Ararat Rural City Council isn’t making headlines with AI announcements. But over the past two years, they’ve steadily improved digital service delivery in ways that actually affect residents.

It’s worth paying attention to because it shows what realistic council digitisation looks like—no flashy projects, just incremental improvement.

What’s Actually Changed

The council’s online services have expanded significantly. Planning application status, rates payments, waste collection schedules, facility bookings—most common interactions now have a digital option.

That sounds obvious for anyone in Melbourne, but many regional councils still require phone calls or in-person visits for basic transactions.

More interesting is what they’ve done with internal processes. Development assessment workflows that used to involve physical files moving between desks are now digital. Not automated, but digitised. Staff can work on applications from home, which matters when you’re competing for planning professionals against bigger councils.

The Budget Reality

Ararat doesn’t have Melbourne council budgets. They can’t afford custom platforms or big consulting engagements.

What they’ve done is maximise standard tools. Microsoft 365 across the organisation, with Power Automate handling workflow approvals. Payment systems use existing council software vendor modules rather than custom integration.

It’s not elegant. But it works, and it’s maintainable by staff without specialised technical skills.

The total digital transformation spend over two years was under $200,000. That includes training, implementation, and some external help with the tricky bits. Compare that to what metro councils spend on single projects.

What Residents Notice

Spoke with a local builder last month who deals with multiple western Victorian councils. His assessment: Ararat now processes applications faster than some of their larger neighbours.

The online portal for tracking applications means he’s not calling the planning department every few days asking for updates. That saves him time and reduces the admin load on council staff.

Rates payment options have improved too. The direct debit arrangement flexibility—different amounts, different schedules—wasn’t available before.

Limitations Worth Acknowledging

This isn’t a story about a regional council becoming a technology leader. There are real gaps.

The website itself is adequate, not great. Mobile experience is improving but still frustrating for some services. Integration between systems remains manual in places.

And there’s the question of digital exclusion. Not everyone has reliable internet or smartphone comfort. The council has explicitly maintained phone and counter services as parallel options. That’s the right call, but it does limit efficiency gains.

The Staffing Challenge

Regional councils struggle to attract and retain people with technology skills. Ararat has addressed this partly through training existing staff and partly by using external support for specific projects.

The council IT team is small—three people supporting the entire organisation. They’ve necessarily focused on reliability over innovation. When something breaks, they need to fix it, not call a consultant.

This pragmatism shapes every technology decision. If the internal team can’t maintain it, they probably shouldn’t implement it.

What Other Councils Can Learn

The Ararat approach isn’t exciting, but it’s reproducible.

Start with citizen pain points—the services people actually complain about. Often it’s simple things like payment options or application tracking.

Use standard tools wherever possible. Custom development sounds good but creates maintenance debt.

Train staff properly. The fanciest system fails if frontline staff can’t use it or don’t trust it.

And keep physical service channels open. Digital services should add options, not remove them.

Looking Forward

The council’s next focus is asset management—better tracking of roads, buildings, and infrastructure condition. Again, nothing revolutionary, just better data to support maintenance decisions.

Regional councils across Victoria face similar challenges. Tight budgets, small teams, diverse service expectations. The ones doing well are taking incremental approaches that match their actual capacity.

More information on regional council technology support is available through MAV—the Municipal Association of Victoria.