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News>2012 Customer Satisfaction Survey Results
| Council is obliged under the Local Government Act’s Best Value provisions to measure the level of community satisfaction with Council services. The 2012 Customer Satisfaction surveys were undertaken in early 2012 and coordinated by the Department of Planning and Community Development. The surveys were undertaken by an independent research firm. The survey methodology is different to that used in previous years, effectively making comparisons with historical surveys meaningless. The attached link is a letter from Local Government Victoria explaining this in more detail.
Increasingly, many councils in Victoria are refusing to participate in the State Government sponsored research and are conducting their own surveys. This is because the survey results measure the perceived performance of the Council rather than an objective measure of its actual performance. Hindmarsh Shire Council has published the latest survey results in the interests of transparency, but it has grave concerns about the accuracy of the results. For example, 11 percent of respondents questioned the financial performance of the Council – the reality is that Hindmarsh Shire has scored better than any other small Council in a recent Auditor-General’s report on finances and given Council the green light in all five key financial indicators.
The survey is also influenced by factors beyond Council’s control. For example, the 2011 floods caused $36 million damage to Council’s infrastructure, most of which is roads. The last twelve months has seen a record level of road-building activity in the Shire. Despite this, we scored 51% for the state of roads and footpaths.
Council also believes that the survey is negatively impacted by dissatisfaction with one-off issues, for example, Council’s decision to redevelop its decrepit offices in Nhill.
Hindmarsh Shire has joined a growing number of Council s that are questioning the validity of the survey results, and it will review its ongoing involvement in the program in future years.
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