❓ Mr. Krsticevic requests data on complaints against local governments from 2014 to the present. The Minister provides a spreadsheet from the Department's investigations database, clarifying data handling practices and scope of what constitutes a formal complaint.
AnsweredQoN 2473Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the Minister advise how many complaints have been made to the Minister or department against each local government, in the period from 1 January 2014 to date?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 March 2018
Responded by
Minister for Local Government
Response time
8 days
The attached spreadsheet contains a breakdown by local government of records contained in the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ (the Department) investigations database for the period 1 January 2014 to 26 February 2018. [see tabled paper no.]
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.
The database includes investigations related to general complaints, minor breach complaints (which are dealt with by the Local Government Standards Panel), and serious breach complaints.
I am advised by the Department that the merging and recording of complaints is a practice that has been in place for many years. Including the period 1 January 2014 to 10 March 2017, of which I was not the Minister, nor in Government.
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.
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).
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.
The database includes investigations related to general complaints, minor breach complaints (which are dealt with by the Local Government Standards Panel), and serious breach complaints.
I am advised by the Department that the merging and recording of complaints is a practice that has been in place for many years. Including the period 1 January 2014 to 10 March 2017, of which I was not the Minister, nor in Government.
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.
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).
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