❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice requests data on complaints made against the City of Melville to both the Department of Local Government and the Minister. The answer provides limited data and indicates difficulties in extracting specific details due to data merging practices.
AnsweredQoN 2467Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to complaints made against the City of Melville and ask: (a) how many complaints were made to the Department in each of the following years: (i) 2012; (ii) 2013; (iii) 2014; (iv) 2015; (v) 2016; and (vi) 2017; (b) how many complaints were made to the Minister for Local Government in each of the following years: (i) 2012; (ii) 2013; (iii) 2014; (iv) 2015; (v) 2016; and (vi) 2017; (c) how many of the complaints referred to in (a) and (b) above were made to both the Department and the Minister; (d) how many individual complainants made the complaints referred to in (a) and (b); (e) how many of the complaints referred to in (a) and (b) above were anonymous; (f) how many of the complaints referred to in (a) and (b) above were informal in nature; (g) how many of the complaints referred to in (a) and (b) above came from people associated with the Melville Residents and Ratepayers Association; (h) how many of the complaints referred to in (a) and (b) above came from people associated with the Alfred Cove Action Group; and (i) how many of the complaints referred to in (a) and (b) were identical or of a pro forma nature?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 March 2018
Responded by
Minister for Local Government
Response time
8 days
(a) The number of records contained in the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ (the Department) investigations database are listed below.
Note: Complaints from multiple complainants about a single matter are merged into a single entry in the database, as are complaints related to an Authorised Inquiry.
I am advised by the Department that they do not consider correspondence outlining a grievance or dissatisfaction related to local government automatically constituting a formal complaint for their records (for example, matters related to other legislation such as planning or health, or dissatisfaction with a local government’s lawful decision).
I am advised by the Department that the merging and recording of complaints is a practice that has been in place for many years.
(i) I am advised that during the previous Government, 4
(ii) I am advised during the previous Government, 5
(iii) I am advised during the previous Government, 9
(iv) I am advised during the previous Government, 9
(v) I am advised during the previous Government, 4
(vi) 9
(b)(i-vi) Any correspondence received by the Minister’s office that the office believes may contain a valid complaint is referred to the Department for assessment and appropriate action.
(c) See above
(d-i) As each single entry in the database contains multiple complainants, this information is not readily accessible, however if the member has a specific concern I will consider it
Note: Complaints from multiple complainants about a single matter are merged into a single entry in the database, as are complaints related to an Authorised Inquiry.
I am advised by the Department that they do not consider correspondence outlining a grievance or dissatisfaction related to local government automatically constituting a formal complaint for their records (for example, matters related to other legislation such as planning or health, or dissatisfaction with a local government’s lawful decision).
I am advised by the Department that the merging and recording of complaints is a practice that has been in place for many years.
(i) I am advised that during the previous Government, 4
(ii) I am advised during the previous Government, 5
(iii) I am advised during the previous Government, 9
(iv) I am advised during the previous Government, 9
(v) I am advised during the previous Government, 4
(vi) 9
(b)(i-vi) Any correspondence received by the Minister’s office that the office believes may contain a valid complaint is referred to the Department for assessment and appropriate action.
(c) See above
(d-i) As each single entry in the database contains multiple complainants, this information is not readily accessible, however if the member has a specific concern I will consider it
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.