$297K superannuation blowout leaves Warrnambool Council with “no choice but to find the money elsewhere”

While the council’s finances are healthy overall, the discovery of the budget shortfall has fuelled concerns that other areas may not have been properly monitored.

Zara Cuthbertson
December 09, 2025

Warrnambool councillors have expressed their disappointment over an almost $300,000 superannuation budget blowout discovered just three months into the financial year.

What happened: The council’s quarterly financial report compares actual financial results to the council’s budget for the three months from July to September.

The report, tabled at last Monday’s meeting, showed the result for the three-month period as $48 million, coming in $297,000 under budget.

While council CEO Andrew Mason described the result as “favourable”, his sentiments were quickly overshadowed by what Councillor Debbie Arnott described as “higher than anticipated costs that have gone over budget,” including superannuation costs running the same amount, $297,000, above expectations.

Strong displeasure: Councillor Arnott, who moved to receive the report, told the chamber she needed to “express my strong displeasure regarding the superannuation expenditure being $297,000 over budget,” saying the situation “undermines confidence in our budgeting practices and raises concerns about what other areas may not be monitored effectively.”

Arnott went on to describe the overspend as “unacceptable,” warning the council now had “no choice but to find that money elsewhere in the organisation”.

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Costs blowout: The superannuation blowout was not an isolated incident of overspending.

WorkCover costs were $410,000 above budget, while property insurance exceeded projections by $140,000.
Additional learning and development expenses, up $89,000, were attributed to “timing issues” rather than council overspending.

Good catch: Despite her frustration, Arnott credited the newly appointed Chief Financial Officer for catching the issue early, saying the discovery was “a good thing that it's not been allowed to accumulate throughout the year”.

“Somehow that money has to be found by trimming some costs,” she said.

“I have been assured by the appropriate people and the CEO that this will not happen again, but I do like to put down on record that I am displeased about that.”

Back on track: Councillor Matt Walsh backed the concerns, noting “some disappointment in the way that things are sitting at the end of quarter one.”

Walsh said he was “eagerly awaiting the quarter two report”.

The motion to receive the report passed unanimously, but councillors signalled they expect “robust conversation” around new strategies from the finance team to “start to get us back on track.”