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Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey

Find out more about Yarra City Council's Annual Customer Satisfaction survey.

Yarra City Council is committed to best serving our community and using an evidence-based approach to improve Council services and operations. 
 
As part of this approach, each year we conduct an extensive survey of randomly selected households from Yarra to measure satisfaction levels with Council performance. This includes leadership and governance, our range of services and facilities, as well as determining emerging issues and priorities. 

The survey results are then used to inform our planning and operations. 

2026 process 

Council's customer satisfaction survey process follows best-practice research standards and is in line with Local Government Victoria's annual community satisfaction survey. This enables better comparative analysis of Yarra's results across the local government sector. 
 
The latest 2026 Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey was conducted in January and February 2026 by AEC Research. Surveys were done by telephone, online and face-to-face. This year, 807 households participated in the survey. 
 
Respondents were asked to rate their level of satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5. These scores are presented as a percentage across the following 3 categories: 

  1. Good/Very good (%) 

  1. Average (%) 

  1. Poor/Very poor (%) 

The 2025 customer satisfaction survey results highlight the areas where Council is seen to be performing well along with several areas in need of improvement. 

2026 results 

Overall performance 

Satisfaction with Council's overall performance was classified 'very good' or 'good' by 40% of the respondents. Another 37% rated performance as 'average' and 23% of people rated performance as 'poor' or 'very poor'. These results are comparable to 2025. 

Services and facilities 

Yarra's services and facilities rated favourably with many rated as 'very good' or 'good' by more than half of surveyed residents. 

Our 5 highest rated services and facilities in 2026 were: 

Rank 

Service/facility 

Score (% rated 'very good')

1 

Local library services  

84%   

2 

 Regular garbage collection service  

80%  

3 

Yarra's swimming pool facilities at Richmond, Fitzroy or Collingwood  

78% 

4 

Yarra’s leisure centres at Richmond, Fitzroy or Collingwood (e.g. Gym, etc) 

77%  

5 

Green Waste Services 

72%  

The 3 areas that were rated 'very good' or 'good' by the least number of residents were: 

  1. Parking management (38% very good or good) 

  1. Graffiti management (38% very good or good) 

  1. Public toilets (27% very good or good) 

Leadership and governance 

Generally, lower levels of community satisfaction were reported with Council's governance and leadership, including: 

  • Community engagement and consultation (41% 'very good' or 'good') 

  • Making decisions in the best interests of the community (38% 'very good' or 'good') 

  • Representation, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of the community (40% 'very good' or 'good') 

Customer Service 

Customer service received a satisfaction rating of 64% ('very good/good'). 

Perceptions of Safety 

Perceptions of safety were higher during the day than at night. While 75% of respondents reported feeling safe during the day, only 41% reported feeling safe at night. 

Top 3 issues in 2026 

Respondents were asked to nominate what they consider to be the top 3 issues for Yarra City Council. 

The top 3 issues identified in 2026 were: 

  1. Building, planning and housing development (nominated by 13% of respondents) 

  1. Car parking (nominated by 11% of respondents) 

  1. Traffic management (nominated by 8% of respondents) 

Improvements observed by residents in the last 2 years 

  • Parks, gardens, open space (nominated by 12% of respondents) 

  • Bike, walking tracks and facilities (nominated by 7% of respondents)

  • Green waste collection (nominated by 5% of respondents) 

Improvements our residents would most like to see in the future 

  • Car Parking (nominated by 10% of respondents) 

  • Cleanliness of streets and public areas (nominated by 10% of respondents) 

  • Bike and walking tracks and facilities (nominated by 9% of respondents) 

Read the full report 

For more information call Yarra City Council on 03 9205 5555 or email [email protected].