Council’s Customer Service Centre is your first point of contact for all enquiries, compliments, and complaints. If your complaint is urgent or safety related, please contact us via phone so we are notified about it as soon as possible.
Formal complaints requiring a response should be provided in writing to the addresses above so they can be directed to the appropriate person for investigation. You will receive a confirmation that your complaint has been received and when to expect a written response, this is determined by the severity and complexity of the issue but we will always provide you with an estimated time to achieve a resolution. The responsible person may contact you via phone during this time to aid their investigation. Our Complaints Handling Procedure provides more detail about this process.
Definition of complaint
It is important to note that a complaint is not an enquiry, request or disagreement
- Enquiry: Appeal for information
- Request: Appeal for assistance and action
- Disagreement: Conflicting opinion to a policy or the direction of City of Launceston.
- Complaint: A complaint exists when there is a gap between the service provided and the customer's expectation. A complaint exists when a customer initiate's further contact after an initial service has been provided and expresses dissatisfaction with the initial service provided.
It is necessary to differentiate between service provided and services available. If a service is not available or provided by City of Launceston then this not a Complaint - it is a suggestion for future services expansion.
Experience has shown that the majority of complaints will be satisfactorily resolved, however if you are unhappy with the outcomes you may ask for a review of your complaint by the Chief Executive Officer, who will investigate your complaint and inform you of the findings.
A summary of complaints, including the number and nature, is provided annually to Councillors.
If there is insufficient evidence to action an issue we will not take any further action and your complaint will be closed. In some circumstances you may be required to resolve a dispute privately or via legal proceedings, if this is the case you will be informed by our officers that Council cannot assist further.
There is also the Ombudsman who may review actions and decisions taken by the City of Launceston. The Ombudsman is responsible to Parliament for investigating complaints made about administrative actions (or inactions) of Tasmanian Government Departments, most Statutory Authorities and Local Government. Visit the Ombudsman's website www.ombudsman.tas.gov.au for more information and how to get in contact.
Please help us by:
- Providing accurate, timely and relevant information.
- Treating staff with respect and dignity.
- Respecting the rights of other customers.
- Respecting community property.
- Providing us with constructive and honest feedback
Customer Behaviour:
Our employees work hard to provide services and respond to queries and are entitled to feel safe and respected while at work. Customers who display aggressive, abusive or inappropriate behaviour can be refused service and may have to make their enquiry by other means.