2024-2025 Message from the Mayor and CEO

Darebin recognises its responsibility to provide a safe and healthy work environment for employees, Councillors, contractors, suppliers and visitors.

Message from the Mayor

In November 2024, I was honoured to be elected the Mayor of Darebin. Since that time, I have been impressed by the dedication the team at Darebin brings to serving our community each and every day.

Before detailing our achievements, I want to acknowledge the sad passing of Cr Gaetano Greco in April 2025. Cr Greco was a passionate advocate for our community, driving social justice, community wellbeing and inclusive governance.

Cr Greco’s dedication to Darebin for 17 years leaves a remarkable legacy. He will be deeply missed by all.

This Annual Report 2024/2025 reflects the hard work and commitment of our Council, staff and the vibrant and diverse Darebin community we support. As someone who has lived in Darebin for nearly 35 years with a Macedonian migrant background, I am so proud of our community’s diversity and its strong sense of social justice.

There was significant renewal of our Council during 2024/2025, with a new team of seven first-time councillors joining two incumbents. I am very pleased with our collective commitment to working respectfully together to achieve great outcomes for our community. This collaboration, along with the recent recruitment of our new CEO, Anne Howard, sets a strong foundation for building community trust and delivering real change. 16 Community is always at the forefront of our decision-making and everything we do. This past year was defined by the development of the Our Darebin Plan 2025–2029 and other key strategic documents. The Plan sets out Council’s roadmap for the next four years. It outlines our key priorities, projects and services, reflecting what matters most to the Darebin community. We engaged with nearly 3,500 community members through surveys, workshops and targeted sessions to review our shared vision for 2041 and understand community priorities.

Community voices have been integral and the new plan directly reflects their priorities, including:

• addressing mental health, disadvantage and homelessness
• strengthening our approach to partnerships and advocacy
• planning for the growth of our community while ensuring Darebin remains a liveable and inclusive place
• improving customer service and strengthening the delivery of core services
• responding to the climate emergency through local action.

Despite the ongoing economic challenges faced by our community, we have remained financially responsible while continuing to invest in the projects that matter most. We have delivered and begun some truly exciting upgrades in 2024/2025.

• The new John Hall Reserve Pavilion was completed and building work started on the KP Hardiman Pavilion, both featuring gender inclusive facilities and sustainable design.
• Local kindergartens were expanded in partnership with the State Government at Merri Community Childcare Centre and 2A Raleigh Street, with construction underway at Maryborough Avenue Kindergarten. These projects will create 65 much-needed new kindergarten places for our youngest learners.
• Playgrounds around Darebin were renewed, including the Polaris Play Space in Bundoora, and the new Parade Playground was developed in Northcote in consultation with the community.
• We invested $1.6 million to resurface 36 sections of our roads, improving safety and accessibility across the City.

As the first Council in the world to declare a climate emergency, Darebin is proud to be a leader in climate action. We released our new Climate Emergency Plan 2024–2030 to step up our efforts to reduce emissions, build community resilience and help our city thrive in a changing climate.

We also collaborated with hundreds of businesses, partners and community members to develop Darebin’s Economic Framework, which provides a roadmap for building a stronger and more sustainable local economy.

We advocated strongly with other councils, calling on governments to address the shared challenge of social and affordable housing, and we added our voice to the Northern Council Alliance to advocate for urgent action to improve the northern region transport system.

Reflecting on our ongoing commitment to an inclusive and equitable community, we started work on our new Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Plan, which will be endorsed in the 2025/2026 financial year.

In 2024, the Minister for Local Government appointed Municipal Monitors June Anstee and Ross Millard. The Monitors worked closely with Council to build on the important governance and other improvements recommended by the previous Monitor, John Watson, to ensure these were fully implemented.

We look forward to receiving the Monitor report from Ms Anstee and Mr Millard. I want to sincerely thank interim CEO Michael Tudball for his valuable contributions, my fellow councillors for their support and commitment to our community, and the dedicated staff for their tireless work throughout the year.

Looking forward to 2025/2026, I am optimistic. Guided by our shared vision and the energy of our new team, we will continue to deliver what matters most and build a vibrant, sustainable and inclusive Darebin for today and for the future.

Cr Kristine Olaris
Mayor

Message from the CEO

Although I have only been here a short time, I am inspired by Darebin’s achievements of the past year. I would like to thank former CEO Peter Smith and interim CEO Michael Tudball for their leadership, which ensured the needs of our community remained at the heart of everything we do.

I also want to thank our dedicated staff, volunteers and partners. Your commitment, especially during this time of transition, has been instrumental in delivering the essential services that our community relies on every day.

A major highlight of 2024/2025 was the Our Darebin project. This extensive community engagement process included three rounds of broad and targeted community engagement, a deliberative panel, and further engagement with the community on draft documents. This ensured valuable input on a wide variety of local priorities, concerns, health and wellbeing. We now have a revised Community Vision and a new Council Plan, Our Darebin Plan 2025–2029, which together will serve as our roadmap for the future.

We also finalised Darebin’s Annual Budget and Financial Outlook 2025/26 to 2028/29, which were shaped by feedback from the community and designed to help bring the Darebin 2041 Community Vision to life. 

With a responsible fiscal focus, we continued to invest in the services and infrastructure that matter most.

We are proud of these key achievements:

• delivering 10,120m2 of new footpaths, resolved more than 37,000 service requests and invested $1.6 million to resurface 36 sections of road throughout the city
• providing 21,955 vaccinations to our community, an increase of almost 3,000 vaccinations to 1,500 more people than the previous year
• introducing a new fleet of waste service vehicles with lower emissions and advanced safety features. We also launched a two-year trial of a booked hard waste collection service to improve recycling and reuse
• completing a Reservoir Leisure Centre scoping study focused on engaging with the community to understand what is important. The information will be used by Council to inform a future business case and funding strategy
• endorsing Darebin’s Economic Framework, developed to help build an economy that works for everyone and makes Darebin businesses stronger
• adopting the new Climate Emergency Plan 2024–2030, integrating Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung cultural knowledge into conservation work
• investing $300,000 in safety upgrades around schools to encourage healthy sustainable travel and strengthening school communities
• receiving Rainbow Tick accreditation for three Council services: Youth Services (Northland Youth Hub, Decibels and Outreach), Toy Library, and Early Years Professional Development and Resources (Early Years Resource Van, Darebin NE Community Hub)
• being awarded Excelling Level accreditation by the Welcoming Cities network. We are the first council in Australia to achieve this honour
• reaffirming our commitment to the youngest community members with Darebin’s Families, Youth and Children Strategy being endorsed after significant community consultation. As we look ahead, we know our community continues to navigate challenges such as the rising cost of living and environmental concerns. Our commitment is to be financially responsible while continuing to invest in essential services. Guided by our revised Community Vision and Council Plan, we will build on this year’s progress.

I am grateful for the dedication of our staff, councillors, community partners and volunteers. I look forward to building on what has been achieved and listening to and engaging with our community as we work together to make Darebin an even better place to live, work and thrive.

Anne Howard
Chief Executive Officer