Council to note 2022 Community Satisfaction Survey results

Published on 20 July 2022

The 2022 Customer Satisfaction Survey results will go to next week’s Council Meeting (26/07) for noting.

Conducted in February this year, the annual survey is coordinated by Local Government Victoria, and is based on the responses received by phone interviews with 400 residents. Questions focus on the preceding 12 months period.

The survey is designed to assess the performance of Victorian councils across a range of measures and identify ways to provide improvement or more effective service delivery to residents.

Out of the 400 people surveyed, 248 people were aged 65 years and older, 85 people were aged 50-64 years, 37 people were aged 35-49 years and 31 people were aged 18-34 years.

Results showed:

• The overall performance result remains consistent with previous years at 53. By comparison the overall performance for small rural is 58 and the state-wide result is 59.
• The overall council direction score is at 51 and is on-par with small rural (51) and higher than state-wide average (50).
• Council’s result on the appearance of public areas is 71 which is consistent with the small rural score of 73 and the state-wide average of 71. This is Council’s highest performance area. 
• The customer service result is down at a score of 58 and is nine points below the small rural and state-wide average score of 68.
• The sealed roads result of 45 is down from 50 in 2021 and is lower than the small rural (50) and state-wide (53) averages. 

While satisfaction with key areas of Council’s performance have trended lower this year (Customer Service, Waste Management and Sealed Roads), this decline is consistent with a general trend across Victoria where the average satisfaction with local government has declined by 4.6%.

Satisfaction with Council’s performance across all other areas has generally remained consistent with previous years, with women of all ages generally more satisfied with Council’s performance than young people and men (particularly those aged 50-64).

Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Councillor Chris Meddows-Taylor said the annual Community Satisfaction Survey results highlight a number of focus areas for Council.

“This survey deals with the first year of the elected Council where setting direction in key plans, policies and strategies was a requirement and priority. It is good to note that our results are line with other similar size councils and slightly higher than the average of all councils.

“Roads are a common issue among rural councils, particularly due to changes to state and federal government funding and particularly under the rate cap environment.

“There is an opportunity to lead greater efforts in community education in how roads are funded, including the differences between local and state roads, as well as continuing Council’s advocacy for roads funding.

“With results showing lower satisfaction among men aged 50-64 and young people, this shows us there is an opportunity to diversify and improve Council’s communications channels to ensure we are reaching these residents.”

Currently, survey data is collected once a year around late January and February, however most councils are now moving to quarterly data collection in line with best practice.

“From June 2022 we will move the survey interviews from being conducted annually to quarterly; approximately 400 interviews will be conducted among a representative sample of residents over the course of the year,” Mayor Cr Chris Meddows-Taylor said.

“This will allow for any periodic changes that may influence results and provide Council with a more accurate reflection of key themes and opportunities for improvement or development.”

Central Goldfields Shire CEO Lucy Roffey said while results are reflective of a state-wide decline in satisfaction with local government, it is evident the community values face-to-face service.

“Council’s internal systems were not sufficient to deal with the extra pressures of COVID lockdowns.

“While the drop in satisfaction in the customer service highlights this, Council has now been successful in receiving additional funding for technology upgrades to improve financial management, rates and property and customer relationship management following a joint funding application with Pyrenees Shire Council through the Rural Councils Transformation Program (RCTP).”

To view the full 2022 Community Satisfaction Survey results, visit Community Satisfaction Surveys