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Community and Client Services


Monthly Review

14 September to 18 October 2015

Community and Client Services 14 September - 18 October 2015

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

Review of Operations

Community Lifestyle 5

Mackay Convention and Entertainment Centre and Events 19

Corporate Communications 25

Community Engagement 30

Northern Australia Services 32


Executive Summary

Director Community and Client Services

The City is looking beautiful with the City Centre Revitalisation almost complete. The public artwork

is in place and looking very attractive. All the hard work of those involved is acknowledged and the

Mackay City Centre Official Opening will take place on 27 November, celebrating the City Centre

Revitalisation Project.

The Community and Client Services staff continue to work hard with many popular community events

and engagement happening around our region during this period.

Highlights

Disability Action Week: An Interactive Morning Tea was organised in the Civic Precinct, in

partnership with Disability Services Qld. This focussed on inclusion and provided an

opportunity for people with a disability, their families and carers to participate in a range of

activities including choirs, Latin dancing, art display and bocce. Over 150 people attended the

event with very high levels of engagement.

Assisted the Fiji Association Mackay Region with their Fiji Day celebrations. The event

was held on 10 October at Queens Park to mark the anniversary of Fiji Independence Day. A

kava ceremony, traditional food cooked in an underground earth oven, dance performances,

basket weaving, coconut husking and cultural shows were on offer for people to enjoy and

experience the ‘Bula’ smile and spirit. Mayor Deirdre Comerford was invited and took part in

the event as chief guest.

Mackay City Centre Public Art Stage 3 – Community Art Project: Local fabricators are

close to completing the three sculptural mangrove forms that make up the public artwork

(community art project) Meeting Place and the work is soon to be installed.

CAMS Program Officer (Community Action for a Multicultural Society) provided support and

participated in the Brown Sugar Festival held on 27 September starting with a street parade

from Wood Street to the Mackay Showground, with approximately 700 people attending and

positive feedback received.

Artspace Mackay hosted the highly successful ‘Up Late with Myf Warhurst’ fundraising

event on Friday 2 October. The event was organised by Artspace Mackay Foundation, and

was their major fundraising event for this year. 120 people purchased tickets to attend this

very special show in the main McAleese Gallery, presented by ABC and TripleJ star Myf

Warhurst. The event included live music with locals Tia and Jack performing in the Foyer

Gallery. Positive feedback has been received from the event.

MECC: September attendance at the centre is up on this time last year.


Emirates Melbourne Cup Tour: The Festivals team successfully delivered the Emirates

Melbourne Cup Tour events in Mackay. Events included the Charity Breakfast which hosted

80 guests, the Community Fun day which saw over 300 locals listen to racing legend Larry

Olsen, have their photo taken with the cup and children took full advantage of the free pony

rides and face painting. The team also organised a visit with the cup to the Sacred Heart

Ward at the Mater Hospital which was extremely well received.

It was a hectic few weeks for the Corporate Communications team in early October as

the team arranged three significant events in the space of a fortnight. The NRL Premiers

Cowboys Street Parade, DMLA 2nd

Annual Report luncheon and Mackay’s Day of Action

against Domestic Violence.

Corporate Communications named a finalist in the 2015 Queensland Multi-Media

Awards for Best Brochure for the Mackay Festival of Arts and #MackayPride is a finalist in

the major award for Best Advertising across all media.

Dudley Denny City Library: Public consultation on the concept drawings were held with 9 public displays around the city so that residents could view the drawings, ask questions, provide feedback and share ideas. A survey, feedback form and question tool on a Connecting Mackay page www.connectingmackay.com.au/dudley-denny-library has proved popular with 1,000 visits and the concept drawings had over 3,000 views.

Bridget Mather

Director Community and Client Services

http://www.connectingmackay.com.au/dudley-denny-library


Community Lifestyle

Community Programs

The Community Programs Team (except Museums) has responded to a combined total of 992

community enquiries (including phone calls, emails, personal interaction, social media, etc.) during

this reporting period.

