PORT Stephens Council has won a Gold Award in the Australasian Reporting Awards for its accessible and transparent 2019 to 2020 annual report.

The awards provide a benchmark for world best practice in annual reports and recognise those who achieve this high standard.

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Council’s General Manager Wayne Wallis accepted the award on Council’s behalf at an online ceremony this afternoon.

“We’re very proud to have achieved the gold standard of reporting.

“It’s a wonderful recognition of our Council’s commitment to open, transparent and accessible reporting.

“Our annual report is a key way we hold ourselves accountable to our community – where we report openly and honestly about our highlights and challenges for the year, and look ahead to what’s next,” he said.

“Our theme for the report was connection, which has been more important than ever during COVID-19.

“We chose to reflect this theme on our cover by featuring beautiful textile artworks that were knitted by our community during lockdown.”

Mr Wallis said the annual report is just one way Council is focused on accessible and transparent communication.

“We’re continually improving the way we communicate with our community by writing in plain English, using graphics to tell the story and making sure our content is accessible for all.

“Our annual report is a great example of how we’ve turned what is a legislative requirement into an interesting and inclusive document, which makes it easy for our community to find out how we’ve performed.

“If you’ve never picked up an annual report before, I’d encourage you to take a look at this one! It’s easy to read, colourful and conveys key information quickly and easily,” he said.

For more information and to read the report, visit https://www.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/your-council/policies-forms-publications/publications-and-information/annual-reports/