Make a complaint
About
We encourage you to contact us when you have a problem with our services, actions, decisions, and policies.
We are committed to:
- responding to your complaints by taking action to resolve them as quickly as possible
- learning from complaints to improve our services.
The revised Complaints Policy came into effect on 15 May 2023. You can also view our customer charter here.
What is a complaint?
A complaint is a written or oral expression to the Council by a person of their dissatisfaction with:
- the quality of an action, decision or service provided by Council staff or a Council contractor
- a delay by Council staff or a Council contractor in taking an action, making a decision, or delivering a service
- a policy or decision made by the Council, Council staff or a Council contractor.
What is not considered a complaint
Our Complaints Policy applies to all complaints from members of the public about Council staff, Council contractors and decisions made at Council meetings.
However it does not apply to the following:
- Requests for maintenance to an asset for which Council has responsibility or reports of faults or damage to an asset for which Council has responsibility
- Claims for compensation
- Complaints regarding allegations of corrupt conduct. These are managed in line with our protected disclosure procedure. Complaints about allegations of corrupt conduct will be managed in accordance with the Protected Disclosure Act 2012.
- Complaints regarding individual Councillors.
- Law enforcement decisions. Complaints about law enforcement decisions will be dealt with in line with our Compliance and Enforcement Policy.
- Workplace grievances lodged by Council staff, volunteers or contractors.
How to make a complaint or give feedback
You can make a complaint or provide us with feedback using any of these channels:
Post
Complaints and feedback
Cardinia Shire Council
PO Box 7
Pakenham VIC 3810
Phone
In person
Cardinia Shire Council
20 Siding Avenue, Officer (view in Google Maps)
How we will handle your complaint
Council applies a tiered approach to managing complaints.
Where possible, we will attempt to resolve your complaint at the time you first contact us.
If that isn’t possible, we will escalate your complaint as per our Complaints Policy.
- When you make a complaint, we will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days. We'll attempt to resolve your complaint when you first contact us.
- In some cases, it may not be possible to resolve your complaint when you first contact us. If your complaint requires deeper consideration or investigation, we will refer it to the relevant team or manager for investigation. We will tell you who you can contact about the investigation, and we will aim to complete the investigation within 20 business days. We will inform you of the outcome of your complaint in writing and will explain our reasons.
If you’re not satisfied with how we handle your complaint
If you are dissatisfied with our decision and how we responded to your complaint, you can request an internal review.
- We will refer your complaint to a senior officer for review, and we will tell you who you can contact about the review. The senior officer will conduct an independent internal review and will consider whether the complaint should have been dealt with differently. This can lead to the original decision being upheld or overturned.
- We aim to complete internal reviews within 20 business days. We will inform you of the outcome of the internal review in writing and will explain our reasons.
- If you are still dissatisfied with our decision and how we responded to your complaint, you can contact a relevant oversight body, and request an external review. There are several oversight bodies that can deal with different types of complaints about us, such as the Victorian Ombudsman. For a list of relevant oversight bodies, please refer to our Complaints Policy.