Barry Omundson brings more than three decades of senior leadership experience across local government, government authorities and large organisations in Australia and the Pacific. He has held Chief Executive Officer, General Manager and Director roles in metropolitan, regional and remote councils, as well as statutory authorities, giving him a practical understanding of the realities facing councils of different scale, context and capability.

Barry most recently was the  Interim Chief Executive Officer at Orange City Council and has recently held interim and permanent CEO and General Manager roles with Central Coast Council (Tasmania), West Coast Council, Walcha Council, Whitsunday Regional Council and Mackay Regional Council. His experience also includes leading the Water Authority of Fiji and senior operational roles in infrastructure and service delivery organisations. This breadth of exposure allows Barry to move quickly into complex environments and provide steady, credible leadership during periods of change.

A consistent focus throughout Barry’s career has been organisational culture, leadership effectiveness and performance. He works from the principle that strong outcomes are achieved by investing in people, building trust and capability at the individual level, and aligning leadership behaviour with organisational purpose. His approach recognises the importance of systems and processes, while maintaining that sustained performance depends on engaged, supported and accountable teams.

Barry’s early career began in the Navy, where he completed an apprenticeship and progressed rapidly through the ranks before transitioning into local government. Having worked from frontline operational roles through to reporting directly to elected members, boards and ministers, he is able to relate equally to operational staff, executive teams and governing bodies. This perspective underpins his practical, grounded advice as a consultant.

As partner of Local Partnerships, Barry supports councils through executive leadership support, performance reviews, organisational culture work, change management and governance-related advisory services. He is particularly skilled in working with elected members and executive teams to navigate complexity, improve working relationships and lift organisational performance within a local government governance framework.