Report card is in after citywide community survey

Every two years, Wollongong City Council seeks community feedback on how it‘s performing. The results of that extensive community satisfaction survey are in, and as is always the case, they make interesting reading.

In September 2025, council actively sought feedback from almost 1000 residents on a range of topics, including council’s services and facilities, organisational skills, customer service and communications.

There’s plenty of good news for council in the survey results but also a strong message on key areas where there’s room for improvement.

Lord Mayor Cr Tania Brown said the survey results provided a valuable insight into satisfaction levels with council’s performance.

“This check-in is a valuable reminder on what matters for our community and the role we play for their everyday life,” Cr Brown said. “It shows us what they need and want from us.

“This survey was unique in that it covers a period that included the two natural disasters in 2024. Despite this, we did not see a major decline in overall satisfaction that was seen in most other NSW LGAs.

“Overall, 83 per cent of residents were satisfied or neutral with council’s overall performance, with 10 per cent very satisfied. It resulted in a mean score of 3.4 out of 5.”

The news isn’t all good, with a 50 per cent overall satisfaction rating on council’s overall performance, down from 52 per cent in the 2023 survey and 64 per cent in 2021.

“We acknowledge that there's always room for improvement," the Lord Mayor said. “We’re committed to building on areas residents say are important but are not quite reaching a ‘high satisfaction’ level.

“We performed ‘exceptionally well’ at 13 of our 18 facilities, with the top three being the Wollongong Botanic Garden, patrolled beaches and libraries.

“For our services, the highest rating was seen with our lifeguards, green waste collection and library services.

“Additionally, our overall strengths are seen in the areas of Wollongong Botanic Garden, parks and open spaces and customer service. We’re pleased to see these positive outcomes. It supports the investment and works we're doing for our community as well as highlighting the professionalism of our staff interactions with residents.”

The researchers say Wollongong City Council performed “extremely well” against the 15 NSW metro councils measured by Taverner Research Group. “Of 21 facilities and services that could be directly measured, Wollongong was ‘top of class’ in 10, and above average in a further four,” the report said.

Areas in need of most improvement, according to the survey results, include Crown Street Mall and Russell Vale Golf Course, which received 40 per cent and 47 per cent satisfaction rating respectively.

For council’s services, satisfaction levels were lowest for its development application assessment processes (16%), provision of parking in high demand areas (21%), maintenance of local roads (27%) and condition/cleanliness of public toilets (29%).

Cr Brown said the survey outcomes would help identify future priorities for council.

“Whether that’s infrastructure maintenance or recreational services, we recognise the sentiment and want this to improve ahead of our next check-in. We’ll continue to prioritise and invest in these areas, including identifying opportunities to secure financial support to deliver projects.”

Council staff received a big tick in the survey for their professionalism (77% satisfaction) and approachability (71%).

“We take this feedback seriously as our role is to provide for our community and make Wollongong a great place to live, work and play in. For our residents especially, we want them to be proud to call Wollongong home,” Cr Brown added.

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