Role Title: Analysing and visualising Local Government Data for Confident Decision-Making
Organisation: Local Government Professionals WA
Internship Period: Summer (November - December)
Location: Mount Hawthorn
LG Professionals WA's Data Drives Decisions (DDD) program aggregates benchmarking data — Grants Commission, LGIS, ABS, Landgate and library statistics — across Western Australia's 139 local governments. Subscriber feedback consistently tells us the same thing: there's an extensive amount of information available, but many councils, particularly smaller and regional ones without dedicated analysts, find it hard to independently interrogate it and turn it into decisions.
This internship will tackle that problem directly. Using an existing DDD dataset, the intern will research and assess new methods of analysing, presenting and visualising local government data, aimed at making it easier for leadership to understand and use with confidence. The intern will apply these methods to produce an example suite of data visualisations, then present them to a project working group for feedback on their usability and clarity.
The internship will finish with a report tying together the methods trialled, the working group's feedback, and recommendations for how LG Professionals WA can present DDD data more effectively going forward.
A good fit for a student interested in data visualisation, business analytics or user-centred design, wanting to see their work directly shape how a real sector-wide platform presents information to non-technical users.
Local Government Professionals Australia WA is the peak representative body for local government professionals in Western Australia.
LG Professionals WA was established in 1936, and is a National Federation with member associations in each State and Territory, representing over 5,000 members across Australia, with over 800 members in Western Australia.
We are committed to continual improvement in local government leadership, governance, management and service delivery for local communities, and ensuring that our members are at the forefront of change and innovation.