The way Wimmera councils respond 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".
Horsham Rural City Council chief executive Sunil Bhalla said the guidebook would influence his council when drafting updated policies.
"Our current Complaint Resolution Policy is based off the Victorian Ombudsman's good practice guide," Mr Bhalla said.
"We will incorporate the latest updates... when we update our own policy later this year.
"Council is committed to managing complaints in a transparent, fair and consistent way, and feedback is encouraged. It helps improve Council services, and the way business is conducted.
"Our policy aims to ensure that customers can raise their complaints easily and with confidence that Council will listen and respond to their concerns, and handle their complaint in a fair and equitable way."
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 councilors, 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.
