Jorja Hackett
Gisborne District Council
For the past two years, I have worked as a Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement Officer with Gisborne District Council. Before joining Council, I spent four years at the Aotea Māori Land Court. Born and raised in Whanganui, I graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Biodiversity and Environmental Studies and spent a year studying at the University of Idaho.
I have always been passionate about protecting the environment. While my primary focus is water compliance, my role also involves a broader range of compliance and monitoring activities across the region. I enjoy working with consent holders & the community to achieve positive compliance outcomes and find it rewarding to contribute to the sustainable management of our natural resources for future generations.
Sharing Is Caring: Lifting Compliance Outcomes Through Cross-Regional Secondments
This presentation demonstrates the value of sharing compliance capability through thesecondment of an investigator from Bay of Plenty Regional Council to Gisborne DistrictCouncil, and how targeted collaboration can deliver mutual benefits for both the hostand home organisations.
A maternity cover vacancy created an opportunity to work across regional boundaries.The secondment delivered immediate operational value, additional capacity to progressactive files, and an independent perspective on complex matters. This helped maintainprogress and strengthened confidence in compliance outcomes.
The presentation will show how the secondment supported day-to-day compliancefunctions, including progressing investigations and strengthening enforcementpathways. It will also demonstrate a platform for mutual learning and the sharing of bestpractice. The investigator gained valuable exposure to different regional contexts,stakeholder dynamics, and problem-solving approaches, while Gisborne staff benefitedfrom new insights, tools, and ways of working.
We will reflect on how secondments can act as a low-cost, high-value developmentopportunity, supporting staff growth, strengthening organisational resilience, andpromoting consistency in compliance practice.
When workloads are high and risk is real, the challenge is not just capacity, it’smaintaining momentum and making sound decisions under pressure. This presentationmakes the case that sharing experienced people is a pragmatic way to achieve both.