The City of Victor Harbor's Community Satisfaction Survey helps us understand what we're doing well and where we can improve. The survey looks at Council services and facilities and seeks community feedback it terms of both importance of the service and associated satisfaction levels.

The results of the survey help inform future planning by identifying issues of high priority for the City of Victor Harbor community. It is also a great tool to track Council's performance over time, with the 2023 results to be benchmarked against findings from 2022.

Independent market research company, newfocus, conducted the survey in 2022 and 2023 on Council's behalf. newfocus has  extensive experience carrying out projects of this nature and undergoes annual independent auditing to ensure the highest quality processes are met throughout its operations, including accreditation to the latest International Standard for Market Opinion and Social Research. The company is also a  member of the Australian Data and Insights Association to which it must annually sign its compliance with the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014.

2023 Community Satisfaction Survey Findings

The 2023 Community Satisfaction Survey was undertaken throughout March and April by market research company, newfocus to help the Council understand more about community perceptions in relation to its service delivery and future priorities.

It is the second consecutive year that the Council has undertaken this survey, with the results providing a foundation for future benchmarking and tracking of Council’s performance.

The views and experiences of 352 residents, 100 businesses and 81 non-resident ratepayers were captured through a mix of random telephone interviews and online surveys.

Overall, satisfaction with the City of Victor Harbor’s performance remained on par with results from 2022 with a marginal decline of 2% for those who were satisfied or very satisfied.

Customer service was identified as an area where improvements can be made, with declines across all related performance measures in the 2023 survey. The results are reflective of circumstances faced by the Council over the months prior to the survey which resulted in limited staff resources. In response to this, changes were made to the customer service charter allowing for longer timeframes to respond to customers.

Providing and maintaining roads and footpaths is considered the second most important service delivered by Council, behind waste and recycling management, however it achieved the lowest satisfaction rating at 29%. This was also highlighted in an open-ended question that asked for specific areas Council should focus on to improve its performance where the most common responses related to roads and footpaths.

Service areas where Council performed best included the Victor Harbor Library, open space provision and maintenance, and waste management and recycling services.

View the 2023 Community Satisfaction Survey Findings and Analysis Report

2022 Community Satisfaction Survey Findings

The City of Victor Harbor’s Community Satisfaction Survey was carried out throughout March and early April by reputable market research company, newfocus.

As part of the research, 300 residents, 100 businesses and 26 non-resident ratepayers were randomly selected and surveyed via computer assisted telephone interviews and online surveying to gain feedback on a broad range of services and projects offered by the Council.

Many positives findings are reflected in the results, as well as some room for improvement. Overall, the results showed that 45% of those surveyed were satisfied with the Council’s performance, with residents currently the most satisfied and non-resident ratepayers the least satisfied.

Perception of the Victor Harbor Library was particularly positive, with 81% of people satisfied with the Library’s services.

The City of Victor Harbor’s overall customer service also scored well, with 71% satisfaction overall and 72% satisfaction with the methods available to liaise with Council.

Preferences for receiving information about Council varied between age groups, with people under 49 years of age preferring digital methods and people over 49 preferring traditional print-based methods. Overall, email/e-news was the most popular option for receiving information from Council, with 41% of people surveyed preferring this method of communication.

In terms of major projects, seven out of 10 people also appeared to support the development of a sport and recreation precinct, and almost six out of 10 support car parking infrastructure for McKinlay Street.

Suggestions for improvement often related to infrastructure management. The results suggest that our community places a high level of importance on services relating to planning and development, road and footpath maintenance and traffic management.

Support for local businesses and economic development initiatives were also identified as having room for improvement.

From an environmental perspective, waste management services and coastal protection were deemed very important by the community.

View the 2022 Community Satisfaction Survey Findings and Analysis Report

Got a question about the Community Satisfaction Survey?

Contact the City of Victor Harbor  by emailing localgov@victor.sa.gov.au or by calling (08) 8551 0500.