Research report · Regional NSW councils
Paper, People and the 2028 Deadline
How small regional councils lose time to manual administration — and a practical path to win it back.
Corexlab research, October 2026
30 minutes with a senior engineer to discuss your scope, risks and next steps. No obligation.
- pages of council records reviewed
- 15,700
- documented issues
- 188
- Civica Practical: no new releases after this date
- 30 June 2028
01Executive summary
Three things the records show.
01
The manual work is visible in councils' own words.
Business papers, audit plans and annual reports describe paper timesheets, actions tracked by hand and claim evidence that doesn't line up. Nobody had to guess; the councils wrote it down.
02
A system deadline is coming.
Civica Practical gets no new releases after 30 June 2028. Councils on it are choosing replacements now, and the data migration lands on teams that are already stretched.
03
The fix sits between existing systems, not in a new big system.
Most lost time is in the gaps: paper in the field, spreadsheets between finance and assets, evidence on phones. Small tools that capture work once and pass it to the systems you already run close those gaps without a large project.
02The pressure
Four forces landing on the same small teams.
Compliance
Reporting keeps growing. Quarterly budget review returns to the Office of Local Government are mandatory from the September 2025 quarter, and meetings must be livestreamed under the 2026 Meetings Regulation.
Audit scrutiny
The Audit Office's 2025 local government report found the same control gaps across the state.
- councils with system-access weaknesses
- 71
- councils with inaccurate asset registers
- 63
Disasters
Recovery claims now go through the NSW Reconstruction Authority's SmartyGrants portal. Claims are cut when photos, dates and invoices don't line up.
Workforce
Key finance and records roles sit vacant for months. The admin doesn't stop; it moves to whoever is left.
Sources: Audit Office NSW, Local government 2025; Office of Local Government; NSW Reconstruction Authority.
03Five findings
Where the time goes.
Each pattern appears in at least two of the three councils we studied, in their own published documents.
- Manual governance tracking3 of 3
- Paper field admin2 of 3
- Disaster claim leakage2 of 3
- System change plus vacancies2 of 3
- Disconnected asset data2 of 3
Source: Corexlab review of 2025–26 public documents from three western NSW shires.
Finding 01 · 3 of 3 councils
Manual governance tracking
Audit committee actions, risk items and council resolutions live in Word tables and spreadsheets, re-typed into each meeting's report.
Finding 02 · 2 of 3 councils
Paper field admin
Timesheets, leave forms and plant returns are filled in on paper. Office staff chase the missing ones and key the rest into payroll.
“Too much time is wasted on chasing information.”
Finding 03 · 2 of 3 councils
Disaster claim leakage
Flood damage claims are cut or rejected over evidence: invoices dated before the flood, missing photos, costs that don't reconcile.
$2.9m in rejected flood damage claims
$4.99m awaiting reconciliation
Finding 04 · 2 of 3 councils
System change plus vacancies
Finance systems are being replaced while finance and records roles sit vacant, so migration work lands on the people left.
Finding 05 · 2 of 3 councils
Disconnected asset data
Asset registers aren't linked to finance or mapping, so condition, cost and location are reconciled by hand.
04The approach
Capture → Connect → Comply.
Fix the gaps between systems in three steps. Each one is useful on its own, and each builds on the last.
Step 1
Capture
Record the work once, where it happens: a phone app for crews, dated and located photos, online forms instead of PDFs.
Step 2
Connect
Send approved data to the systems you already run (payroll, finance, records, assets) as an import file or through an existing API.
Step 3
Comply
Build the audit trail as the work happens: claim evidence packs, action registers and meeting reports from the same data.
Works alongside your existing systems.
We don't replace your finance or records system. The pilot captures the work, then sends approved data to the systems you already run, as a file they can import or through an API they already offer.
- Civica
- MAGIQ
- TechnologyOne
- Your records system
Changing finance systems? It keeps working.
The pilot holds its own data and sends an export to finance. If you move to a new finance system, we change the export. Crews and supervisors keep using the same app.
05Where to start
Take the paper out of timesheets, flood claims and audit actions.
Small, fixed-price software pilots for councils with 50 to 200 staff. Built to sit alongside the finance and records systems you already run, and priced under the tender threshold.
Paper timesheets, leave forms and plant checks
Crews fill in paper sheets in the field. Someone in the office chases the missing ones, then keys the rest into payroll.
What we build: A simple phone app for crews: timesheets, leave and pre-start checks, approved by supervisors and exported to payroll. Works offline and syncs when back in coverage.
Flood-claim evidence and reconciliation
Disaster recovery claims need photos, dates, invoices and costs that line up. When the evidence is spread across phones, inboxes and spreadsheets, claims get cut or rejected.
