By Laura Michell
Hume council is one of the most complained about councils in Victoria, according to the Victorian Ombudsman’s annual report.
The report shows the Victorian Ombudsman’s Office received 110 complaints about Hume council in the 12 months to July, putting it in fifth place for complaints in Victoria.
Moreland is the state’s most complained about council, with 151 complaints received by the Ombudsman’s office, followed by Geelong and Casey (115 complaints).
The Ombudsman’s office received 81 complaints about Whittlesea council, down from 119 in 2016-17.
Hume chief executive Domenic Isola said the council had received 5.1 complaints for every 10,000 residents, which was lower than the state average of 5.4.
He said the council ranked 48th in terms of complaints once population was accounted for.
“Anyone in the community can make a complaint to the Victorian Ombudsman … as part of the customer complaints and feedback policy, council does advise people that option is available to them should they choose to use it.”
The Ombudsman’s annual report, released earlier this month, said complaints about local government accounted for 22 per cent of all complaints made to the Ombudsman during the past financial year.
It said planning, nuisances, local laws, parking and rates were among the top complaints, with conflicts of interest, improper conduct, poor governance and complaint handling also prominent.
The report stressed the figures did not reflect the number of substantiated complaints made about each council.
