by Cam Lucadou-Wells
Greater Dandenong Council chief executive Jacqui Weatherill has been rewarded with a pay rise due to a positive annual performance review.
Councillors approved the 2.75 per cent salary hike at a meeting on 27 May. Crs Tim Dark and Bob Milkovic abstained from the vote.
The performance review was based on six measures including financial sustainability, customer experience, people and culture, and communication, engagement and advocacy.
Ms Weatherill met expectations or recorded strong performance across all measures, the review found.
Cr Rhonda Garad said the council had “seen a substantial uplift in contemporary management and leadership” during Ms Weatherill’s term.
“I want to congratulate her for the significant and important work that she has done and the great level of change management that was required.
“She undertook that in a robust way and we today are a stronger and better organization.”
Since replacing John Bennie in late 2022, Ms Weatherill has swept in change in the senior executive ranks.
Her new executive directors are Andrew Foley (corporate development), Peta Gillies (community strengthening), Sanjay Manivasagasivam (city futures) as well as executive manager Marjan Hajjari (strategic growth and advocacy).
They replaced long-serving directors and managers such as Paul Kearsley, Kylie Sprague and Jody Bosman.
The performance review was conducted by a CEO Employment and Remuneration Committee, comprising mayor Lana Formoso, deputy mayor Richard Lim and councillors Angela Long, Sean O’Reilly, Rhonda Garad, Jim Memeti and Sophie Tan.
The salary rise will be backdated to 19 December 2023 – 12 months after Ms Weatherill took the helm. It matched a 2.75 per cent rise for council employees in 2024-’25 after recent enterprise bargaining.
The details and amount of Ms Weatherill’s salary was not listed.