Community Development

Participated in the inaugural Mental Health & Wellbeing Fair on Saturday 10 October at the

Mackay Showgrounds. The event was attended by over 600 people and Community

Development took this opportunity to engage with community through a “Wellbeing Game” in

order to showcase what Council has on offer to enhance community wellbeing.

Celebrated Odd Socks Day, a mental health awareness initiative, with a display of odd socks

and information at the Mackay City Library from 28 September to 2 October. The display

helped raise awareness and promote conversation around mental health and wellbeing.

Recognised Anti-Poverty Week (11-17 October) with three school art displays at the Mackay

City Library, Sarina Library and Sarina Neighbourhood Centre. Students from Eimeo Road

State School, Sarina State School and St Anne’s Primary School contributed the artwork

through which they expressed their interpretation of what poverty is and how the community

can help. In addition, Community Development organised a Council food/toiletries drive with a

number of collection points where staff donated non-perishable items. The collection will be

handed to St Pauls Uniting Church and Anglicare to add to their hampers.

Delivered Cross Cultural Training at six face-to-face sessions with Council outdoor staff with

approximately 200 workers in attendance. The total number of staff who have now completed

the training is 911 – 85% of MRC staff.

Hosted the Seniors Interagency meeting with 17 people attending from a range of services

including Carers QLD, Mackay Stroke Recovery Group, the Older Women’s Network, Road

Accident Action Group, Bowel Cancer Screening, MRC Libraries, MRC Arts Development,

Alpha Nursing Services, Alzheimer’s Australia, George Street Neighbourhood Centre.

Emergency Relief food vouchers are available at the Sarina Neighbourhood Centre on

Mondays only. Food voucher enquiries totalled 29 with 10 being allocated.

Youth Development

Over 20 young people participated in Dance Workshops at Studio 53 during the school holidays. The

workshops were facilitated by Samson Smith of Justice Crew. New Zealand-born Samson is well

known for his powerful breakdancing style, he is considered the “head-spin king” of the group. During

the hour and a half workshops, participants developed skills and learned a new breakdancing routine.

The Sarina Youth Centre Term 3 School Holiday Program saw approximately 100 young people in a

range of activities. These activities included cooking classes, art expressions, progressive pool

competition, indoor and outdoor games, team bonding activities and a costume day.


Ongoing support, counselling, information, referral and mentoring is provided to young people in need

in the Pioneer Valley - including young individuals "at risk" as per the State Government funded role

service agreement. Approximately 18 young people are receiving individual support for a wide range

of issues including coping with abuse, mental health, job hunting, coping at school, relationship/family

matters, anti-bullying, social isolation, grief and suicide prevention.

The Valley District Youth Council annual theatrical production will be held on 13-14 November at the

Pinnacle Playhouse. This year’s production is titled “The Circus of Life”. Workshops were held at the

Mirani Hall during and after the September school holidays with an average of 18 young people

attending each day in order to prepare. Further workshops are will be held at the Mirani Hall and the

Pinnacle Playhouse in preparation for the performance.

The Youth Art Competition entitled “Teenage Dreams in a Teenage Life Circus” will be held in the

foyer of the Pinnacle Playhouse in conjunction with the theatrical production. This competition

provides young artists of the Pioneer Valley the opportunity to express youth issues and views

through a variety of art mediums. Prizes are being donated through the Youth Council and other

sponsors.

Valley District Youth Council member Raoul Mackenzie has successfully participated in the

Queensland Youth Parliament, under the sponsorship of the Valley District Youth Council and under

the mentorship of State MLA for Mirani, Jim Pearce. Raoul has held numerous discussion sessions

with the Youth Council in this positive venture.

Arts Development

A total of 9 applications have been received in Round One of the RADF Program for the 2015/16

financial year. The RADF committee recommended that 6 of the 9 applications received be approved

totalling $15,697. An amount of $19,303 will be carried over for Round 2 applications. Promotion of

Round Two of the RADF Program has now commenced and the Arts Development Officers have

already met with a number of potential applicants.

Reporting Documentation for the RADF 2014/15 financial year was successfully submitted to Arts

Queensland on 30 September 2015. Included in this report, the RADF Survey received a 25% return

rate with 37 responses received.

