Corporate Strategic Planning

Our vision, purpose and values guide the City’s future direction, to make Cockburn the best place to be.

Our Vision

Council’s vision:
"Cockburn, the best place to be."

Our Purpose

Our purpose: 
"Support our communities to thrive by providing inclusive and sustainable services which reflect their aspirations."

Our Values

The City has three organisational values. They are:

• We care deeply for our people, community and environment
• We are empowered to be our whole selves and flourish
• We foster innovation by being informed and collaborative.

We seek to have all employees conduct themselves according to these three values.  These values influence our workplace culture and assist our staff to deliver quality customer service.

The City of Cockburn’s strategic planning framework sets a clear vision for the future, shaped by community input and guided by long-term goals, to ensure sustainable growth, responsible governance, and a thriving community.

The Strategic Community Plan 2025-2035

The Strategic Community Plan 2025-2035 is a bold and community-driven vision that sets the long-term direction for the City of Cockburn. Developed through extensive consultation with residents, businesses, and stakeholders, the Plan reflects the values, priorities and aspirations of our diverse and growing community.

This Plan is more than a guiding document – it is our shared commitment to making Cockburn the best place to be. It outlines how we will support a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable future by aligning our services, projects and investments with what matters most to our community.

The Plan is built around five strategic outcomes that will shape the City’s development over the next decade:

• Our Economy – Attracting investment, supporting business and visitor growth and boosting local jobs through vibrant hubs.
• Our Environment – Valuing natural assets, building climate resilience and using resources sustainably.
• Our Community – A diverse, active, and connected community that feels safe and has access to local services.
• Our Places – Enhancing distinctive, liveable areas with well-connected, safe transport options.
• Our Governance – Transparent leadership that listens, communicates openly and plans for a sustainable future.

The Strategic Community Plan is the City’s highest-level planning document and is supported by the Corporate Business Plan, Long-Term Financial Plan and Workforce Plan. These documents work together to ensure that our strategic objectives are translated into real outcomes for the community.

The Plan is prepared in accordance with the Local Government Act 1995, the Department of Local Government Integrated Planning Framework, and the City of Cockburn Community Engagement Framework. It is reviewed regularly – every two years through a desktop review and every four years through a full community review – to ensure it remains responsive to changing needs and opportunities.

Progress is tracked and reported through the City’s Annual Report and the biennial Liveability Study, ensuring transparency and continuous improvement.

Together, we are shaping a future where Cockburn continues to thrive – economically, environmentally and socially.

Corporate Business Plan

The Corporate Business Plan 2026-2027 to 2029-2030 is an internal business document that outlines the City’s key projects, corporate projects, plans and services over the next four years. It provides a clear line of sight to the delivery of the projects and services linking them to the Strategic Community Plan 2025-2035 objectives.
 
Relevant information from the Annual Budget, Long Term Financial Plan, Asset Management Plans, Workforce Plan and key informing plans has been incorporated into the Corporate Business Plan. 

Annual Budget

Between 1 June and 31 August each year, the City is required to adopt an Annual Budget for its municipal fund in accordance with Section 6.2 of the Local Government Act 1995 and the associated regulations.

The annual budget is a product of the City’s integrated planning framework and aims to deliver upon high level commitments contained within Council’s Strategic Community Plan and four year Corporate Business Plan.
 

Service Plans and Project Plans 2026-2027

The City has undergone the process of developing Service Plans and Project Plans which form the framework for the Corporate Business Plan and Council’s budget decisions. They define service levels, increase transparency and improve accountability and reporting capabilities. Implementation of the plans over the financial year will assist the City to continue to deliver improvements in service and project delivery.

Annual Report

We are pleased to present the City of Cockburn’s Annual Report for 2024-2025. This comprehensive document provides a snapshot of our organisation’s performance against key performance indicators set by Council, our achievements, challenges and financial results in accordance with the Local Government Act.

• Leadership Insights: Our Mayor and CEO provide their perspectives on the year’s accomplishments and challenges
• Our City in Focus: Learn about Cockburn, our Council and the services we offer
• Progress Towards Strategic Community Plan Outcomes: An evaluation of our progress toward the goals and objectives outlined in our Corporate Business Plan, highlighting our successes, recognitions and challenges, categorised by the Strategic Community Plan outcomes
• Governance, Legal and Community Inclusion: Information on governance practices, legal compliance, and development activity, and an update on our Disability Access and Inclusion Plan
• Financial Performance: A detailed analysis of our financial position and performance
• Looking Ahead: Discover our plans for the future and how we're working to address emerging challenges and opportunities.

