Working at the Shire

The Shire is a great place to work, the people are friendly, and there are opportunities to learn and develop in a professional and supportive work environment.

We aim to create a vibrant and connected Shire that supports and improves the community for everyone by living our values of ‘Respect, Integrity, Community and Excellence’ in everything we do.

We constantly strive toward constructive behaviour and positive outcomes by building upon our investment towards a positive culture.

We offer generous leave provisions, including long service leave with 13 weeks leave each 10 years of service as per the Local Government (Long Service Leave) Regulations. Pro-rata long service leave is able to be taken by the employee after seven years of continuous service.
 

Employees are entitled to 152 hours of annual leave per completed year of continuous service (for full-time employees). Annual leave will accrue progressively during a year of service. Employees will be paid at their ordinary rate plus 17.5% loading when the annual leave is taken.
 

By agreement between the Shire and employee, employees may elect to purchase up to 2 weeks additional annual leave and leave loading to a maximum annual leave balance of 6 weeks. 
 

Subject to eligibility, paid Parental leave is four weeks primary carer and two weeks secondary carer.
 

Eligible staff can take advantage of our flexi-time scheme, which could mean a nine-day fortnight or 19-day month for you (if employed full-time). We understand our employees have commitments other than work, so we offer flexible work arrangements, as well as a range of other benefits designed to help the work/life balance.
 

Employees may enter into salary packaging arrangements as specified within the agreement and Shire’s Salary Packaging Arrangements guide. We are partnered with SmartSalary to offer you great tax savings across remote area costs, novated lees, and relocation expenses, to name a few.

Eligible staff are entitled to free entry and swimming pool access at the Shire Recreation Centre. Staff can use the Civic Centre’s on-site gym for free.
 

We acknowledge the importance of a healthy workforce by offering free annual flu shots to all staff, plus free ad hoc health checks and assessments throughout the year, including skin checks.
 

Our free Employee Assistance Program offers 24/7 access to professional counsellors to help you and your family if you need professional advice on issues affecting your health, work, performance or personal relationships.

Peer recognition is our employee recognition and service program.  We encourage each other to call out the good, great and exceptional, the people and teams/groups making a difference daily. Our program offers twice-yearly recognition, which is celebrated at organisation-wide events and in our communications.  
 

We also celebrate Employee Service, including service milestone gifts recognising employee service as a valuable asset to the community, and Corporate Uniform subsidy is also provided to front line Customer Service Officers.

We invest in our staff by offering ongoing training and development opportunities. Some of these include on the job training and mentoring, formal education, short courses, seminars and workshops.  
 

We offer extensive learning and professional development opportunities relevant to your position and provide study assistance to eligible employees.
 

As an ‘employer of choice’, we endeavour to maximise the opportunities for those talented employees to grow their careers within the organisation.
 

Forward planning is an integral part of supporting career growth, and we will develop workforce plans that identify future opportunities for position progression and changes in workforce skills.
 

We seek to remove traditional barriers that may have impeded certain employee groups from being able to pursue their career aspirations. Our Equal Opportunity Plan particularly supports the career growth of underrepresented employee groups.

Our Shire office environment is clean, modern and inviting.
 

The central location is within walking distance of shops, bars, cafés and restaurants.
 

We also have a purpose-built Works Depot, Library Services building and Waste Services facility located short drives away from the Administration Centre.

The Augusta Margaret River Shire Enterprise Agreement provides for reward and recognition through:

• Annual July salary increase as set out in Enterprise Agreement
• Performance-based step increases for eligible employees, equivalent to a 2% salary increase (separate from annual July increases)
• Matching superannuation - the Shire will match dollar for dollar employee super contributions from 1% to 3% (employees who choose to make additional personal contributions towards their nominated superannuation fund including 1%, 2% or 3% deductions will receive a co-matching contribution by the Local Government up to the value of 3%.)
• Paid Parental leave - four weeks primary carer and two weeks secondary carer
•  Journey insurance to and from work coverage
• Paid and unpaid community service leave
• Supplementary leave benefit for emergencies & shutdown periods
• Attractive penalty rate provisions 20% for outside ordinary working hours, 50% for Saturdays and 75% for Sundays
• Flexible working arrangements, including potential nine-day fortnights for relevant employees
• Access to Employee Assistance Programs
• Greater flexibility for Long Service leave
• Recreation Centre memberships.