Survey results identify clear priorities

Published on 09 December 2025

Council has released the results of the 2025 Annual Community Satisfaction Survey, an important initiative designed to help Council better understand the needs, expectations, and experiences of the community and local businesses.

From local services and communication, to planning priorities and quality of life, the survey provided an opportunity for the community to share their views on how Council is performing and where improvements can be made.

While the survey received a relatively low response rate, the feedback still provides a valuable snapshot of community sentiment and highlights key priorities for improvement.

Mayor Liz Schmidt said the feedback provides valuable insights into where we can do better and make improvements.

“For example, it was noted that while 63% felt their concerns were addressed, 74% rated the complaint handling process poorly, highlighting a need for better follow up,” continued Mayor Schmidt.

Other findings include:

• Overall satisfaction: Most respondents were satisfied with Council services and would recommend the region as a great place to live, work, or visit.  Just over half (51.9%) reported being satisfied or very satisfied, and 68.4% said they were likely to recommend the area.
• Customer service experience: Among those who interacted with Council, 88.3% praised staff friendliness and professionalism, and 86.7% found it easy to make contact.  Timeliness and clarity of information also rated well, although satisfaction with issue resolution was lower at 56.7%.
• Areas for improvement: Town planning, local laws and animal control, road maintenance, water supply, cultural facilities, business support, and environmental initiatives were identified as priorities. While some results may reflect recent operational challenges and external factors, these areas remain important for improvement.

This year, as well as sharing the results to questions where multiple choice answers were provided in the form of easy to read graphs and tables, Council have also addressed some of the common themes identified in responses to questions where open text responses were allowed.

“By identifying and addressing these common themes, we aim to show that feedback is not simply collected and set aside, but carefully considered and translated into meaningful actions.

“Moving forward, we’ll use these insights to guide improvements in the services, facilities and programs we deliver,” added Mayor Schmidt.

Both the Summary Report and the Open Responses Report are available on Council’s Have Your Say Portal (HYS) at haveyoursay.charterstowers.qld.gov.au/.

Reporting on responses received as part of the Business Survey have recently been shared with the Business Community and are also available on the HYS portal.