Creative Mackay e-bulletin distributed to over 900 subscribers. Over 1500 Art Is In calendars (Issue

65 September, October and November) have been distributed.


Indigenous

Community Development Officer - Indigenous Issues is developing and updating an Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Business Directory in order to increase supplier diversity within Mackay

Regional Council. Community Development Officer - Indigenous Issues is also collaborating with

Corporate Communications to scope, develop and implement a plan to increase the presence of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content on Mackay Regional Council’s website.

Community Development Officer - Indigenous Issues assisted Organisational Development with the

selection and recruitment process for Indigenous identified traineeships.

Community Action for a Multicultural Society (CAMS) Program

Five vehicles and approximately 50 people took part in the street parade and approximately 700

people attended the event at the Showgrounds from 3-6pm. There were 15 stalls (hot food, make and

bake, clothing, etc.) including local ASSI groups/families and stallholders from Rockhampton, the

Gold Coast and Halifax. Entertainment was provided by local groups. Feedback received by the

planning committee has been very positive with most people saying they enjoyed the chance to catch

up but wanted the event to run for a longer period of time in the future.

In light of the recent suicides within the ASSI community (as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander), CAMS Officer organised a SafeTALK Suicide Prevention Training session for the ASSI

community, which was held at the Lagoons Meeting House on 13 October from 6-9pm. 19 people

participated in this very valuable training. Feedback from participants included feeling more

comfortable in knowing how to ask a friend or family member if they are having suicidal thoughts and

what further actions to take in order to seek help for the person.

Sister City

Youth Ambassador Program 2015 participants flew out to Japan on 19 September and returned to

Mackay on 2 October. A debrief meeting will be held with the young people and the chaperones on 21

October to obtain feedback on all aspects of the exchanged program.

Applications for Chaperones of the 2016 Youth Ambassador Program have been received with Jodie

Jackson and Ai Wakasugi being selected to accompany the 2016 Youth Ambassadors.

Grant Programs

Junior Sporting Grants – 6 applications have been received and approved.

Community Arts and Culture Grants – 5 applications have been received and approved.


Sport and Recreation

The first 5-week block of Get Out, Get Active physical activities targeting inactive women and girls

attracted over 500 participants across 5 locations – Calen, Ooralea, Northern Beaches, Sarina and

Pioneer Valley. Positive feedback has been received from both providers and participants. The

feedback surveys identified that 93% of participants were ‘Likely’ or ‘Very Likely’ to continue to

participate in physical activity of any type after being involved in the program. 89% indicated that they

were ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with the activity that they took part in.

The second 5-week program of Get Out, Get Active physical activities commenced on 12 October.

Sessions are planned across the five locations with 14 providers targeting inactive women and girls.

With the warmer weather aqua aerobics and aqua Zumba have been added to the program. 151

expressions of interest were received in the week prior to the commencement of activities.

To complement the Get Out, Get Active exercise sessions, nutrition workshops commenced on 14

September in Calen, Northern Beaches, Ooralea, Pioneer Valley and Sarina. Two workshops were

held in each location over a two week period focusing on ‘What is Healthy Eating?’ and

‘Understanding Food Labels’. 36 people attended the workshops, which was less than expected given

the popularity of the exercise sessions.

Following the first organising committee meeting on 15 September, planning is underway for the 2016

Sports Expo and Sign-On Day scheduled for Sunday 14 February 2016 at the Mackay Entertainment

and Convention Centre. The event is aimed at increasing participation in sporting, active recreation

and active leisure pursuits. The theme for next year’s event is “It’s an Olympic Year, Love Sport”. Sporting clubs, recreation and leisure groups have been encouraged to register.

Museums

Pioneer Valley Museum at Mirani

Visitor numbers: 21 (1 concessions, 20 adults)

Successful in receiving funding to purchase a laptop computer

Volunteer attended the Skill Development Workshop in Volunteer Recruitment and

Management organised by Museums & Galleries Qld

Mackay Historical Society and Museum Inc.

Visitor numbers: 118 (16 concessions, 17 adults, 85 children)

Volunteers accompanied 2 groups of school children from Alligator Creek School in a tour of

the museum and a tour of the city centre



Sarina District Historical Centre Inc.

