A look at FastTrack 2025 - VLGA's Signature Professional Development Event

The success of the Local Government sector is dependent on the willingness for key agencies, councils and other tiers of government to work together. 

At our FastTrack annual leadership conference earlier this month, the VLGA was instrumental in bringing together people from across Local Government in Victoria including Local Government Minister Nick Staikos, Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nick Reece, the Victorian Ombudsman Marlo Baragwanath, Cheif Municipal Inspector Michael Stefanovic from the Local Government Inspectorate, former councillors, CEOs and administrators, Peter Graham from the Auditor-General's office and Alison Byrne, CEO of IBAC to share their collective wisdom and insights on the topic Leading with Integrity.  

Across three panels, participants took a deep dive into key issues which have a significant impact to the role of councillors and councils within their community including ways to best manage the CEO and councillor relationship, ensuring high standards of conduct and integrity, and the collaboration between the local government sector and oversight bodies. 

While the day focused on how can councils can lead their communities with integrity and good governance, what was perhaps more evident is how strong the sector is when their is a unified focus on working together and learning from each other.

The VLGA is proud of the relationships it has with people across the sector and looks forward to continuing to work together to achieve great outcomes for councils, elected representatives and the communities they represent.

As part of FastTrack 2025, the VLGA recorded a special live episode of VLGA Connect, where we sit down with participants and break down some of the key issues discussed on the day. You can view the episode here.

Thank you all those who attended the day and for all the fantastic work you do taking this important work forward, leading your communities with integrity.

Dates for the 2026 conference will be announced soon. We look forward to seeing you at our next FastTrack event!