Long Term Financial Plan, Workforce Plan 

The City’s Long-Term Financial Plan 2028–2037 provides a 10-year financial roadmap for how we will fund services, facilities and infrastructure for our growing community. It brings together our future operating and capital needs and considers how we will maintain and renew existing assets, invest in new and upgraded infrastructure, and respond to changing community needs. The Plan supports responsible long-term decision-making by balancing these priorities with affordability, strong financial management and the City’s ongoing financial sustainability. 

The Plan will be reviewed regularly to reflect changing economic conditions, community priorities and Council decisions, helping ensure the City remains well positioned to deliver for Cockburn now and into the future

The Workforce Plan is the plan for staff employed by Council over the period 2026-2030. The aim of the Plan is to ensure Council has the correct skill and relevant numbers of staff to deliver services required by Council to meet the aspirations of the Strategic Community Plan and Corporate Business Plan.

Integrated Planning Framework

The Department of Local Government and Communities Strategic Integrated Planning Framework provides local governments with a framework for their corporate planning.

This framework starts with the development of the Strategic Community Plan and requires the development of Asset Management Plans to link with the corporate planning and budgeting process. These Asset Management Plans require reliable and up-to-date asset data to help the local government with reliable budget forecasting.

Asset Management Plans

The City of Cockburn currently manages over $2.4 billion of assets. The Asset Management Plans are strategic informing strategies that assist the City in its yearly budgeting process and further strengthen the City's management of long term asset renewal planning and funding requirements.

The current replacement value (June 2024) for assets managed by the City was $2419 million. The plans are reviewed every two years to ensure that future iterations of the Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) use the most accurate asset information and financial projections.

LIVEABILITY Community Liveability and Service Surveys

​PLACESCORE Service Survey 2025

The City undertakes a Service survey every two years. The survey is designed to measure the community's satisfaction with the performance of Council services and help us to understand community priorities.

Your priorities 

Your top ten priorities across the City are, in order of priority as follows in the table. Council uses this information along with other tools to evaluate and adjust priorities and and focus areas for future planning.   
 

Rank	Service area	Percentage who rate as good/very good
1	Providing value for money from rates	44
2	Community safety and Crime prevention	72
3	Provision and maintenance of parks and public spaces	57
4	Safe public spaces	55
5	Council making decisions in the best interest of the community	38
6	Planning for future community needs	34
7	Protection and management of the natural environment	48
8	Road maintenance and condition	45
9	Community wellbeing	52
10	Beach and/or waterways	71

Best performers

These are the services that were rated as the top performers. The percentage is those respondents who rated the service very good and good.

Service area	Percentage who rate as good/very good
Rubbish collection and waste management	80
Beach services	71
Sport and recreation facilities and programs	69
Parks and public spaces	66
Library facilities, services and programs	66

Benchmark across Australia 

Overall satisfaction with the City is at 89 per cent which is higher than the average for Australia and Western Australia. While this is something to celebrate, we always strive for continual improvement. 
 
For further details, please refer to the one page summary or the full report below.

PLACESCORE Liveability Survey 2024

Every two years, we connect with residents through the Liveability Survey to hear what’s most important to you, your values, your experiences, and your vision for a better Cockburn. This survey has replaced the annual Community Scorecard and is a key part of our Corporate Strategic Planning.

Why this matters

Your feedback helps us shape decisions on services, programs, and infrastructure to ensure Cockburn continues to be a great place to live. By understanding what’s working and where we can improve, we’re building a better community together.

The latest survey, conducted in September 2024, offers valuable insights that guide the City and Council in making informed decisions, investing wisely, and tracking progress over time.

Key survey focus areas

The Liveability Survey covers four key categories to help us better understand community needs:

• Community Values – What do residents cherish most in an ideal neighborhood?
• Place Experience – How do residents rate their current lived experience in Cockburn?
• Strengths and Priorities – What’s working well, and where do we need to improve?
• Community Ideas – Big or small, what ideas do residents have to make their neighborhood better?

What we heard

Here’s a snapshot of what you shared with us:

• Cockburn is performing just below the WA average in terms of liveability, but our current focus areas align well with your priorities.
• Key priorities identified by the community include:
  • Improving the perception of safety
  • Enhancing access to active and public transport
  • Supporting locally owned businesses
  • Protecting our natural environment

What’s next?

Your feedback is helping shape our Strategic Community Plan, guiding investment decisions, and ensuring we continuously improve. Together, we’re working to make Cockburn an even better place to live, work, and play.

Where to find the results

The PLACESCORE Liveability Survey results are available in our Annual Report under the Community satisfaction headings and in a separate summary report.