Wollongong's 2023 Community Satisfaction Survey Coming Soon

If you get a phone call over the next few weeks from Taverner Research, be sure to pick it up.

The company is ringing on behalf of Wollongong City Council to gather feedback on the services we deliver for our community, and to measure our residents' satisfaction with Council. It's important information and gives Council valuable data about what our community values, wants and needs.

"The Community Survey is a really valuable exercise as it provides insights into our community's thoughts and responses to the work that Council does everyday in our city,'' Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said.

"The researchers work hard to ensure there is a good sample size, we hear from residents in all three Council wards, and from all age groups for people aged 18 years and above. The questions look to understand perceptions and needs of the local community in terms of Council's services and facilities.

"The information that's gathered through the phone survey is used to inform Council's decisions and plans into the future.''

Taverner Research will be contacting residents on a mix of mobile and landlines and will ask some questions such as age and suburb to ensure there is a representative sample captured in the survey. To be eligible to participate, residents need to be 18 years or older, not be a Councillor or an employee of Council and have lived in the Local Government Area for at least six months. To ensure the quota is reached for each demographic, Taverner may also ask to speak to a person of a specific age or gender.

"I want to be clear – at no time will Taverner be asking residents for banking or credit card details,'' Cr Bradbery said.

"The personal questions we do ask are being done to ensure we're getting a representative sample group from across the city. There is nothing that will identify a specific individual, and we do not ask for any financial details.''

The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete and includes questions about interactions with Council, the use of Council services and facilities and where people find out about Council news, events and activities.

"This is the 13^th time Council has undertaken this survey and it always provides useful insights into how people use our facilities, and what we need to be focussing on into the future,'' Cr Bradbery said.

"Council has at least $5.5 billion of infrastructure assets we care for each year and it's important we're investing our community's money into the services, facilities and spaces residents use and enjoy. It's a balancing act to get our service delivery right, and the information gathered through this process ensures our priorities are aligned to community needs and expectations.''

While the survey will be conducted over the phone, residents can also opt to complete an online version of the survey on Council's website before 25 September 2023.