Published on 02 July 2026
Surf Coast Shire Council has received its results from the 2026 Victorian Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey. The annual survey is commissioned by the Victorian Government, with all local governments in the state able to participate. The results offer an insight into community perceptions of Council’s performance overall and across several individual areas. Scores are benchmarked against comparable large shires, and the statewide Victorian average. Council’s scores this year are above the average for the Large Shires group in seven of the eight core measures, including overall performance. However, Council is below the statewide average for overall performance and in three other measures. The overall performance rating of 55 is down two points from 2025, and compares to averages of 53 for the Large Shire group and 58 Victoria-wide. In assessing overall performance, 43 per cent of survey respondents rated Council positively (‘good’ or ‘very good’), 36 per cent were neutral (‘average’), and 21 per cent were negative (‘poor’ or ‘very poor’). Waste management received a score of 75, an increase of five points from last year, rating as Council’s highest performing individual area and ahead of the state and group averages. Surf Coast Shire also rated above the statewide and Large Shire averages for customer service (score of 70) and ‘making decisions in the interest of the community’ (score of 53). Scores of 47 for ‘spending public funds’ and 51 for ‘condition of sealed local streets’ placed Surf Coast Shire ahead of the Large Shire averages but below the statewide benchmark, while 45 for ‘general direction’ was below both averages. Of the 79 councils in Victoria, 38 took part in this year’s survey, compared to 56 in 2025. Data was gathered via independent phone and online surveys of 601 resident and non-resident Surf Coast Shire ratepayers during February and March this year, with responses collated and analysed by Klein Research. Australian-based call centre TKW Research made 12,544 calls to achieve the statistically valid sample of respondents. Mayor Libby Stapleton thanked those who took the time to provide their feedback. “This annual survey helps us understand perceptions of Council’s performance and is one of a number of ways we identify areas for focus and improvement,” Mayor Stapleton said. “We aim to be a high performing Council, and we will take these results on board as we keep striving to get better.” The full report is available to the community.