Councils urged to be honest in handling complaints

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass surveyed 79 Victorian councils, including the Surf Coast Shire.

Ms Glass said she believed many councils were bending definitions to avoid criticism, and that the number of complaints councils were reporting was not indicative of public satisfaction.

“I recognise that councils may have concerns about recording and reporting complaints, particularly when complaints data is used to criticise council services.

“But it is not a solution to disguise the true level of community dissatisfaction by labelling it as a ‘request for service’ or ‘matter with a statutory right of appeal’, instead of recognising it is as a ‘complaint’.”

Ms Glass said just over a third of the councils in question would consider it a complaint if someone rang and said that their bin had not been emptied. The other two-thirds viewed this as a request for service.

In 2018 the Surf Coast Shire reported 74 complaints and 13,739 requests for service.

The shire’s acting general manager of culture and community Leanne Perryman said the council was in the process of developing how they handle complaints.

“We are maturing in our handling and identifying of complaints since our Complaint Handling Policy was adopted by Council in June 2017.

“Surf Coast Shire Council is making it easier for people to lodge a request or complaint especially through our website, which is accessible on any device.”

Ms Glass urged councils to change perspective on receiving complaints.

“All too often complaints are seen as a nuisance, or provoke a defensive, unhelpful, bureaucratic response,” she said.

“Complaints are actually a good thing – they are free feedback. Whether about a missed bin, blocked drain, rates notice or parking ticket, they say something about council services.”

Cr Heather Wellington has repeatedly expressed similar sentiments in the council chamber about how complaints should be perceived.

In 2018, she said she “found it hard to believe” that the shire received only 14 complaints between January 1 and June 30.

At the time, the shire defined a complaint as “an expression of dissatisfaction with either the quality of an action taken, decision made, or service provided by council or its contractor; or a delay or failure in providing a service, taking an action, or making a decision by council or its contractor”.