Lake Macquarie City Council has been named one of the most complained about councils in New South Wales for the 2020-21 financial year, according to the NSW Ombudsman's annual report. The council received 54 actionable complaints, placing it sixth among all councils in the state, with a rate of 26 complaints per 100,000 residents.
This marks an improvement from the previous year, when the council was the subject of 64 complaints, at a rate of 31 per 100,000 residents. The top ten most complained about councils accounted for 29 per cent of all local government actionable complaints finalised in 2020-21.
The most common issues raised included customer service, complaint-handling processes, council enforcement action, charges and fees, and the reasoning behind council decisions when exercising discretion. The Ombudsman noted an increase in complaints about customer service and complaint handling compared to the previous year.
In response, the Ombudsman's office has reached out to all councils to engage with them about a complaint handling improvement program.
Meanwhile, the Hunter New England Local Health District saw a significant rise in complaints, with 47 actionable complaints in 2021-22, up from 21 the previous year. This placed it second only to the Sydney Local Health District, accounting for nearly one fifth of all complaints about local health districts.
In the community services sector, the Ombudsman received the most complaints about statutory child protection, particularly from individuals who reported a child at risk of harm but felt no action was taken. Other areas of dissatisfaction included foster care, with concerns about lack of support for carers and limited contact between parents and their children.
