Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) Explained in NSW Councils

Thursday, 1 October 2026

Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) is the strategic planning framework that all councils in New South Wales use to translate community aspirations into council plans, allocate resources to deliver those plans and report progress to the community. The Office of Local Government (OLG) IP&R framework page describes it as a framework that begins with the community’s aspirations, not the council’s, for a period of at least ten years. It includes a suite of integrated plans that set out a vision, goals and strategic actions to achieve them. Introduced in 2009, IP&R replaced the former management plan approach with a system that connects long term community direction to short term operational delivery and requires councils to demonstrate that they have the financial, workforce and asset management capacity to deliver what they have promised.

What are the core documents in the IP&R framework?

The framework consists of six interconnected documents. The Community Strategic Plan (CSP) is the highest level plan. It captures the community’s long term aspirations for the local government area over a minimum of ten years. It is developed through community engagement and sets the strategic direction that all other plans flow from. The CSP is not a council plan. It is a community plan that the council is responsible for facilitating.

The OLG IP&R Guidelines set out the requirements for each document. The Delivery Program translates the CSP into a four-year program of council-led initiatives. The Operational Plan breaks the Delivery Program into annual actions with budgets. The Resourcing Strategy sits alongside the Delivery Program and consists of three components: a long-term financial plan (minimum ten years), a workforce management plan and an asset management plan. The Annual Report accounts for what was delivered against the Operational Plan. The Community Engagement Strategy guides how the council involves the community in planning and decision making.

How does IP&R connect planning to financial reality?

The Resourcing Strategy is the mechanism that connects aspiration to capacity. The long term financial plan models whether the council can afford to deliver the CSP over the planning period. The asset management plan identifies the infrastructure renewal requirements that must be funded. The workforce management plan assesses whether the council has the people it needs. Together, these three documents test whether the community’s aspirations are financially sustainable or whether trade offs are required.

This is where the framework is most valuable and most challenging. A CSP that promises upgraded roads, new community facilities and expanded services is only credible if the long term financial plan shows how those commitments will be funded. The OLG IP&R Handbook (February 2026) describes the framework as allowing councils to manage complexity in a meaningful and purposeful way, integrating community priorities into council strategies and plans while ensuring financial sustainability.

What makes IP&R different from a traditional strategic plan?

Three features distinguish IP&R from a conventional strategic planning process. The first is that it starts with the community, not the council. The CSP is the community’s plan, developed through structured engagement. The council’s role is to deliver the parts of that plan that fall within its remit. The second is the integration requirement. The plans are not standalone documents. The Operational Plan must trace back to the Delivery Program, which traces back to the CSP. Expenditure in the budget must connect to actions in the Operational Plan. This cascading structure creates accountability at every level.

The third is the resourcing test. By requiring a Resourcing Strategy alongside the Delivery Program, the framework forces councils to confront the gap between what the community wants and what the council can afford. This transparency is uncomfortable but essential. A council that adopts a CSP without testing it against financial capacity is making promises it may not be able to keep.

What challenges do councils face with IP&R?

The most common challenge is treating IP&R as a compliance exercise rather than a genuine planning tool. When the documents are produced to satisfy the legislative requirement but do not actually drive council decision making, the framework loses its value. A second challenge is community engagement fatigue. The CSP must be reviewed within the first nine months of each new council term, requiring significant community consultation each electoral cycle. Councils that struggle to engage their communities meaningfully produce CSPs that reflect officer assumptions rather than genuine community priorities.

The LGNSW IP&R training program is designed as a hands on experience for council staff to confirm the requirements and intent of the framework. A third challenge is the technical complexity of the Resourcing Strategy. Building a credible ten-year financial plan, an evidence based asset management plan and a workforce management strategy requires specialist capability that not all councils have in house.

How can professionals build IP&R and public finance capability?

AcademyGlobal (AG), the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Centre of Excellence for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, is also the exclusive Australian partner for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). AG’s CIPFA programs deliver public finance qualifications that build the analytical skills IP&R demands: long term financial modelling, asset management planning, financial reporting and accountability. For local government professionals building or reviewing their Resourcing Strategy, the CIPFA qualifications provide the structured public finance foundation that makes the financial components of IP&R credible. AG’s CIPFA Study Centre provides information on the full range of qualifications available in Australia.

IP&R is not just a planning framework. It is a governance discipline that connects what a community wants to what a council can deliver. The professionals who understand both the strategic intent and the financial mechanics are the ones who make the framework work.

Frequently asked questions

What is Integrated Planning and Reporting?
IP&R is the strategic planning framework prescribed by the NSW Local Government Act 1993. It requires all NSW councils to develop a suite of integrated plans that connect community aspirations to council operations, budgets and performance reporting over a minimum ten year horizon.
What documents make up the IP&R framework?
Six core documents: the Community Strategic Plan, Delivery Program, Operational Plan, Resourcing Strategy (comprising a long term financial plan, workforce management plan and asset management plan), Annual Report and Community Engagement Strategy.
Does IP&R apply outside NSW?
IP&R is specific to NSW. Other Australian states and territories have their own local government planning frameworks, but the principles of community driven planning, integrated resourcing and public reporting are common across jurisdictions.
What is the Resourcing Strategy?
The Resourcing Strategy tests whether a council has the financial, workforce and asset management capacity to deliver its plans. It consists of a long term financial plan (minimum ten years), a workforce management plan and an asset management plan.
Where can I build the financial skills that IP&R requires?
AcademyGlobal’s CIPFA programs build the public finance capability that supports the financial components of IP&R, including long term financial planning, asset management and accountability.

References

1. Office of Local Government NSW, “Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework”
2. Office of Local Government NSW, “IP&R Guidelines for Local Government in NSW”
3. Office of Local Government NSW, “IP&R Handbook for Local Councils in NSW,” February 2026
4. LGNSW, “Integrated Planning and Reporting Training,” Local Government NSW
5. Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), Divisions 5 and 6, via NSW Legislation