Customer Service Guarantee

Monash Council has a Customer Service Guarantee.

The guarantee reinforces Council's focus on providing excellent customer service to our community. The aim is for local residents to know what timelines and service standards they can expect across a range of Council services.

There are 40 specific targets, ranging from how promptly phone calls will be answered to how many metres of footpath will be upgraded each year.

Each quarter, Council will publish a report card on its performance against each of the targets. When Council fails to meet a target, we will let our community know what action we will take to fix our performance.

If you have any feedback about Council's customer service, please contact Jarrod Doake, Chief Operating Officer, on 9518 3521 or at jarrodd@monash.vic.gov.au.

Reports of our performance:

• Quarterly reports for 2017
• Quarterly reports and annual report for 2016
• Quarterly reports and annual report for 2015
• Quarterly reports and annual report for 2014
• Our 40 Customer Service targets

Our 40 Customer Service targets

Customer responsiveness

1. We will answer 90% of calls to our Customer Service Centre within 30 seconds.
2. We will respond to your letter within 10 working days of receipt.
3. If you email us at our central email address (mail@monash.vic.gov.au ), we will acknowledge your email within 1 working day and respond within 10 working days.

Waste services

4. Our weekly domestic waste collection service will not lead to more than 120 reports of uncollected bins per month (this target is well above industry standards).
5. Our weekly recycling collection service will not lead to more than 60 reports of uncollected bins per month (this target is well above industry standards).
6. Damaged bins will be repaired within 3 - 5 working days of being reported to us, unless a customer requests a later delivery date.
7. Bins for a new or resumed service will be provided to an occupied premises within 2 working days of being requested, unless a customer requests a later delivery date.
8. Bins reported as missing will be replaced within 2 working days of being reported to Council.
9. Every year we will provide one free hard waste collection for each Monash household, as part of Council's Annual Hard & Green Waste Collection.

Street cleaning services

10. We will clean every major shopping strip 6 days per week. Residential streets will be cleaned, on average, once every 5 weeks.
11. We will respond to reports of overfull street litter bins in shopping strips within 2 hours of them being reported to us (during working hours).
12. We will investigate reports of litter and dumped waste on public land within 1 day of it being reported to us.

Roads and footpaths

13. Major potholes on Council roads that are assessed as urgent will be made safe within 24 hours. If assessed as non urgent, potholes will be temporarily made safe within 5 working days and repaired within 20 working days.
14. 18,000 m2 of footpath will be upgraded each year.
    * Please note: this target was revised upwards on 21 July 2014 as the previous target had been set too low.
15. Footpaths determined to be a tripping hazard will be made safe within 5 working days. Where Council assesses the footpath problem as urgent, it will be made safe within 24 hours.

Trees

16. We will inspect every Council street tree at least once every 2 years and prune, if necessary.
17. We will plant a minimum of 1,000 new or replacement street trees per year.
18. We will plant in excess of 70,000 trees, shrubs and groundcovers in reserves each year.

Library services

19. 40,000 new items will be added to the Monash Libraries' collection each year*.
20. 9,000 new items will be added to the Monash Libraries’ collection for culturally and linguistically diverse communities each year*.

* Please note: these targets were revised upwards on 19 May 2014 as the previous targets had been set too low.

Health

21. All restaurants, cafes and takeaway food shops will be subject to an inspection by an Environmental Health Officer at least once every 12 months.

Graffiti

21. We will respond to reports of offensive graffiti within 4 hours of being notified (between the hours of 7.30am – 4pm, Monday-Friday), with the aim being to remove the offensive graffiti as soon as possible.

Parks and open space

23. We will visit all parks every 2 - 6 weeks (depending on the season) to ensure that the grass is maintained and to identify, remove or report any situations of risk or threat to public safety.
24. We will inspect every children’s park playground either weekly or fortnightly (depending on their level of use) to ensure they are safe, clean and usable.

Animal management

25. We will conduct a minimum of 20 hours of patrols of local parks per month.
26. We will respond to complaints about animal nuisances, such as barking dogs, within 3 working days.
27. We will respond to reports of wandering dogs and dog attacks within 24 hours.

Community amenity

28. Appropriate enforcement action will be taken within 3 working days on complaints regarding a Local Law (such as an overhanging tree, littering, or obstructions on footpaths and roadways).

Planning

29. 100% of 'simple' planning applications (as determined by the VicSmart application process) will be decided upon within 10 working days.
30. 80% of all other planning applications will be determined within 60 days.

Community care

31. We will respond within 2 working days to any priority 1 referrals for assistance (prioritised using priority of access guidelines). 
    

    * From 1 July 2016 onwards, the above target can no longer be reported on by Council. The Federal Government requires that all requests like this go through their central request system.

32. We will provide all required delivered meals to every eligible Meals on Wheels client by 1pm.
33. We will respond within 1 working day to any emergency home maintenance request made by a recipient of Monash Home and Community Care services.

Maternal and child health

34. Every new child born to a Monash family will receive a home visit from a Maternal & Child Health nurse.
35. We will offer ten consultations to all Monash children aged 0-4 years, at key ages and stages.

Parking

36. We will provide parking permits within 5 working days of the receipt of a valid application.

Recreation

37. We will deliver 99% of timetabled classes for group fitness, swim lessons, squads and multisport.

Communication

38. We will continually improve Council's website and expand the functions that our community can perform online via our website (i.e. make payments, request Council services and provide feedback).
39. We will produce 11 issues of the Monash Bulletin each year and every issue will be delivered to approx 67,000 households.
40. We will report to the community on how we have performed on the targets set out in this guarantee on a quarterly basis on the Monash website and on an annual basis through the Monash Bulletin and Monash website.