What we build: Dated, located photos and costs recorded against each damaged asset, with the evidence pack built as the work happens, ready to lodge with the NSW Reconstruction Authority in SmartyGrants.
Audit and action items tracked by hand
Audit committee actions, risk items and council resolutions live in Word tables and spreadsheets, updated by hand before every meeting.
What we build: One register with owners, due dates and reminders, and the meeting report produced from it.
06The pilot
A 6–8 week pilot, with one clear measure.
01 · Week 1
Scope and agree the measure
We spend time with the people who do the work, such as a crew, a supervisor and payroll. Together we pick one problem and write down one success measure, for example timesheets reaching payroll in two days instead of ten.
02 · Weeks 2–6
Build with real staff
A working tool goes to a small group of staff early, and we improve it each week from what they tell us. You see a demo every week.
03 · Weeks 7–8
Measure and decide
We measure against the number we agreed and give you a short written report. Then you decide: roll it out, extend it, or stop.
Fixed price, under $50,000
Under $50,000 sits below the $250,000 tender threshold, so it's bought through quotes under your procurement policy.
07Illustrative business case
What digital timesheets could give back.
Move the sliders to match your council. The estimate counts office time spent chasing, checking and keying paper timesheets.
Illustrative estimate — validate with your own figures. Assumes a fortnightly pay cycle (26 timesheets a year) and counts office time spent chasing and keying paper sheets. Shown with 40 staff, 20 minutes per timesheet and $60 an hour.
08Roadmap
Prove it small, then carry it across.
Next 90 days
Prove
Pick one process, such as timesheets. Run a 6–8 week pilot with one crew and one success measure, at a fixed price under $50,000.
Months 4–12
Extend
Roll out to more crews, then add the next process, such as claim evidence or action tracking, on the same foundation.
2027–28
Carry across
When the new finance system goes live, we change the export. Crews and supervisors keep the same app, and the history comes with it.
09Who you'd work with
Who you'd be working with.
- Australian business
- Corexlab Pty Ltd, ABN 81 668 487 189. Sydney office at 622 Harris St, Ultimo NSW 2007.
- Sydney-led, delivered from Dhaka
- A senior lead in Australia, with our engineering team in Dhaka. It's how we keep pilots under $50,000.
- Australian data hosting
- Council data is stored in Australia, unless you choose to keep it on your own servers.
- On-premises option
- Prefer to keep data on council servers? We can install the pilot in your own environment instead of hosting it for you.
- Essential Eight-aligned
- We build and run pilots in line with the ACSC Essential Eight controls.
- Insured
- We hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance. Certificates of currency are available on request.
I'm a Sydney-based engineer with nine years of building production software, including the U-Send logistics platform and the Roaming Audit telecom auditing platform. I lead our team across Sydney and Dhaka, and mentor students in UTS's Software Development Studio. On a council pilot, I'm your contact from the first call to the final report.
10FAQ
Common questions.
How do we buy this without going to tender?
The pilot is a fixed price under $50,000, well below the $250,000 tender threshold, so it's bought through quotes under your procurement policy. We'll send a quote with the scope and success measure written out, ready to attach to your purchasing paperwork.
Does this replace our finance or records system?
No. The pilot sits alongside them and sends approved data across as an import file or through an existing API. Nothing in your core systems is changed.
How do you handle security?
Access is role-based, and every change is reviewed by a senior engineer before it's released. We'll complete your security questionnaire before the pilot starts, and we're happy to work with your IT provider.
Can it run on our own servers?
Yes. If your council would rather keep data in-house, we install the pilot on your own servers and your IT provider keeps control of access. We agree the setup in week 1, before any build starts.
Who owns the data and the code?
You do. You can export your data in full at any time, and the custom code is kept in repositories you control.
What happens after the pilot?
You decide. If it met the measure, we'll quote to roll it out to more teams, either as a fixed-price stage or a monthly support arrangement. If it didn't, you keep the code and data and we part ways. There's no lock-in and nothing renews automatically.
Method note
This report draws on about 15,700 pages of public documents from three western NSW shires: 2025–26 business papers, annual reports, audit plans and policies. We added statewide sources from Audit Office NSW and the Office of Local Government. Each of the 188 issues links to its source page. We don't name the councils; we report patterns. Three councils is a small sample, so read the chart as a pattern, not a statistic.
Start with one process.
We'll talk through the problem, how a pilot would work at your council, and roughly what it would cost.
30 minutes with a senior engineer to discuss your scope, risks and next steps. No obligation.
Download the report (PDF)