Visitor Numbers: 186 (49 concession, 53 adults, 84 children)

2 volunteers have begun the process of checking, cataloguing and photographing all items in

the museum’s collection

2 volunteers attended the Skill Development Workshop in Volunteer Recruitment and


Greenmount Homestead

Visitor Numbers: 136

Weddings: 3


Friends of Greenmount (FOG) agreed on a constitution for the group’s forthcoming

incorporation which will enable FOG to apply for grants/funding.



Inkind Assistance

Applicant Request Cost

Dogs Qld Grounds

Committee

Provision of 10 general waste bins and 2 recycle bins in support of

their Championship Dog Shows.

$167.58

Mackay Triathlon

Club

Provision of 5 general waste bins, 5 recycle bins in support of the

Queensland Country Health Fund Corporate Teams Triathlon.

$171.50

Mackay Hospital and

Health Service

Provision of 2 general waste bins and 2 recycle bins in support of

the Deadly Choices Community Day.

$117.60

Rotary & Mackay

Regional Mental

Health Network

Provision of 10 general waste bins, 10 recycle bins, 100m bunting,

10 star pickets and 1x 15m skip bin in support of the Mental Health

and Wellbeing Fair.

$338.14

Mackay Surf

Lifesaving Club Inc.

Provision of 15 general waste bins, 5 recycle bins and 1x 15m skip in support of the North Australian Championships 2015.

$429.28

Mackay Rowing

Club Inc.

Provision of 5 general waste bins and 5 recycle bins in support of the

North Queensland Premiership Regatta.

$171.50

Sarina Kennel Club Provision of 5 general waste bins and 2 recycle bins in support of their Championship Show.

$142.10

Startup Mackay Provision of 2 general waste bins and 2 recycle bins in support of the

Pitch and Public Speaking Event.

$117.60

LGBTI Working

Group

Waivers of park hire fee at Civic Precinct area, 2 general waste bins

and colour Civic Precinct Fountain Pink from 7 to 14 December in

support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex

Community Awareness Day.

$688.00

Mackay West Rotary

Club

Waiver of park hire fee at Col Story Park, 10 general waste bins, 2

recycle bins, power and meter box in support of their Christmas

Fair.

$367.58

Total value of Inkind Assistance Request for the report period $2,710.88


Disability Action Week Interactive Morning Tea School Holidays Dance Workshop with

Samson Smith of Justice Crew

Mental Health & Wellbeing Fair

Brown Sugar Festival Anti-Poverty Week Display at Sarina Library


Libraries

Young People’s Services

Programs designed to encourage early literacy in children and their families had a total of

1653 in attendance compared to 1774 from 2014.

Programs designed to encourage library membership and to promote the library as an

entertaining and informative place for children and their families totalled 178 in attendance

compared to 70 from 2014 (includes school tours).

The Corner - “Where the Wild Things Play” at Gordon White Library attracted 796 under 8’s,

293 children aged 8 years and over and 603 adults (parents/carers) – a total of 1692 during

September.

“P is for Play” at Mackay City Library attracted 625 under 8’s, 370 children aged 8 years and

over and 605 adults (parents/carers) – a total of 1600 during September.

Tony Bones Entertainment, Mackay Regional Council Libraries, together with the Friends of

Mackay Libraries Inc, hosted Tony Bones Entertainment on Monday, September 7 at the

Gordon White Library. They delivered a children’s theatre production called “The Stone Lion”

based on one of the Children’s Book Week shortlisted titles. Over 300 students from 5

schools attended the two performances.

Mackay Regional Council Libraries attended the Baby Welcoming Ceremony at the Mackay

Regional Botanic Gardens on Sunday, September 13.

Community Outreach

Seven book-loving clients met on Thursday, September 3 for Cityside Book Club to discuss

Sofie Laguna’s The Eye of the Sheep.

Eight enthusiastic readers discussed Joan London’s novel The Golden Age, which was short-

listed for 2015 Miles Franklin Literary Award, at the meeting of Between the Lines Book

Club at Gordon White Library on Thursday, September 24.

