Vision, structure and financial sustainability

Our Community Vision, Mission & Values

Our Vision

A thriving, inclusive, sustainable and resilient community that will benefit future generations.

Our Mission

To lead climate action and promote respectful connections between people and place, so we can enhance, protect and celebrate Woollahra’s beauty, heritage and quality of life, for the enjoyment of all.

We will do this by:

• Prioritising carbon neutrality, environmental sustainability and community resilience to meet the challenges of climate change and social and economic wellbeing.
• Acting as custodians and stewards of our highly-valued natural environment, including our harbour foreshore and marine ecosystems, and our leafy streetscapes and urban forest.
• Acknowledging the Aboriginal custodianship of Woollahra and fostering greater community understanding and appreciation of our Aboriginal history, heritage and culture.
• Celebrating the unique built heritage of our area by honouring it and furthering generational efforts to conserve it.
• Creating opportunities for community connection, engagement and partnerships so we can be proud of our shared commitment and achievements.
• Demonstrating our commitment to customer experience by being respectful, open, responsive, accountable and agile.
• Building long term financial sustainability so we are in the best economic position to provide for the diverse needs of our community now and in the future.

Our Values

We believe that what we do is important, but how we deliver our service is even more important. Values lay the foundations for what an organisation cares about most. They provide a common purpose that everyone can understand, work towards and are motivated by. Adopted in 2023 our values drive our behaviours, help create the culture of our organisation and support the delivery of our Vision and Mission.

Woollahra Council values:

• Respect: People are at the heart of everything we do. Communicate with honesty and display empathy. Treat others as you would like to be treated
• Open: Be open minded and clear in your communications; be accessible to the community; explain the process as well as the outcome and be transparent in all your dealings.
• Accountable: Take responsibility for your actions. Own your mistakes and don’t pass the buck. Follow through on what you say you are going to do.
• Responsive: Always close the loop in a timely and productive way, even if you don’t have all answers. Be helpful at all times and anticipate the needs of residents upfront.
• Excellence: Strive to be the best at what you do; care about quality and outcomes at every step of the way. Work at the forefront of continuous improvements in service delivery for our community.

These values influence our interactions with each other and with the community, and by employing people who support these values we hope to build on our reputation as a customer service organisation.

Councillors

Our community is represented by fifteen Councillors. There are three Councillors for each Ward within the local government area of Woollahra. See our Councillors page for Councillor contact details and a map of wards.

Organisational structure

This Organisational Structure chart(PDF, 44KB) provides a summary of each Council Division and Management area with information on the services, facilities and support offered by each section.