Tara Murray
Community satisfaction with Brimbank council decisions increased in the last financial year, according to new data.
The performance reporting framework from the Know Your Council website, assessed Brimbank council’s performance across 58 measures from community feedback and data.
The website gave the council a rating of 61 out of 100 for community satisfaction with council decisions, up 5.17 per cent on the previous year.
Across the state, the average rating was 57 out of 100, while it was 62 out of 100 for similar-sized councils.
Community satisfaction with community consultation and engagement was ranked 59 out of 100, higher than all councils, which was 56 out of 100.
The data showed the cost of governance per councillor is well above the state average of $51,656, with $68,049 being spent per councillor in Brimbank.
The council put this down to an increase in the expenses directly related to the activities of elected councillors, and the cost of a councillor induction training program.
Brimbank mayor Jasmine Nguyen said the results highlight the council’s commitment to delivering quality, cost effective services to the community.
“When compared with councils across Victoria, Brimbank results fared very well in the areas of maternal and child health enrolments, animals being rehomed following collection, quality of library collection and frequency of food safety assessments.
“Brimbank libraries and leisure facilities were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to state government policy directions to ensure safety to the community including lengthy closures of facilities.
“Brimbank worked to modify service delivery to ensure that residents could still safely access services through the implementation of online programming, libraries to your door delivery service and click and collect options.
“The results also reflect the commitment of councillors to their community with Brimbank scoring 100 per cent in the indicator “councillor attendance at council meetings.”
Cr Nguyen said the areas the council would aim to focus on going forward included reducing the number of missed bins through the council’s waste management service, continued maintenance of roads to condition standards and enrollment of indigenous children in the maternal child health service.”
