Phone 5862 1034 – Fax 5862 2668 – Email - Editorial: [email protected] - Advertising: [email protected] – Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. VA 1548 established 1895 LEADER NumurkahWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019 $1.30 INSIDE Running man See story page 3 Help Growing community See story page 8 neededRSL Victoria’s annual poppy appeal is about to start, and local veterans Michael Brown and Gerard Watson are asking for local volunteers to help sell them. See story page 5. Complaint numbers raise ombudsman’s eyebrows THE Victorian ombudsman has declared that ed into categories, with Moira being one of 19 clas- a narrow de nition of complaint or interpret it nar- many Victorian councils are understating the num- si ed as a ‘large shire’. rowly in practice. Budding ber of complaints they receive, a er the release of a Moira reported the lowest number of complaints For example, only 34% of councils said they would report in which Moira Shire Council self-reported in its category, with the average number of com- consider it a complaint, as opposed to a ‘request for that it received just four formal complaints in 2018. plaints being 113, and the average number of re- service’, if a person rang to say their bin hadn’t been fi lmmakers In contrast, Moira Shire reported it had received quests for service being 33,569. emptied the night before as scheduled. 50,000 requests for service in the same period. By comparison, Wangara a Rural City Council win Ombudsman Deborah Glass surveyed all 79 Vic- which, though listed in the regional city category, Ms Glass said she recognised that councils may torian councils, asking them how they de ne com- is adjacent to Moira and has a similar size, popula- have concerns about recording and reporting com- plaints and how many complaints they received in tion and sta , reported 154 complaints and 7,888 plaints, particularly when complaints data is used to See story page 7 the last calendar year, among other questions. requests for service. criticise council services. For the purpose of the report, councils were divid- Ms Glass said that far too many councils still adopt Continued page 2. GATES OPEN PAVILIONS OPEN NUMURKAH A&P SOCIETY INC AT 9.00AM AT 9.30AM 132nd ANNUAL NUMURKAH SHOW At the Numurkah Show Grounds WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23rd, 2019 DECORATED BOOTS, SHOES AND ALL KINDS OF FOOTWEAR ON SHOW ANIMAL NURSERY PAVILIONS FULL OF INTERESTING EXHIBITS CHAMPIONSHIP DOG SHOW SIDESHOWS AND MORE! COME JOIN IN A DAY WITH SOMETHING FOR ALL AGES 2 — NumurkahLEADER, Wednesday, October 16, 2019 PETER COX & SONS Complaint numbers raise ombudsman’s eyebrows FUNERALDIRECTORS Continued om ont page. are addressed in line with the relevant proce- • a petition to Council about a certain ma er. Professional service tailored to your needs “But it is not a solution to disguise the true lev- dures and policy – including our complaints • a follow up or further request for service Locally owned & operated 24 hours - 7 days a week el of community dissatisfaction by labelling it as handling policy,” he said. that has not yet been completed by Council but a ‘request for service’ or ‘ma er with a statuto- Ms Glass’s enquiry is a follow up to her 2015 is still within the service timeframes advised to Funeral calls and information ry right of appeal’, instead of recognising it as a report into how councils handle complaints. She the customer, such as if a customer was told their ‘complaint’,” she said. said more councils now have policies for how bin would be collected within three days and the Moira Shire’s General Manager Corporate Si- complaints should be handled; more councils customer contacted Council again within one Cnr5862 Meiklejohn &3047 Quinn Streets mon Rennie said the shire has invested consid- accept complaints by a variety of methods, and day. ACCREDITED MEMBER OF THE AUSTRALIAN FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION erable e ort in ge ing its complaints handling the information provided to the public on how • comments or submissions received during right. to complain is be er. formal consultation or community engagement, “We recognise that extended processes are no Moira Shire’s complaint handling policy, which Meals on Wheels Roster fun for anyone, so our policy, which was devel- was adopted on March 22, 2017 and is sched- which has a speci c process for receiving com- Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 oped using the Ombudsman’s model policy, em- uled for review on March 22, 2021, de nes a munity feedback and comments. M. Crowther- T. Gread VOLUNTEER powers our sta to handle a concern on the spot complaint as: • lodging an appeal in accordance with other 21/10 Harris P. Petzke REQUIRED or with assistance from their supervisor,” he said. An expression of dissatisfaction with: policies, procedures and legislation, such as con- G. Varley H. Gilroy S. Green testing a ne or a ma er which is before VCAT 22/10 V. Bunny “Once our sta have exhausted these processes, • e quality of an action taken, decision made, Numurkah P. MacDonald M. Caccianiga the ma er is referred to our formal complaints or service provided by Council or its contractor, or a court. 