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Community Satisfaction Surveys

Each year, Monash residents are surveyed to check their satisfaction with Council's performance and services.

The survey helps Council identify which of its services or activities need to be improved. Council is also able to compare its performance with the average for metropolitan councils.

The survey is conducted by an independent research company which randomly selects Monash residents to interview. The survey occurs in the first few months of the year.

2023 results

Monash has recorded a strong result in the annual Community Satisfaction Survey, which gauges community satisfaction with council performance across all councils in Victoria.

Monash City Council - 2023 Annual Community Satisfaction Survey(PDF, 9MB)

This year’s Monash survey was conducted in February 2023, with a welcome return to conducting interviews face-to-face after phone surveys for the past two years. 800 randomly selected residents aged 15 and over were interviewed by Metropolis Research, an independent research company.

Council recorded an overall satisfaction score of 7.18, an improvement from the 2022 result of 7.07. While a small number of councils are yet to report on their results, this result places Monash higher than both the metropolitan average (6.98) and the councils that make up Melbourne’s eastern suburbs (7.01) and likely to be amongst the top 2 ranking councils in the overall results.

Satisfaction in the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework reporting requirements for Monash were:

Council’s overall performance (7.18)
Maintaining trust and confidence of the local community (7.14)
Community engagement and consultation (7.17)
Making decisions in the interest of the community (7.15)
Responsiveness to local community needs (7.01) and
Representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of community (7.13).

Areas of strength

The services with the highest satisfaction included the local library and library services (8.52), regular green waste collection (8.28), recreation and aquatic centres (8.24), sports ovals and outdoor sporting facilities (8.06) and the provision and maintenance of local playgrounds (8.03).

There were increases in satisfaction with planning for population growth (up 9.5%), customer service (up 8.1%), planning and development outcomes (up 5.5%), aspects of traffic and parking (up 3.4%), aspects of governance and leadership performance (up 3.3%), and average satisfaction with Council services and facilities (up 1.9%).

Other increases include parking enforcement (up 8.7%), Council’s website (up 5.2%), footpath maintenance and repairs (up 5.1%), local traffic management (up 4.9%), provision of parking facilities (up 4.4%), drains maintenance and repairs (up 4.4%), the provision and maintenance of street trees (up 4.3%), the Monash Bulletin (up 3.9%), Council activities to promote environmental sustainability (up 3.9%), the maintenance and repair of sealed local roads (up 3.7%), and bike paths and shared pathways (up 2.9%).

Areas for improvement

The only service to record a notable decline this year was the regular garbage collection, which declined three per cent to 7.83. This decline reflects the changes to the kerbside collection services, which was a significant change for our community as Council strives to reduce what we send to landfill.

Other areas identified as needing attention from Council were:

Traffic management (13.7%)
Parking both enforcement and availability (12%)
Lighting (7.1%)
Road maintenance and repairs (6.4%)
Provision and maintenance of street trees (5.4%)

Read the survey results and Council report in full.

2022 results

The annual Victorian Community Satisfaction Survey results for Monash are now available and Monash has recorded a strong result for overall community satisfaction.

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).

There is no requirement for councils to make their results available publicly but Monash does every year – whether the results are good or bad – in the interests of transparency and open government.

We appreciate those who took the time to contribute to the survey and will continue to work towards improving our services and reaching higher standards.

Read the full report: 2022 Community Satisfaction Survey(PDF, 8MB)

Real the Council report: July 2022 Council Report Community Satisfaction Survey(PDF, 191KB)

2021 results

The annual Victorian Community Satisfaction Survey results for Monash are now available and Monash has recorded a very good result for overall community satisfaction.

Monash residents have shown strong support for Council's performance during the past year and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The overall satisfaction result was 7.34/10, down slightly on the record of 7.51/10 for 2020.

Monash reported scores “measurably higher” than the metropolitan Melbourne average benchmark of 69 and marginally higher than the 7.2 recorded by the eastern region councils in the 2021 Governing Melbourne research.

Satisfaction in the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework reporting requirements were:

Maintaining trust and confidence of the local community (7.2)
Community engagement and consultation (6.9)
Making decisions in the interest of the community (7.1)
Responsiveness to local community needs (7.1)
Representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of community (6.8).

Satisfaction with Council’s customer service increased substantially this year, up 4.3% to 7.8, taking its rating from “very good” to “excellent.”

The survey also asks about satisfaction with, and the importance of, 28 specific Council services and facilities. The report concludes that satisfaction with services and facilities in Monash was stable this year at 7.8 and remains on average at an “excellent” level. Across metropolitan Melbourne, satisfaction with Council services is rated as “very good” at an average score of 7.5.

