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What is the Complaints Policy?

Our policy helps you to understand how to make a complaint to Council and how your complaint will be handled. We are reviewing this policy and we'd love your feedback.

Why are we reviewing the policy?

Complaints are an important source of feedback and provide us with valuable insight into what is working well and what could be improved. It is therefore important we regularly review our Complaints Policy to ensure it is easy to understand, fair and accessible that is also supported with a simple process.

It is a requirement under the Local Government Act 2020 for councils to maintain a Complaints Policy. We worked with the Victorian Ombudsman to develop our Policy using their Good Practice Guide.

Our ability to make significant changes to the Policy are limited due to the Act's definitions of what is classified as a complaint and what is not.

We want to understand your experience submitting a complaint in the past. In particular, we want to know if you found the information available clear and whether you were satisfied with the way your complaint was handled.

Your feedback will help us understand where we can look to improve your experience in the future.

FAQs

A complaint to Council is any communication which involves the following:

  • an expression of dissatisfaction
  • about an action, decision, policy, or service
  • that relates to Council staff, a Council contractor, or Council as a decision-making body.

When the complaint relates to an issue which is covered under Victorian law it would be handled in line with the relevant legal process, not under our Complaints Policy. Below are some examples:

  • complaints/objections relating to a planning application decision
  • complaints/appeals relating to parking fines
  • complaints about alleging fraud, corruption or other criminal behaviour
  • complaints relating to a councillor outside of their role as a councillor
  • freedom of information requests
  • a petition to Council about a particular matter
  • comments or submissions received during a formal consultation or community engagement process, which has a specific process for management
  • work related grievances from Council staff (i.e. complaints relating to their employment) or complaints that have already been reviewed by an external agency.

A service request is raised when a customer wants Council to provide something, generally information or a service. A complaint, on the other hand, is when a customer believes there’s been a failure in the service they received or lack of service.

A service request could be:

  • asking for help with something like booking a meeting room
  • requesting access to a new service, like a maternal health nurse appointment or to join a library
  • seeking advice such as how to navigate the planning process
  • informing / making a report about something Council is responsible for, such as graffiti on a piece of public property or an overflowing drain.

We follow a 4-level approach to handling complaints.

Level 1: Frontline resolution

Frontline staff receive a complaint and resolve it immediately if possible.

Level 2: Investigation if required

If frontline staff are unable to resolve the complaint immediately, they will refer to a more senior Council officer for investigation and resolution.

Level 3: Internal Review

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, you can request an internal review. This will be referred to an appropriate senior officer, independent of the person who took the action, made the decision or provided the service.

Level 4: External Review

If you are not satisfied with the internal review, we will provide you with information for external avenues to pursue your complaint including the Ombudsman Office or other relevant external agencies.

Download the current policy ⇣

Complaints Policy – December 2021 (PDF 844kb)