23/10 Sec College C. North L. Trimby handling process which involves an independ- or; e above issues are still valid and are managed S. Morley St Josephs B. Palmer ent internal review of the complaint and how we • a delay or failure in providing a service, taking separately from the complaint handling process. 24/10 J. Watson Primary School have handled the ma er.” action, or making a decision by Council or its e complaint handling policy further de nes B. Macdonald L. Grant Lions Club “In regard to the requests for service, our cus- contractor, and; feedback as: 25/10 P. Simpson T. Newman K. Hepworth tomer relationship system recorded 50,291 re- • the customer has been directly a ected. Feedback may take the form of positive and Coordinator – MHA Care Phone 5742 1111 quests for the 12 months to February 2019. A ma er is not a complaint if it relates to: negative comments about a service, product, ex- “As indicated earlier, four of these were referred • a request for information about Council ser- perience or process of Council that may not nec- through to the formal complaints handling pro- vices, policies or procedures. essarily require corrective action, change of ser- cess.” • a request for service or action to be taken vices or a formal review of a decision. Feedback In response to the Leader’s observation that in relation to a service or product provided by may be used to in uence future service reviews this is in opposition to the Ombudsman’s guid- Council such as branches trimmed on a nature and delivery methods. ance that complaints should be recorded as such, strip tree, a rubbish bin repaired, or someone Ms Glass said one of the main causes of com- REC 18803 and not as requests for service, Mr Rennie said complaining about their neighbour breaching a that Moira Shire’s community satisfaction is not local law or a planning scheme. plaints about councils to her o ce was the way measured by how many requests for service or • a report of damaged or faulty infrastructure councils dealt with complaints. complaints it receives, but by how it deals with or hazards such as potholes or fallen branches. “All too o en complaints are seen as a nuisance, all and each of these. • a suggestion for a proposed service or prod- or provoke a defensive, unhelpful, bureaucratic “Our sta have received training provided by uct improvement such as additional hard waste response,” she said. the Ombudsman’s o ce that focused on the dif- collections. “Complaints are actually a good thing - they ference between a request for service and a com- • an enquiry or request for clari cation or are free feedback. Whether about a missed bin, plaint – so in practice our sta recognise the dif- more information, such as a question about the blocked drain, rates notice or parking ticket, they get ready for ference and requests for service and complaints re services levy on a rates bill. say something about Council services. summer TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR AIR Bureau warns of severe weather on the way CONDITIONING AND CEILING THE Bureau of Meteorology is warning com- ment.” roughly 11 cyclones each season, with four of FAN REQUIREMENTS munities across Australia that now is the time e Severe Weather Season Outlook also those crossing the coast, but the current state Call us on 0407 328 774 to prepare, with the release of its Severe Weath- shows Australia has a lower risk of widespread of Australia’s climate drivers, particularly the er Season Outlook showing the country has an ooding, and a near normal chance of severe neutral state of the El Nino–Southern Oscilla- increased risk of heatwaves and bush res in the thunderstorms, but Dr Watkins said the commu- tion and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, meant coming months. nity needed to be prepared. the chances of seeing that amount this year are Parts of the country have already seen bush- “Severe thunderstorms and signi cant rainfall slightly reduced. LARGE res, and the bureau’s head of long-range fore- events can happen at any time. casts, Dr Andrew Watkins, said the current state “Not being complacent and taking the time to He added that cyclone formation was rarely of Australia’s climate drivers meant the likeli- know your weather and know your risk is one of spread evenly, with history showing quiet peri- FORMAT hood of seeing more bush re activity than nor- the best ways to stay safe during the coming se- ods can be followed by bursts of intense activity.