Three social sewers stitched, socialised and unpicked at Social Sewing Saturday.

152 Home Library Service clients had 1 063 items delivered by 15 volunteers who travelled

163 kilometres.

Five members of the Valley Page Turners met to discuss the novel “The Girl Who Couldn’t

Read” – another good read.

Sophie Howard enjoying being read to by

her Daddy.

Mackay West State School, Homebush State

School and Northview State School.


Mirani Board Games. On Wednesday, September 9 three enthusiastic members attended

the board games night. Thursday, September 24 attracted four adults and four children.

The Digital Literacy Librarian and Community Outreach Librarian attended the Combined

Mackay Probus Group at the North Mackay Bowls Club to speak about Mackay Regional

Council Library Services to 60 members.

The launch of local author Deb Rae’s book Getting There: Grief to Peace for Young Widows

attracted over 100 enthusiastic supporters.

Heritage Collection

56 researchers visited the Carmel Daveson Research Room compared to 45 in 2014.

26 research inquiries actioned compared to 6 in 2014.

Statistics

Public computers totalled 1887 bookings and 1689 hours of use, and a total of 542 hours Wi-

Fi accessed.

Assistive Technology equipment was used for a total of 27 hours.

16 DiscoverIT classes held with 24 attendees.

6 requests received for ask a librarian enquiries.

Top 3 library website visits for the month of September:

o WebOPAC

o Library Home

o School Holiday Activities

Database hits including Atomic Training, Who Else Writes Like, Who Next, Transparent

Language Online and Literacy Planet totalled 330

0

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45000

JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN

Library Visitors

2014-2015

2015-2016


Top 5 Reserved Titles in September

Close your eyes / Michael Robotham.

The Saddler boys / Fiona Palmer.

The Patterson girls / Rachael Johns.

Pitch perfect 2 [DVD]/

Make me / Lee Child.

0

100

200

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700

JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN

New Library Members

2014-2015

2015-2016

0

10000

20000

30000

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50000

60000

70000

July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June

Library Loans

2014-2015

2015-2016


Artspace Mackay

Overview

Artspace Mackay is participating in a Standards Review program facilitated by Museums &

Galleries Queensland. This annual program is conducted in a new regional centre each year,

and this year four local museum/gallery organisations are taking part: Artspace Mackay,

Greenmount Homestead, Pioneer Valley Museum and the Heritage Collection from City

Library. The program so far has required a large commitment of time and effort, and staff

have been involved with completing a self-assessment survey (100+ pages), meeting with

expert reviewers and participating in workshops. The program is designed to ascertain how a

museum/gallery’s operating structures and programs compare to the National Standards.

Artspace Mackay’s expert reviewers presented their findings, to date, to a group of

approximately 40 gallery stakeholders. The program will culminate in December with a full

report back session and presentation of certificates.

Bimblebox: Art + Science + Nature is appearing in the McAleese Gallery, and Offshoots: A

Florilegium from Cairns Botanic Gardens will appear in the Foyer Gallery AND in the Lagoons

Gallery at Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens in a collaborative approach to enhance

visitation at both facilities.

In another Artspace Mackay / Mackay Region Botanic Gardens collaboration, staff of the two

facilities are working together on an artist-in-residence program with photographer Man

Cheung. Man, who is based partly in Brisbane and partly in Singapore, takes exquisite

photos of flowers and will photograph flowers from key local native species at Mackay’s

Botanic Gardens. A series of prints will be exhibited at Artspace Mackay and may be

acquired for the Mackay Regional Council Art Collection. The Botanic Gardens will also seek

permission to reproduce some images so that the Friends of Mackay Region Botanic Gardens

may produce and sell postcards in order to raise funds. Man’s work can be viewed at:

http://www.mancheung.com/p-botanical.html

The public programs team is preparing for two upcoming workshops. An ‘en plein air’

workshop will see Brisbane artist Nick Leavey teach students skills and techniques relating to

painting tonal landscapes. Supporting the collaboration between the gallery and botanic

gardens, Julie McEnerny (the artist featured in Offshoots appearing in both venues) will

conduct two workshops around botanic art. In the first, Sketching from nature, students will

work directly from life using a variety of media (eg pastels, charcoal and water-soluble

graphite pencils) and the second is a mixed media workshop which will allow students to

experiment using mixed media.

