Monash has recorded a strong result for overall community satisfaction in the annual Community Satisfaction Survey results when residents of each municipality in Victoria are surveyed about their local area.
Council scored 7.07 for overall satisfaction, a higher than the 2022 metropolitan Melbourne average benchmark of 6.6 and higher than the 6.65 recorded by the eastern region councils in the 2022 Governing Melbourne research, despite also recording a 3.7% decline from last year’s score of 7.3.
The score of 7.07 places Monash equal with one other Council for the highest score for overall satisfaction amongst all metropolitan councils.
Satisfaction in the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework reporting requirements for Monash were:
- Council’s overall performance (7.07)
- Maintaining trust and confidence of the local community (6.96)
- Community engagement and consultation (6.81)
- Making decisions in the interest of the community (6.83)
- Responsiveness to local community needs (6.93) and
- Representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of community (6.90).
The highest results were recorded for the local library and library services (8.4), regular green waste collection (8.2), sports ovals and outdoor sporting facilities (8.1), recreation and aquatic centres (8.08) and the regular garbage collection (8.07). Council run services for children and families (7.98) and local playground provision and maintenance (7.97) also recorded strong satisfaction scores.
Key issues in this year’s survey were rubbish and waste issues including rubbish collection, traffic management, parking, building (housing, planning and development) and parks (gardens and open spaces).
Monash Mayor Stuart James said Council valued the feedback from the community which provides great direction on where services to the community can be improved.
“These are strong results and a number of areas have done very well during the challenging period of the pandemic. I’m also glad for the community feedback which give us clear direction on how we can improve,” Cr James said.
“We anticipated that the change to the bin service could have an impact on these results as it is a significant change for the community, and we know that some people were uncertain about what was being proposed.
“We believe we have worked with the community to adjust what is being offered so that we can accommodate a number of the concerns raised during our consultation. Community is at the heart of all we do and we are committed to communicating with our residents, encouraging them to have their say about what matters to them and responding to the issues that are important to them.
“The survey also provides valuable information about where we can improve. We have taken that feedback on board and will be looking at concerns raised and how we can address them.”
Council surveyed 800 randomly selected residents during May and June. The survey is usually undertaken in face-to-face interviews but due to COVID impacts on labour, it was conducted by phone.
The full survey results are available on Council’s website.
