The Victorian Government has released the latest annual performance data for Victoria’s 79 local governments to help communities understand its local council’s areas of excellence and improvement.
Minister for Local Government, Shaun Leane, has welcomed the data, which shows councils have served an important role during the coronavirus pandemic, stepping up to support their communities and keeping vital services running.
The sixth annual release of performance data on the Know Your Council website gives Victorians a clear and easy to understand overview of their local council for 2019-20. The update gives insight into areas where councils are excelling, as well as areas for improvement.
“Know Your Council is all about building accountability and improving the information Victorians have available to assess the performance of their council,” Mr Leane said.
“It’s pleasing to see that councils maintained high performance standards during challenging times for our state – through bushfires, floods and pandemic, councils have been delivering the services their communities need.”
While public health restrictions inevitably saw a decrease in use of council assets like libraries and aquatic centres, there were clear areas of success and continued improvement.
Faster processing of planning permits has been a critical part of council support for local businesses, particularly in hospitality and construction.
Maternal and child health was another area of improvement despite the challenge of delivering programs in a COVIDSafe environment, with more than 34,000 children and their families accessing services across Victoria.
A national first, Know Your Council was launched in 2015 to assess council performance across 59 measures covering essential services including maternal and child health, waste collection, planning permits and roading.
As well as rating individual councils, the website allows ratepayers to compare the performance of their council with others across the state.
Council performance data for 2019-20 is available at knowyourcouncil.vic.gov.au.
