COUNCIL LIGHT · FOR AUSTRALIAN COUNCILS
AI for Local Government, With the Audit Trail Already Written
Council Light is AI for local government that councils can defend. Ten council documents before lunch. Every fact traced to a source. Missing facts flagged, never guessed. A named officer signs the Final.
- 31 minutes to generate ten documents
- 535 facts traced to a source
- 20 files, every working paper published
The Real Cost of Council Documents
A council report, a business case and a risk register can take days to draft before anyone makes a decision. Officers rebuild the same context every time: the council’s plans, its policies, the right Act and the budget line.
Drafting time that never reaches the decision
Most of that time goes on assembly, not judgement. The officer who knows the project best spends the week formatting evidence instead of weighing it.
AI without a trail
Many officers already use AI in local government work. Few can show where each fact came from, or who checked it. That is the question councillors and auditors will ask.
How Council Light Works
1. Voice Interview
A 15-minute interview, spoken or typed, captures your council’s baseline once: plans, priorities, jurisdiction and approvals. Every document draws on the same answers.
2. Decisions and Lookups
The tool asks for the decisions only your council can make, and builds research lookups for the rest. Missing facts are flagged [VERIFY], never guessed.
3. Document Studio
Each document is built in two steps. A Preparation document holds the evidence and the source register. The Final is written from it, in the same chat.
Ten Council Documents From One Baseline
Council Light builds prompts for the ten document types councils write most. Each one runs in your council’s own approved AI account.
- Council Report
- Business Case
- Briefing Note
- Project Brief
- Risk Register
- Community Plan
- Scope of Works
- Grant Application
- Terms of Reference
- Project Mandate
Looking for a council report template or an AI business case template? Each document type follows a structure researched for Australian local government, with the working paper and the Final kept side by side.
Open Council Light →Proven on the Coralvale Case Study
In the Coralvale case study, run for a fictional council, one officer produced ten council documents in 31 minutes.
- 31 min to generate all ten
- 20 files
- 52,869 words written
- 535 facts traced to a source
- About 1 hour end to end, including the questions
Gaps were flagged, not filled: 406 [VERIFY] flags for officers to check. Every working paper is published, so you can judge the result against your own standards.
Council AI With Control Built In
Speed is only half the story. AI for local government has to be accountable, so Council Light is built to show how every document was made.
- Preparation first, then the Final. The evidence and source register come before a word of the Final is written.
- Gaps flagged, never guessed. A missing fact becomes a [VERIFY] flag for an officer, not an invented number.
- A named officer signs. The AI never signs.
- The tool sends nothing. It runs in your browser, with no server and no tracking. Documents are written in the AI account your council chooses: Claude, ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot.
- Seven jurisdictions. NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC and WA, each with its own Local Government Act.
The approach is aligned with the control objectives of ISO/IEC 42001:2023, the AI management system standard. It is not a certification.
Get Help Putting AI for Local Government to Work
Council Light is free to use, with no account and no sign-up. If you want Consultancy Done Differently (CDD) beside you while you put local government AI to work, start with a conversation.
Scoping call · 30 minutes · free
We confirm the documents you need, the AI account your council has approved, a pilot project and who signs off.
Guided pilot · paid, scoped on the call
One officer runs Council Light on a live council project with CDD. We check the working papers and Finals against the same QA used in the Coralvale case study.
Team briefing or training · paid, scoped on the call
A briefing or workshop for your team, on site or online, using your council’s own approved AI account.
Is This Your Council?
- Your officers write council reports, business cases or grant applications every month.
- Your council has approved an AI account, or is deciding which one to approve.
- You need AI use that councillors, auditors and the community can follow.
- You want to trial AI on one live project before committing a team.
Built by People Who’ve Sat on Both Sides of the Table
Matthew Bulat · Architect of Council Light
Matthew Bulat is the architect of Council Light and of CDD’s Renewables Community Benefit Toolkit. His background spans two decades in government-adjacent compliance and operations, including project management work for Townsville City Council.
Raymond Ward · CEO, ISO Lead Auditor
Raymond Ward is CEO of Consultancy Done Differently and an ISO Lead Auditor across quality, safety and environmental management standards. Before founding CDD, Raymond spent fifteen years inside the Australian Taxation Office building compliance systems that processed returns for over 100,000 Australian businesses a year.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI for Local Government
What is Council Light?
Council Light is a free browser tool that turns a 15-minute interview about your council into prompts for ten council document types. You run the prompts in your own AI account. Each document comes out as a Preparation document with its evidence and sources, then a Final written from it, ready for an officer to check and sign.
Who is Council Light for?
It is for Australian councils whose officers write council reports, business cases, briefing notes, grant applications and similar documents. Leaders use it to speed up drafting without losing control of the evidence. Officers use it to start from a sourced draft instead of a blank page.
What does Council Light cost?
The tool is free, with no account and no sign-up. The 30-minute scoping call is also free. A guided pilot on a live council project, or a briefing or training session for your team, is paid and scoped on the call before anything is quoted.
Does our council’s data leave our systems?
Council Light runs in your browser and sends nothing to CDD: there is no server and no tracking. The documents themselves are written inside the AI account your council chooses, so anything you paste there follows your council’s AI policy. Use a council-approved account, not a personal one.
Which AI tools does Council Light work with?
Council Light works with Claude, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. It builds the prompts; your council’s approved AI account writes the documents. It does not need a special plugin or integration. The scoping call is a good place to confirm which account and plan suit your council’s AI policy and records rules.
Who is responsible for the final document?
A named officer signs every Final. The AI never signs. Missing facts are flagged [VERIFY] for the officer to check, and the Preparation document shows the source behind each fact, so the officer can confirm the evidence before signing. Accountability stays with the council, where it belongs.
How does Council Light relate to ISO/IEC 42001?
The approach is aligned with the control objectives of ISO/IEC 42001:2023, the international standard for AI management systems: sourced evidence, human sign-off and a documented process. Council Light is not a certification, and using it does not certify your council.
Which states and territories does Council Light cover?
Council Light covers seven jurisdictions: New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Each document draws on the Local Government Act or Regulation for the state or territory you choose in the interview, so officers never see another state’s Act.
Book a 30-Minute Scoping Call
Tell us the documents you need and the AI account your council uses. We’ll confirm a pilot project and who signs off. No obligation.