In Monash, the highest community satisfaction continues to be with the rubbish collection (8.5), recycling service (8.5), local libraries & library services (8.4), green waste collection (8.4), Council run services for children and their families (8.21), hard rubbish collection (8.19), and recreation and aquatic centres (8.13).

The areas identified as needing attention of Monash Council are:

Building, housing and planning and development (9.6% up from 9.2%)
Parks, gardens and open spaces (9.1% up from 3.6%)
Traffic management (7.6% down from 10%)
Parking (7.2% down from 11.1%)
Road maintenance and repairs (6% up from 2.6%).

Council thanks those community members who gave of their time to participate in our 2021 Community Satisfaction Survey. Such feedback provides direction and focus on what matters to our residents and inspires us to build an even higher-functioning organisation that is community-focused.

There is no requirement for this but Monash does make its full report publicly available every year in the interests of transparency and open government.

Read the full report: 2021 Community Satisfaction Survey(PDF, 5MB)

Read the Council report: July 2021 Council Report Community Satisfaction Survey(PDF, 203KB)

2020 results

The annual Victorian Community Satisfaction Survey results for Monash are now available and we are thrilled that Monash has recorded an excellent result for overall community satisfaction.

Council recorded an excellent result again this year for overall satisfaction’, a score of 75, 3% higher than last year’s result of 73. Whilst the results of all Councils are not yet compiled, the score of 75 places Monash as recording the highest level of satisfaction so far amongst metropolitan Councils. Monash reported scores “measurably and significantly higher” than the metropolitan Melbourne average benchmark of 69.

High scores were also achieved for community satisfaction for five key aspects:

Maintaining trust and confidence of the local community (74)
Community engagement and consultation (73)
Making decisions in the interest of the community (73)
Responsiveness to local community needs (73)
Representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of community (73)

Each of these aspects rated significantly above the Melbourne metropolitan benchmarks.

Council’s customer service was rated as “very good”, with an average score of 75.

The survey also asks about satisfaction with and the importance of 29 specific Council services and facilities. The report concludes that satisfaction with services and facilities in Monash “remains at an excellent level” with an average score of 78. Across metropolitan Melbourne, satisfaction with Council services is rated as “very good” at an average score of 75.

In Monash, the highest community satisfaction continues to be with our local libraries & library services (86), our rubbish collection (88), green waste collection (87), recycling service (86), the Waste Transfer Station (83) and Sporting Ovals and Outdoor Sport Facilities (81).

Residents dissatisfied with Council’s overall performance mentioned street sweeping, parking, and public toilets.

We appreciate those who took the time to contribute to the survey and will continue to work towards improving our services and reaching higher standards.

Read the full report: Monash Community Satisfaction Survey 2020(PDF, 3MB)

Read the July Council Report

2019 results

The annual Victorian Community Satisfaction Survey results for Monash are now available and it is pleasing that Monash has recorded an excellent result for overall community satisfaction.

Council's result places it equal first for overall satisfaction (with two other metropolitan councils) amongst the other councils who participated in the Metropolis survey.

Monash scored 73 for overall satisfaction, significantly higher than the 2019 metropolitan Melbourne average benchmark of 69.

High scores were also achieved for community satisfaction with governance and leadership, averaging a score of 73 for five key aspects:

Maintaining trust and confidence of the local community (73)
Community engagement and consultation (73)
Making decisions in the interest of the community (72)
Responsiveness to local community needs (72) and
Representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of community (72).

The results show that Council is performing very well in the key areas of libraries (85), waste management (84) and customer service (78).

The survey was undertaken in June 2019 in a face-to-face survey of 800 randomly-selected Monash residents. The survey helps Council identify services that need to be improved and areas where we are not meeting the community’s expectations.

The areas identified by residents surveyed as needing improvement are car parking, traffic management, planning and development, street lighting and trees.

The survey also identified that some residents do not feel as connected to their local neighbourhoods. We are currently working on a project to look at this issue and what we can do to improve connectedness amongst our residents.

We appreciate those who took the time to contribute to the survey and will continue to work towards improving our services and reaching higher standards.

Read the full report: 2019 Community Satisfaction Survey(PDF, 4MB)

Read the August 2019 Council Report(PDF, 146KB)

2018 results

The 2018 Community Satisfaction Survey was conducted in April and May 2018. Previously Council has undertaken a random telephone survey of 400 Monash residents aged 18-plus years old. This year, 800 randomly selected households across Monash, double the previous survey size, were surveyed using a face-to-face interview methodology.

Here is the full survey report: Community Satisfaction Survey 2018(PDF, 5MB). All scores are out of 10.

