Winning a seat on your local council can come down to a surprisingly narrow number of votes. With the October council elections approaching fast, candidates might be interested to see newly released research into the issues that are top of mind for Australian ratepayers and that could swing voters in their favour.
Our Datascape team at Datacom – Australasia’s largest homegrown tech company – commissioned a survey of 2,000 ratepayers across Australia to ask them what they want from their council, and what services they value the most. The findings provide some clues as to where this year’s council elections could be won or lost.
Do ratepayers even know what they’re getting for their money?
Only about a quarter – 27 per cent – of Australians feel heard by their council, down from 35 per cent in 2023. Engagement is also down, from 55 per cent last year to 52 per cent this year. If councils and councillors can improve how they communicate with residents, more citizens will feel heard and engagement will improve – which could sway how people vote.
EXective two-way communication can also help councils tell residents about all the services they oXer. Two-thirds of Australians tell us they are not aware of the full range of council services. Councils do a vast amount of vital work in their communities, managing libraries, parks, venues, planning, noise control, and street maintenance. But not all residents know what’s available or where councils are spending their revenue. This is a problem because 50 per cent of respondents say they want ‘better value for money’ from their council, rising to 52 per cent among younger generations.
How much would that number reduce if people knew about all the services available? Better communication might be an easy win when it comes to resolving the ‘value for money’ issue, rather than councillors promising to reduce rates or oXer more services. If more people knew what was on oXer and could make use of it, more value would be unlocked without any additional spend.
Faster, simpler applications please
Technology can transform council processes and residents want to see their councils embrace it. Only 37 per cent of respondents think their council has “a positive relationship with technology”. Thirty-nine per cent say that investing in technology would improve councils’ overall service delivery, while 70 per cent say investing in technology would give them more confidence in their council.
This doesn’t present a significant barrier for councils, because there’s well-established technology and tools already available. We’ve worked with 117 of the 500 councils across
Australia, and we’ve seen firsthand the impact the right platform or app can have. For instance, we have helped councils implement an app which enables two-way communication and that is being used in myriad ways by councils and their communities, including sending timely reminders to people about when to put out the bins, making it easy to report a stray dog or alert the council to damage from weather events, upload a geotagged photo of a broken street sign, or reserve a gazebo at the local park for your next community event.
Councils have told us they get plenty of positive feedback from ratepayers when they improve their technology to make life easier for ratepayers, and our latest survey supports their experiences. Of the Australians we surveyed, 44 per cent want faster processing and 43 per cent would like simpler application processes.
Apps are fast, easy, and fit perfectly into our everyday lives. We already bank and shop on our phones at times that suit us, so why should we need to call our council during fixed hours or submit an email and wait for it to be processed? Traditional channels need to remain open, but giving residents more ways to engage is a win-win. Users love it, and councils can get more information, more quickly, allowing for faster processing through automation.
Do the big three well – and don’t forget about sustainability
We asked ratepayers which council services they value the most, and these three dominated:
- Waste collection, valued by 72 per cent of respondents.
- Shared facilities like community centres, 67 per cent
- Road maintenance, 49 per cent
If council candidates can plan to improve these three services, that’s likely to be a popular approach with their constituents. A push for greater financial transparency is also going to be well received, with 84 per cent of Australians saying this would make them trust their council more.
And one final issue to consider for prospective councillors: sustainability. It might not be the buzzword it once was, but don’t let it fall oX the radar – 38 per cent of Australians say they do not believe their council acts with sustainability in mind.
Councils that want to win over voters should think about how they can provide smoother, easier interactions and better engagement. Having a plan to boost performance and make services more accessible, to improve financial transparency and adopt more sustainable practices is not just about securing votes either, it’s about delivering real value to local communities. Embracing technology can help with all these issues, and it might turn out to be a deciding factor in the upcoming elections.