Complaints

What do Council call complaints about what landowners do on their properties?

Complaints about what landowners do on their properties are called "Customer Action Requests" by Council. This is because a complaint is a request by a customer for Council to investigate a particular matter.

Where do complaints about my property come from?

They can be lodged by any person, whether they are resident in the Shire or not.

They can be lodged by an another government agency, for example Department of Environment and Conservation or the Police.

They can be lodged by Council staff, for example where a member of staff is driving around the Shire and happens to notice something they think requires attention or where a member of staff attends a property for another reason (for example to inspect an on-site sewerage management system) and they notice something else which they think might require further investigation (for example trees that look like they have been recently cut down or a house that looks like it has not been built to a reasonable standard etc).

They can be lodged by Councillors on behalf of themselves or another person.

Does Council Investigate the Motives of People Lodging Complaints?

No, Council does not consider why people may have lodged a complaint. Just like other enforcement agencies, eg Police or ATO, Council is not required to consider the motives of people who lodge complaints and will not do so.

How are complaints about my property supplied to Council?

They can be lodged in writing, either by email, fax or letter.

They can be lodged verbally, either by telephone or personally to a staff member.

Can I get information about complaints made about my property?

Yes, subject to Council complying with legal requirements.

How do I get information about complaints made about by property?

An application must be made under the Freedom of Information Act in writing on the form provided by Council to ensure that the requirements of this Act are complied with. This Type of information is not available under Section 12 of the Local Government Act as it may contain personal information.

What information will I get under FOI if the complaint about my property is a written complaint?

You will get a copy of the complaint as received by Council with any details which could identify the person lodging the complaint deleted from the copy.

There is no set list of what may or may not be 'identifying details'. They can include for example handwriting, names, addresses, telephone, mobile or fax numbers, email addresses.

Identifying details can also include statements made in the complaint for example "the house next door" or "I rented a house from Such and Such". Any such statements will be deleted from the copy complaint provided to you.

Another example of possible 'identifying details' may be photographs attached to complaints, if they are taken from a particular place which can be linked to a particular person, in which case copies of the photographs will not be provided to you.

Where a complaint is received in hand writing, because hand writing can be an identifying feature, the complaint will be re-typed by staff word for word except that any identifying details will be removed. The re-typed version will be signed by the FOI officer determining the FOI application as proof that it is a true copy of the complaint.

What information will I get under FOI if the complaint about my property is a verbal complaint?

Council do not take audio recordings of its telephone calls or discussions between staff and complainants. Therefore, there will not be an audio recording, or a transcript of an audio recording, available of any complaint verbally received by Council.

What you will get instead is a copy of an extract of Council's Customer Action Request database.

The Customer Action Request database is where staff record information received in verbal complaints and it also tracks what action is taken in response to those complaints.

As with written requests, you will not be entitled to receive any personal information which might identify the identity of the person lodging the complaint.

An example of the Customer Action Request Enquiry extract follows and this is the form of the information you will receive if a verbal complaint is lodged about your property.

  1. This is the identification number that has been assigned to the complaint. This may also show if the complaint has been allocated as a 'high priority' and, if so, the date by which action is proposed to be taken.

  2. If the complaint was anonymous the "received from" box will be blank and the address will show as 'c/- Byron Shire Council'.

    If the complaint was from an identified non-Council source all boxes will be blank.

    If the complaint was from a staff member or a Councillor the "received from" box will say Byron Shire Council and all other boxes will give Council's contact details.

  3. This box will contain the information supplied by the person lodging the complaint that is captured by the staff member taking the complaint.

    If there is insufficient room to display all the information in this box you will be provided with a second page that has the full data.

    Any 'identifying details' will have been deleted from the copy extract or additional page provided to you.

  4. These boxes will identify the category and subcategories (if applicable) the complaint falls into, eg 'unauthorised building', 'tree removal' or 'earthmoving' etc.

  5. This will identify the locality of your property eg "Suffolk Park", "Federal" etc.

  6. This will show the address of your property.

  7. This is for office use only. It allocates the complaint to a process for actions to be taken and is not part of the complaint.