Council recorded excellent results in this survey particularly in the area of overall satisfaction (7.4)

High scores were also recorded for governance and leadership (an average score of 7.3) in particular the following aspects:

Engagement and consultation (7.4)
Making decisions in the interest of the community (7.3)
Responsiveness to local community needs (7.3) and
Maintaining trust and confidence of the community (7.3).

Council’s representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of the community recorded 7.1.

Seven aspects of our customer service were rated by residents, achieving an average satisfaction score of 7.9.

Monash scored six points above metro Melbourne for:

Our general reception scored 8.2 (8.3 for in person visits, 8.2 for telephone reception)
Our speed of service (7.4)
For our customer service 72% of residents rated the service as “good” or “very good”.

The survey asks about satisfaction with and importance of 32 specific Council services and facilities. The report concludes that satisfaction with services and facilities in Monash is very good. The highest community satisfaction is with Waste Management and Libraries (averaging 8.5), Sporting Ovals and Outdoor Sport Facilities (8.2) and Recreation and Aquatic Centres (also 8.2).

Residents were also to themselves identify the “top three issues for Monash at the moment”. The results here are consistent with previous surveys. The most mentioned issues are:

Parking (21% of respondents)
Traffic management (15%)
Building, housing, planning and development (11%).

Council thanks those community members who gave of their time to participate in the 2018 Community Satisfaction Survey. The feedback provides direction and focus on what matters to our residents and inspires us to build an even higher-functioning organisation that delivers to the Monash community.

2017 results

Council performed well in a number of core areas but did not achieve any higher results in this year’s survey compared with our results last year, highlighting the need for improvement in a number of areas.

Here is the full survey report: Community Satisfaction Survey - Report 2017(PDF, 3MB) .

Council achieved solid results in waste management (score of 77), arts and libraries (76) and customer service (75). All our service areas are at or above the benchmarks for metropolitan councils.

For our customer service 72% of residents rated the service as “good” or “very good”.

In comparing Council with other metropolitan councils, there are no areas where Monash performance scores are lower than the metropolitan council average.

However, disappointingly our scores did fall in a number of areas compared with our results for 2016. Our overall performance with a score of 66 is four points lower than the score in 2016 (70). It remains on par with the metropolitan average of 64 points and higher than the state average of 59.

Satisfaction ratings for Council’s direction over the last 12 months also fell to 55 (down from 61 in 2016). The metropolitan average is 54 and the state average 53.

2016 results

In 2016, Council performed very strongly in the survey. Here is the full survey report: Community Satisfaction Survey - Report 2016(PDF, 3MB).

Some of the highlights include:

On overall performance, Monash's score increased by two points (compared with 2015) to be 70, which is four points higher than the average for metropolitan councils
In the words of the researchers, Monash’s performance “exceeds the metropolitan and statewide council averages on all core measures”. The core measures are: overall performance; customer service; community consultation and engagement; sealed roads; advocacy; overall Council direction; and making decisions in the community’s interests
On the core measures, our highest score was for customer service, where our performance increased by three points to be 76. This is three points ahead of the average for metropolitan councils
On whether people think Council is “heading in the right direction”, Monash's score was 61, up four points on last year and six points ahead of the average for metropolitan councils.

Pleasingly, our results increased significantly in areas which the community had nominated in 2014 and 2015 as needing improvement, including:

Engaging and consulting with our community. Our score of 62 is four points higher than last year and eight points higher than our 2014 score. Our performance on this measure is “significantly higher” than the metropolitan average.
Informing our community. Our score of 68 is five points higher than last year and eight points higher than our 2014 score. Our performance on this measure is “significantly higher” than the metropolitan average.
Planning for population growth. Our score of 58 is five points higher than last year, and seven points above the average for metropolitan councils.

Monash also improved its scores for:

Elderly support services (up three points)
Council’s general town planning policy (up three points)
Waste management (up three points)

As part of the survey, participants are asked to nominate an area in which Council needs to improve in the next 12 months. The top five areas nominated (in order) were:

Parking availability
Inappropriate development
Communication
Traffic management
Footpaths/walking tracks.

In an encouraging sign, Council’s scores on most of these five measures increased in 2016, indicating our community has noticed improvements already. For example, the score for ‘informing the community’ (communication) increased by five points; the score for ‘town planning policy’ (inappropriate development) by three points; traffic management by two points; and parking facilities by two points. Our challenge is to build on this positive momentum. The exception was the condition of footpaths which decreased by one point. There is increased funding in the 2016/17 budget for footpath upgrades and shared walking/cycling paths so community satisfaction should increase accordingly.

Monash is serious about serving our community well, so we will continue to reach out to our residents, to listen to what you feel the priorities and issues are, and to respond.