While the NSW Ombudsman puts Central Coast Council at the top of its list as most complained about Council in NSW, (see previous story here) Council’s own report card tells another story – with bigger numbers.
The NSW Ombudsman reported that it received 158 complaints about Council in the 2021-22 financial year.
But more than 300 people went directly to Council to complain.
Council said it received a total of:
# 314 complaints ( see graph one and two) and
# 135 GIPA applications and
# 1,445 informal requests for information (see graph three).
The average number of days to complete these applications and requests grew each quarter:
Q1: 50 days
Q2: 45 days
Q3: 60 days
Q4: 55 days.
Council said the fourth quarter of 2021-22 continued an upward trend in the receipt of both formal and informal GIPA (Government Information Public Access) applications, and the average time for completion.
“It is noteworthy that, despite this increase, and the ongoing resourcing constraints within the team, applications for internal review remain low, reflecting the quality of the service being provided to the community,” Council said.
Council’s Lighthouse reports on three types of complaints.
The first one was Code of Conduct complaints.
In the financial year the councillors were suspended, 2020-21, there were a total of 27 complaints under this category and nine were about the Councillors or the CEO. No breakdown was given.
The following year, after the councillors had been sacked, the number of complaints were down to 13 and only one was about the “councillors or CEO”.
Again, no breakdown of the figure so it is unclear if the complaint was about the CEO or the administrator whose role replaced the councillors.
There were 377 complaints from the community in 2020-21 and in the 2021-22 year complaints were down by 20 per cent to 301.
Council said this was due to the reduced mobility of residents during the COVID lockdown that was in place on the Central Coast during Q1.
“However, during the second half of F21/22 the Central Coast faced two significant weather events resulting in a 27% increase in community complaints and a 6% decrease in compliments in Q4.
“There were no requests for a community complaint review this quarter resulting in 100% of complaints being resolved at first point of contact.”
Based on a model set out by the NSW Ombudsman, council uses a three-level model of complaint handling.
The NSW Ombudsman describes the levels:
- Level 1 – frontline staff must be adequately equipped to respond to complaints with a view to early resolution wherever possible. This includes being given appropriate authority and delegation, training and supervision. They should have clear guidance about which complaints should be escalated to level 2.
- Level 2 – internal review of frontline complaint handling should occur when a complainant is dissatisfied with the process and/or outcome. This allows for alternative dispute resolution or investigation of serious or complex complaints.
- Level 3 – external review will be done when matters have not been able to be resolved within an organisation. A matter may be referred for alternative dispute resolution or to an appropriate external organisation, such as an ombudsman or regulatory agency
Council’s records show 100 per cent of complaints were closed at Level 1.
