Case #1: Staff satisfaction survey
Council commissions an annual staff satisfaction survey. Bravo to that. Councillors have received a summary of the results, but the rest is kept close to the chest and not shared with the public.
About 50 per cent of council’s $341 million budget goes on staffing. With recent staff turnover rates of 16 per cent a year, staff satisfaction is clearly in the public interest.
When TWiSK asked to see a copy of the report, we got a flat no.
In a statement, Robyn Borley, City of Port Phillip General Manager Governance and Performance, said: ‘Our Council’s Staff Satisfaction Survey is an internal document to guide operational matters and isn’t shared externally.’
And with nearly one in five staff leaving every year, it’s hardly surprising that the staff satisfaction survey gets the secret squirrel treatment. See historical turnover rates from Annual Reports
Case #2: Community satisfaction survey
TWiSK keenly follows the public release of the annual Community Satisfaction Survey (CSS). Longtime readers will recall that council ‘forgot’ to publish the dismal 2024 results until after the council elections were over — attributing the delay to a slip-up caused by staff turnover. In 2025, the CEO assured the public that future results would be published within one month of being received.
Also in 2025, council appointed Metropolis Research, a new research company with a more reliable methodology. In March 2026, council announced that satisfaction research was being conducted by both Klein Research and Metropolis Research.
Ouch. As it turned out, Metropolis Research was not yet qualified to conduct the research to a standard that enabled year-to-year comparisons.
Borley explained this in her statement:
“In planning for the 2026 Community Satisfaction Survey, Council identified that Metropolis was still working towards ISO accreditation, which they have now achieved. To ensure broad community engagement and meet all legislative and good practice requirements, Council engaged the two providers. This enabled Council to retain the ability to do a like-for-like year-on-year comparison and provided insight into the new Victorian Government provider.”
Here’s the curious part: the Klein Research report into local government satisfaction was published online earlier this year. https://www.localgovernment.vic.gov.au/our-programs/council-community-satisfaction-survey In previous years, the statewide survey results were typically released in early June.
Borley has confirmed that the Klein Research report was ‘recently received’ and the Metropolis Research CSS report is expected soon.
‘Councillors will be briefed on the results of both reports in July and the results published at the end of July,’ according to Borley.
Meanwhile, other councils have already published their results. Glen Eira City Council published on 9 June, Bayside City Council dived right in and published in May, Nillumbik Shire Council published on 27 May and Wyndham City Council published on 1 June.
Lastly, the research bill is also worth noting. Since 2024, the CSS cost has jumped from $45,000 (ex GST) to $59,700 (ex GST) — a rise of more than 30 per cent.
Read council’s statement in full
Historical Staff Turnover Rates (extracted from Annual Reports)
- 2019/20: 13.94% (reported as 18.04% in some historical comparisons, but noted as trending down closer to the metropolitan average of 14%).
- 2020/21: 14.24% (also cited as 14.2% or 14.95% in subsequent reports).
- 2021/22: 20.2% (also cited as 20.25%). This increase was driven by a highly competitive post-pandemic labour market.
- 2022/23: 17.40% (representing a welcome reduction returning closer to pre-pandemic levels, though still facing competitive market challenges).
- 2023/24: 13.4% (a significant reduction returning to pre-pandemic levels).
- 2024/25: 18.20% (an increase primarily attributed to the strategic exit of the majority of Aged Care services in Quarter 2, alongside a slight rise in resignations in Quarter 4).
Media Response – to be attributed to City of Port Phillip General Manager Governance and Performance Robyn Borley
“Our Council’s Staff Satisfaction Survey is an internal document to guide operational matters and isn’t shared externally.
“The Klein Research report was recently rceived and the Metropolis Research CSS report is expected soon. Councillors will be briefed on the results of both reports in July. Community members will be able to access both the Klein and Metropolis reports when they are made available on our website at the end of July.
“In planning for the 2026 Community Satisfaction Survey, Council identified that Metropolis was still working towards ISO accreditation, which they have now achieved. To ensure broad community engagement and meet all legislative and good practice requirements, Council engaged the two providers. This enabled Council to retain the ability to do a like-for-like year on year comparison and provided insight into the new Victorian Government provider.
“Council appointed Metropolis to conduct the survey in 2025 as their methodology offered deeper insights and a broader survey of non-client councils to enable benchmarking across the sector and with other metro councils.
“The combined 2026 cost of the two reports is $59,700 (ex GST). The CSS was delivered for $57,000 (ex GST) in 2025 and $45,000 (ex GST) in 2024.”