To stay up to date with everything that’s happening at the gallery, sign up to our e-Newsletter

or visit us on the web (www.artspacemackay.com.au) or on Facebook.

Visitors

Visitor numbers for September 2015, including Town Hall, were 2,012

Visitor numbers for September 2014, including Town Hall, were 2,199

http://www.mancheung.com/p-botanical.html

http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/


Visitor numbers from September 2014 – September 2015

Website visits:

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

2014 - 2015

2,012 2,199

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2014 - 2015


E-newsletter subscribers:

Facebook followers (includes Rock Paper Scissors Facebook page):

1200

1250

1300

1350

1400

1450

2014 - 2015

2200

2250

2300

2350

2400

2450

2500

2550

2015


Public Programs & Education

Date Program Location Attendees

16 September Guided exhibition tour for school group

McAleese Gallery 24

23 September School Holiday workshop: Relief Prints with Rosemary Payne

Seminar Room 10

24 September School Holiday workshop: Relief Prints with Rosemary Payne

Seminar Room 13

27 September Sunday Cinema: Dead Letter Office

Seminar Room 15

2 October Workshop for disabled kids: Life Without Barriers

Seminar Room 10

2 October Up Late with Myf: ASM Foundation fundraiser

McAleese Gallery 124

6 October Guided exhibition tour for school group

McAleese Gallery 18

13 October BMA Kidspace: toddler program

Seminar Room 90

14 October M&GQLD Standards Review: Stakeholder Presentation

Foyer 37

18 October Kids Art Club: Term 4 Seminar Room 24

18 October Printbank Mackay meeting Town Hall 12

Total = 377 Participants


Total = 377

Up Late with Myf

Friday 2nd Oct

Myf Warhurst (centre) with ASM staff &

volunteers


Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre

and Events

Management

Acting Manager MECC and Events has been involved with ongoing planning and

implementation of the City Centre phase 1 artwork “Cane Fire”

MECC management was also involved in assisting the Mackay Stadium Management deliver

PBR professional Bull Riding which was very well received from the community at large.

MECC management also assisted with five funding applications to state and federal funding

bodies for touring works in 2016-2017

Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre

Overview

September attendance at the centre is up on this time last year but still down 21% year to

date. This is due to many factors from the general economic climate to the fact that promoters

are sending less product to tour though the state compared to last year. The centre is still

preforming well these circumstances.

Corporate and private hires included, Yamaha Motors conference, Mackay Comedy player

“Legally Blond”, Carnage in the Cage, JCU presentation, comedian Dave Hughes, Sydney

Comedy festival, The Frank Sinatra Centennial year show, The Russian Ballet “Swan Lake”

and the very popular National Australia Orchid Society Conference with had a wonderful

attendance during the public viewing days and had a incredible social media following.

Numerous rehearsal sessions for the 69th Annual Mackay Eisteddfod.

Capital Program

The renewal of the city Christmas decorations is well underway and all orders have been

placed. There has been a small overrun in that budget but it will be covered off in savings in

other projects.

Planning for furniture replacement and Catering equipment is also complete and ready to be

rolled out in the January period.

Development/Other Issues

The MECC in-house catering is going from strength to strength; some challenges are

occurring around processing and receipting the extra transactions that this is creating but this

is being addressed.

Entrepreneurial

Coin Banks: This project was not cost recovered but was a successful youth program. A

panel of 12 young people attended approximately 5 onsite meetings and participated via

social media/poster distribution/email exchange. The project was driven by Kate Turvey, a

casual Box Office Attendant. Kate was MRC Runner up Apprentice of the Year 2014. This

project was the first entire project handled by Kate, and guided by senior staff. Final

attendance to the performance was less than expected, however, in all a very good learning

experience for the youth panel and for Kate. The work of this youth panel in Mackay recently


received national recognition at the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association

conference at the Sydney Opera House.

