Council’s score card is in
Published on 23 July 2025
The Glenelg Shire Council’s scorecard is in.
The results of the 2025 Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey have been released and show Council has areas to be confident about, while there remains a lot of work to do to restore perceptions back to record highs in 2018.
Councillors noted the survey findings this week at the July Council Meeting, acknowledging the key insights and areas for improvement.
“After the successful Councillor elections and a period of leadership stability the Council is optimistic about the coming years and looks forward to engaging constructively with the community on the key decisions of Council,” said Glenelg Shire Mayor Cr Karen Stephens.
“The Council and Wellbeing Plan is currently out for consultation and once formally adopted by Council we will get on with the task of delivery what we said we would do for the community. I have confidence that the Councillors will bring this ambitious and forward thinking plan to life over the next three years of this Council term.
“Reflecting upon this latest set of results it is clear that perceptions of Council’s performance remained steady across individual service areas. Encouragingly, the areas of ‘Overall Council Direction’ and ‘Community Decisions’ significantly improved, turning the corner from the declines received in the last two evaluations.”
However, Council’s overall result remains lower than the State-wide and Large Rural averages, highlighting further rebuilding is still required.
“These results bring a welcome pause to the downward trend we’ve seen over recent years,” said Glenelg Shire Chief Executive Helen Havercroft.
“It is particularly encouraging to see that we’ve made great strides in our direction and decision-making - it shows that the choices we’re making are resonating with many people in our community.
“Despite these improvements, we are still far below the peak levels we achieved in 2018 and much lower than our fellow Councils. More work needs to be done to meet our community’s expectations, but the results do illustrate a path forward.
“For example, the data indicates that Casterton residents are most satisfied by the performance of Council. The report does not provide detailed reasons for this response, but it emphasizes there are actions being taken in Casterton that we should be replicating in other areas of our community.
"Additionally, male residents aged 50 to 64 years based in Portland are currently the most critical of Council’s performance, as well as its overall performance. Restoring positive perceptions amongst this cohort will be critical moving forward."
Held annually by the Victorian Government, the Community Satisfaction Survey asks the opinions of local people about the place they live, work and play and provides insight for councils in their efforts and abilities.
Now in its twenty-sixth year, this survey asks the community’s views on:
- Council’s overall performance
- Value for money in services and infrastructure
- Community consultation and engagement
- Decisions made in the interest of the community
- Customer service, local infrastructure, facilities, services and
- Overall council direction.