Innovation Case Study: Tammi Rose, Yarra Ranges Shire Council
Tammi Rose, Chief Executive Officer
Tammi Rose: Innovative CEO shaping resilient, future-ready local goverment
Over 25 years, Tammi has built a distinguished career in local government as a CEO, senior executive and board director. She delivers lasting community outcomes and advocates for the local government sector across jurisdictions.
A generous and influential leader, Tammi actively contributes to sector networks and is passionate about developing future leaders, investing time mentoring and coaching the next generation.
2026 MAVlab Innovation Awards Finalist:
Innovatio Pro Bono Publico Award: Established Leader (CEO), supported by Davidson.
Bold leadership and strategic vision:
Tammi Rose is an exceptional CEO who leads with courage, clarity and an unwavering future focus, setting a bold, compelling direction for Yarra Ranges Council in one of the most complex municipal environments in Victoria. With over 25 years’ leadership across public, private and not-for-profit sectors, she brings a rare combination of strategic foresight, disciplined financial leadership and deep community connection.
Leading Yarra Ranges Council is uniquely complex due to its sheer scale and diversity. Covering 2,500km²; Victoria’s largest metropolitan municipality, it spans dense urban areas, townships, forests, and agricultural valleys. This creates competing priorities across infrastructure, environment, disaster resilience and economic growth. The region faces heightened exposure to bushfire, storm and flood events, alongside financial pressures of maintaining vast assets. Unlike most councils, as the Yarra Ranges Council CEO, Tammi must balance metropolitan expectations with regional challenges. Tammi has led with confidence and resilience in this environment, balancing immediate demands with a disciplined long-term vision.
Tammi does not simply respond to change; she anticipates it. She has repositioned Council to proactively address emerging challenges in climate resilience, infrastructure sustainability and health equity, embedding a culture where data, insight and lived experience drive decision-making. She takes considered risks and advocates relentlessly for her community. In 2025–26 alone, Tammi secured more than $60 million in federal election commitments for critical infrastructure, advanced transformative projects such as the Warburton Bike Park, and successfully championed the establishment of a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Lilydale.
Over seven dedicated years, she has built a high-performing and resilient organisation, while actively supporting the development of emerging leaders across the local government sector. Her leadership is increasingly recognised at state, national and international levels. Under Tammi’s leadership, Yarra Ranges Council has moved beyond responding to adversity to confidently shaping its future direction.
Influence and enablement:
Tammi Rose exemplifies leadership that enables others by deliberately creating the conditions for collaboration, trust and innovation across the community and sector.
She actively advocates for the local government sector, serving on key state committees including the Finance and Performance Review Committee and Fair Jobs Code Working Group. At a regional level, she rolls up her sleeves alongside key CEOs at the Eastern Region Group of Councils, connecting teams and organisations, breaking down silos and enabling shared learning, resource pooling and scalable community solutions.
Tammi actively invests time in growing sector capability. Securing Yarra Ranges as host of the 2026 PIA State Planning Congress positions Council and partners at the centre of innovation and knowledge exchange. Hosting the LGPro NSW executive delegation reflects a genuine commitment to sharing practice, particularly in First Nations cultural inclusion, fostering learning beyond organisational boundaries. Tammi is also deeply committed to developing emerging leaders, regularly speaking at leadership forums and coaching and mentoring the next generation of local government professionals.
Tammi’s leadership is built on foundations of relationships and trust. Long-term investment in consistent engagement with State and Federal MPs has ensured successful aligned advocacy for funding and issues for community. Tammi’s contributions at board level have accelerated key community services including MyLibrary and Tourism East to be high-performing and future-focussed.
Tammi’s leadership is defined not only by how she responds in a crisis, but how she leads long-term community recovery. Through catastrophic storms, floods, bushfire, pandemic and challenges to local industries, she provides calm, consistent leadership, supporting her community while skilfully advocating to state and federal governments. She works alongside communities and businesses to rebuild, creating practical pathways forward and helping protect community from future shocks.
Through her leadership, both the community and Council continue to adapt, recover and move forward with confidence.
Under Tammi’s leadership, Yarra Ranges Council has moved beyond responding to adversity to confidently shaping its future direction.
Agility, adaptability and growth:
Tammi Rose consistently role models maturity, adaptability and learning mindset required of a contemporary public sector leader, particularly when facing complex and evolving challenges.
Leading through COVID recovery, the June 2021 storms and significant flooding, she has continuously reassessed priorities, responded to emerging risks, and guided the organisation and community through uncertainty with clarity and resilience. Tammi led calmly through significant local civil unrest, and subsequent Supreme Court challenge in 2023. Graceful under pressure, she worked diligently and professionally to protect communities and staff from external threats to safety and local democracy.
She views capability as something that must evolve, actively fostering innovation and future-focus. Adoption of innovative, data-driven technologies like the AI-enabled Smart Tree Inventory, HydroNET flood monitoring platform and community-led recycling basket initiatives demonstrate commitment to experiment, learn and scale success to improve community outcomes.
Under Tammi’s leadership, Yarra Ranges Council has achieved consecutive years of top quartile engagement and alignment. The thriving organisation’s success is demonstrated through sustained public recognition. Environmental leadership has received multiple national, state and local awards for the Biochar Project, land regeneration and grassroots community enablement initiatives. Community and place-based recognition has been received for community-led design of Belgrave South Recreation Reserve and internationally celebrated Lillydale Lake. Innovation and service excellence is demonstrated through awards and finalists for MyLot e-planning tool, the Stormwater Community Reference Panel and the Upper Yarra Local Development Strategy which identified new industries to support timber towns to transition. People and partnerships are equally recognised, with awards for First Nations collaboration, sector leadership and staff excellence. Collectively, these honours showcase Tammi’s ability to empower people, foster innovation and deliver lasting community impact.
By leading with curiosity, adaptability and evidence-based decision-making, Tammi builds confidence in emerging capabilities and ensures the organisation remains responsive, future-focussed, and closely connected to community needs.
Impact and enduring value:
Tammi’s leadership has driven enduring, system-wide change at Yarra Ranges Council and across the local government sector.
Her influence is evident in long-term, transformative projects that reshape systems and deliver measurable outcomes. Initiatives such as the biochar facility converts green waste into a high-value soil additive, reducing emissions while improving land productivity and embedding circular economy principles into community for generations to come. Major place-based investments such as the Warburton Bike Park, Ngurrak barring and an urban forest in Mooroolbark create lasting environmental, recreational and economic benefits that will span decades.
Rather than short-term fixes, Tammi focuses on meaningful, future-focused investment. Through the Upper Yarra Local Development Strategy, Tammi she has overseen a replicable model of community-led economic transition. Local-led innovation groups continue to develop viable business cases across eco-tourism, renewable energy and local industry, building long-term regional resilience following timber industry decline. This work is strengthening regional economies, supporting population retention and ensuring communities can adapt and thrive through change. Tammi’s impact is also reflected in her deliberate and sustained investment in people and sector capability. She actively contributes to sector development through mentoring emerging leaders and supporting programs such as LGPro’s Mastering Management and Executive Leadership Program. This commitment is reflected in the success of individuals she has supported, including material career outcomes such as appointment to the State Government’s Planning Regulations Advisory Committee and sector recognition such as the IPAA Top 50 Women and MAVlab Leadership Awards.
Her influence extends into broader systems through thought leadership and advocacy, with formal submissions shaping state and national policy on planning, sustainability, infrastructure and food security. Collectively, Tammi’s leadership embeds cultural, operational and strategic change, ensuring that benefits are sustained, systems are strengthened and communities continue to thrive well into the future.