Head full of love: While this event was not cost recovered it was one of the most successful

engagement programs delivered in the last five years. While the engagement was reported

last month the final workshop was attended by 20 participants on the day of the performance.

Hamlet: The performance was 59% cost recovered and audience feedback was outstanding.

Blood Sweat and tears: This was not cost recovered but was received well by the public.

Performance

as at SEP 2015

Non-Financial Indicators KPI Year to date

Number of Performances fully cost recovered 50% 50%

Minimum number of catered functions (excluding performances)

140 31

Average attendance at events Auditorium 550 Auditorium 405

Foyer/space 100 Foyer/space 132

Halls 600 Halls 546

One Hall only 200 One Hall only 272

Number of non-utilised days 90 11

Number of Performances at the MECC 200 39

Number of Conferences/Expos 20 8

Number of Events with Attendance from outside Mackay Region LG area (Post Code Data)

40 15

Number of Student Attendances 2000 2279

Number of workshops > Youth 6 3

Number of engagement workshops/activities 8 5

Yearly occupancy of facility 175,000 30,826

Customer Hire Satisfaction 80% 93%


2013-2014 2014-15 2015-16

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JUL 28 15 9,953 9,229 17 17 10,996 305 16 12 5,464 1,116

AUG 13 17 9,994 3,225 28 17 13,525 843 10 15 10,829 517

SEP 15 26 9,286 902 18 42 14,403 1,784 13 34 14,533 4,086

OCT 116 23 42,128 1,202 114 14 36,761 4,575

NOV 19 23 22,024 1,700 16 33 20,333 754

DEC 10 43 14,211 760 7 17 8,124 0

JAN 0 121 13,162 0 0 5 3,286 1,500

FEB 4 19 16,391 0 5 14 19,673 7,142

MAR 17 26 10,825 1,408 11 24 9,128 38

APR 12 8 6,154 0 4 9 3,570 1,593

MAY 11 27 9,050 0 12 19 9,796 0

JUN 17 12 7,593 256 15 15 8,337 0

TOTAL 262 360 170,771 18,682 247 226 157,932 18,534 39 61 30,826 5,719

#NOTE: October is Eisteddfod Month + December 2013-Jan 2014 - Ice City II


Festivals and Events

.

Global Grooves

Final preparations are underway for the delivery of Global Grooves on Saturday 24 October.

The event will host 16 different cultural groups via stage performances, global village

workshops and food stalls.

New Year’s Eve

Planning for the New Year’s Eve River Party is well underway with the headline act – Jon

English and band secured.

Brisbane Street carpark and the river end of Brisbane Street will be closed this year to make

way for the abundance of food and market stalls and larger amusements. This will allow for

more space for people to enjoy the main stage entertainment as the area was overly

congested in 2014 due to the size of the crowds.

Bridges Bar and Restaurant have been consulted and will extend their licenced area

temporarily for the night to cater for guests staying on after the family entertainment

concludes at 9pm who wish to consume alcohol and view the main stage entertainment.

The Lanes Easter Carnival

Plans for proposed events during the Easter long weekend are being developed, including the

move of the family carnival back to the City Centre.

Local vintage car club has confirmed sixty-plus vehicles for display as they have a ‘meet’ on

that weekend in Mackay and meetings are taking place to arrange special dining and

accommodation packages for the car owners coming from outside the region.

The team is also currently consulting with Mackay Grande Suites about the possibility of

moving the Battle of the Bands / Youth Style concert back onto the rooftop of Mackay Grande

Suites as a ticketed event on the Saturday evening.

Emirate

Emirates Melbourne Cup Charity Breakfast Emirate Melbourne Cup Community Fun Day

Paint a Horse Workshop


Emirate Melbourne Cup Community Fun Day

History of the Cup Session


Corporate Communications and Marketing

Management

Sponsorship finalised for Australia Day awards ceremony with P Comino and Sons returning for the

fifth year and Daily Mercury and SEAFM remaining involved

Management finalised details of sponsors for the 2016 Sports Expo with all corporate partners

returning for the event.

Liaison with consultant KPMG into the internal audit of council’s Social Media to identify processes

and opportunities to make more effective use of social media. Draft report is being finalised.

