General News
7 April, 2026
Customer Charter opens for feedback
Central Goldfields Shire Council’s Customer Charter is out for community feedback.
Central Goldfields Shire Council’s Customer Charter is out for community feedback until April 17.
Councillors endorsed seeking community input at their March council meeting.
The draft document is a public-facing contract that outlines customer service goals council said are comparable to other rural shires.
For example, the document outlines how enquiry’s may be resolved and requests for in-formation managed.
Both explicitly mention how limited resources and staff time affect this process.
The charter’s purpose is unlike the existing 2018 document’s use as an internal policy focused on department outputs and timelines.
Due to the earlier document preceding the Local Government Act 2020, councillor Grace La Vella said it was time to review and modernise it.
“The proposed customer charter represents a significant step forward. It reflects not only on current legislative requirements but also a more realistic and trans-parent approach to how we engage with our community,” she said.
Council said their intention was to create a document that is trans-parent about recognising resource constraints and managing customer expectation.
“What I particularly support in this draft is its honesty. Rather than over promising certain rules or timelines that may not always be achievable, the charter takes a practical approach,” Cr La Vella said.
“That’s important because trust is built into transparency. This document is essentially a social contract between council and the community.”
Councillor Liesbeth Long said customer service is something Central Goldfields Shire Council does well.
“I love the document, I’m so pleased there’s a photo of those amazing [customer service] ladies in there, they do a wonderful job,” she said.
According to last year’s community satisfaction survey, council’s customer service is in-line with the state’s and similar shire’s averages.
Three-in-five residents provided a positive customer service rating of ‘very good’ or ‘good’.
One-in-five residents provided a negative customer service rating of ‘very poor’ or ‘poor’.
Cr La Vella invited the com-munity to have their say on the document.
“Tonight isn’t about adopting the charter it’s about putting it out there for community feedback,” she said at last month’s council meeting.
“That consultation process is critical like all community consultation processes. It gives the residents the opportunity to tell us whether we’ve struck the right balance between service, expecta-tions, and what is realistically deliverable.”
Feedback is open until 5 pm on April 17.