying that we would be willing to provide the requested information, but we asked that whatever the outcome or result of that benchmarking exercise was, that City of Newcastle would be able to utilise that information."
The exercise will look at how City of Newcastle compares when it comes to debt, grant revenue and procurement, including value for money.
The cost of recycling and garbage services, costs of road resealing, planning services and a deep dive into the number of development applications that are approved, average determination times and the number of outstanding applications will be included.
The benchmarking exercise will also look at community events, use of pools, staffing, parking, libraries and other facets of the organisation.
Newcastle councillors will have the opportunity to suggest metrics they want to come under the microscope.
Labor Cr Deahnna Richardson said it is a testament to the work the staff do at Newcastle council.
"It demonstrates that we are, as has been communicated a number of times, we are a really financially sustainable council," she said.
"We've got a record works programs and we are ticking a lot of those boxes that others in the local government industry, not just in NSW but right across Australia, are looking at and certainly measuring themselves against our organisation."
The council will be compared with two growth councils and a large council with a comparable manufacturing base in Victoria, an established NSW council and a large council in southeast Queensland.
Davidson Business Advisory will lead the benchmarking project, coordinating data collection and analysis.
City of Greater Geelong will bear the cost of the exercise and a report is expected to come back to the council in the first quarter of 2025.
The Office of Local Government also provides performance data for NSW councils online.
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