Website

Visits for September 2015

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

Artspace MECC MackayCity

Centre

BotanicGardens

MackayRegionalCouncil

SarinaSugarShed

1,265

18,304 13,327

1,743

51,684

901


Facebook

Continue to show steady growth in number of likes to the council page. The NQ Cowboys

event on October 18 saw a reach of 27,029 people via Facebook, including 1,123 likes,

comments and shares.

The short video uploaded of the Graeme Connors song has already had 10,000 views in just

four days.

Fans: 9445

Twitter

Followers: 1534

YouTube

Video views: 851

Estimated minutes watched: 1115

Top 3 videos for September

1. Mackay Pride - Share Your Pride > 304 (36%) 2. Bowen Basin Bypass > 92 (11%) 3. Message from the Mayor: Help shape our new Dudley Denny City Library > 78

(9.2%)


A total of 177 media mentions during September.

General

Organised logistics for Street Parade and Public Welcome for premiership winning North

Queensland Cowboys players

Assisted in organising and promoting the DMLA Report back luncheon

Organised the Mackay Day of Action on Domestic Violence

Preparation work conducted on new marketing campaign to launch in November. The Share

your Pride campaign will encourage locals to tell us what makes them proud. Major prizes

donated by two local businesses Oaks and Helloworld.

Over 44 news releases issued during this period, ranging from new CEO appointment, to the

spawn of Stinky the Orchid.

Significant exposure was also generated for the announcement of successful projects from

the Invest Mackay Events attraction

A number of advertising campaigns organised including DMLA Luncheon, Global Grooves,

Christmas Grants and Cyclone Saturday.

Campaign finalised and will be launched in November for the Australia Day Awards and

Australia Day Community Grants

Designed and ordered two additional Bluewater Trail signs for the newly completed Cross

City Link section

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Media Monitoring Break-Down September 2015 News Clips/Articles


Good progress being made on 2014-2015 Annual Report, due to be adopted in late

November

Graeme Connors delights the Cowboys players with his

theme song.

Thousands turn out to celebrate Cowboys visit


Participants at the Mackay Day of Action against Domestic Violence

Guest presenters at the DMLA Report back luncheon.


Consultation vs Notification

Notification

Consultation

Community Engagement

The Community Engagement Officer presented to ten community groups – Senior Citizens, Older

Women’s Network, Youth Information and Referral Services, Headspace Youth Reference Group, All

Cultures Storytime, World Café, Cultural Diversity Interagency Group, Low Vision Group, Healthy

Ageing Reference Group and Friends of the Library.

In addition to this, every school in the Mackay region and both universities were emailed and

Community Development staff also distributed a flyer to all of their networks.

We also ran a drawing competition for children so that they could draw their ideas and received 22

entries (winners yet to be drawn).

Other consultations

Consultation on the potential sale of freehold land closed on September 30.

Consultation on the rehabilitation of Lagoons Creek closed on September 25.

Number of Projects involving community engagement Officers worked on 19 separate projects between September 14 and October 18. Which council programs worked with the Community Engagement team?

Levels of Engagement Officers worked on 4 projects requiring notification and 15 projects requiring consultation:

012345678

Projects


Members of the community have their say about the concept drawings of the new library at a public display held at Bluewater

Lagoon


Northern Australia Services

Service Successes

o Implemented a reporting solution that allows monitoring of resolution timeframes of

service requests, which will drive improved customer experience. o New improved process for fast and easy payment schedule application, these can

now be set up by one simple phone call to Council. o In time for the wet season, flood mapping information is now available in PDF form on

the Council website. o Continued uptake of MyH2o with the current registrations at 5651. This system

enables residents to monitor water consumption, including the early identification of possible leaks and can automatically alert customers as it happens preventing bill shock.


Client Services


IS Requests completed by category July 2015

Number of Requests completed by the I.S. Team


Total Number of IT Projects Completed

Completed Projects Breakdown by IS Team


Completed Projects Breakdown by MRC Priority Alignment

Safety and Risk

Legislative

MRC Operational Plan

ICT Strategic Plan

Business Improvement

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