Customer Service Charter

A complaint is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction with:

• the quality of an action taken, decision made or service provided by Council, Council Officers or its contractors
• a delay or failure to act or provide a service to a promised standard

A complaint does not include:

• ordinary requests for service (i.e., a customer request)
• follow up queries about an existing request (unless that request is outside our service standard time frame for completion)
• reports of a hazard or emergency
• private matters concerning neighbours, including disputes between neighbours
• expressions of dissatisfaction with decisions made under legislation which have separate avenues of appeal, for example, those which fall under Freedom of Information legislation
• serious complaints, as defined in the table below
• protected disclosures (which are dealt with separately under Public Interest Disclosures Policy)

• complaints about Councillors, including alleged breaches under the Councillor Code of Conduct are not within the scope of this Policy (these are dealt with under provisions of the Councillor Code of Conduct(PDF, 993KB))

If we receive a complaint in relation to our service or a staff member, it will be investigated by the Manager of the relevant department. If it concerns a manager, the complaint will be referred to their director for investigation. If a complaint is about a Director, the CEO will investigate.

If the complaint relates to a regulatory decision (such as compliance or enforcement), you should write to the CEO seeking review of that decision. The CEO will appoint a person who has not been involved in the original decision to undertake the review. Please note this internal review process does not apply where legislation sets out a specific process for review of decisions – for example, review of a planning decision by Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

We will respond to your complaint within 10 working days, except if the issue is complicated or warrants more in-depth examination.  If we need more time to respond to your complaint, you will be notified within 10 working days of making your complaint, and we will tell you when you can expect a response.

If you are not satisfied with our response or the way in which your complaint has been handled, you can request that your complaint be escalated for review by a Director.

If after hearing back from a Director about your complaint you are still not satisfied with our response or the way in which we have managed your complaint, you can request that the complaint be referred to the Chief Executive Officer for review.

We ask that you contact us with your complaint according to the procedures set out above. Any complaints made directly to the Chief Executive Officer, directors or Councillors will be passed back to the relevant manager to investigate (unless the complaint is about a manager, in which case it will be sent to the relevant director in the first instance).

If you believe your complaint remains unresolved after these reviews and that there is still a need for further action, you can contact the relevant agencies listed below for assistance.

• Victorian Ombudsman
• Municipal Association of Victoria
• Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission
• Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)
• Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria (Department of Justice)
• Freedom of Information (FOI) Commissioner
• Victorian Small Business Commissioner