The way Ararat Rural City Council responds to complaints is changing, with a new guidebook released by the Ombudsman to help councils navigate feedback.
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The guidebook is an updated edition of the inaugural edition released in 2015 and offers advice on implementing new legislative requirements relating to complaints, good practice in handling feedback and "remind(s) councils to look through the human rights lens when dealing with complaints".
Ararat Rural City Council chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said the guidebook would influence his council when drafting updated policies.
"We welcome the new Council and Complaints guidebook from the Victorian Ombudsman. The guidebook provides useful information about best practice in local government that helps councils show more agility in responding to community concerns," he said.
"At Ararat Rural City Council, all complaints received are managed in line with our Complaints Handling Policy.
"This ensures customers can raise their complaints easily and have confidence that it'll be acknowledged in a timely manner.
"Providing a range of opportunities for members of our community to report issues and concerns allows council to consider wide-ranging feedback from the people we represent.
"The entire Council is committed to driving continuous improvement across the organisation and no matter how much we improve, that work is never finished."
The guide has been revised to incorporate the provisions of the new Local Government Act 2020, which include, for the first time, a definition of complaint and a requirement for councils to have a complaint handling policies.
The new guidebook also covers how councils should deal with complaints about council decisions, staff and contractors but does not cover complaints regarding individual councillors, as that is the jurisdiction of the Local Government Inspectorate.
The new Local Government Act was introduced in 2020 following the Ombudsman's recommendations from enquiries into councils' complaints practices and procedures.
"Councils are an integral part of Victorians' lives and it is no surprise my office deals with many thousands of complaints about them every year," Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said.
"But we encourage councils to recognise complaints as free feedback, and to ensure they are dealt with properly and fairly."
The new guidebook can be found here.
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Alex Blain
I am a general news/sports journalist with the Wimmera Mail-Times in Horsham. My work has appeared in the Age, the Geelong Advertiser, the Australian, the Jakarta Globe and across the airwaves on Radio Australia.
I am a general news/sports journalist with the Wimmera Mail-Times in Horsham. My work has appeared in the Age, the Geelong Advertiser, the Australian, the Jakarta Globe and across the airwaves on Radio Australia.
