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Liverpool City Council offers several service methods:
You can also access Council's online services by clicking here.
Customer Contact Centre
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Or for more information on Customer Service and Communication at Council please click on the following highlighted links:|
Administration Centre |
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CBD Office |
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Liverpool City Council NOTICE BOARD LOCATIONS
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Bringelly Post Office Corner Greendale & The Northern Roads, Bringelly Phone: 4774 8032
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Commitment to services and communication
Liverpool City Council is committed to providing quality service to meet the needs of our community, based on open and effective communication with the community.
Council is committed to:
- Taking into consideration the community's views when making major decisions
- Treating members of the community with courtesy, patience, sensitivity and attentiveness
- Providing the community with advice and other information that is clear and concise
- Being sensitive to multiculturalism and any language or other communication barriers experienced by members of the community, through the use of language aides, interpreter services and other methods
- Adopting fair, lawful and appropriate procedures when making decisions, carrying out activities and performing services; making decisions using processes that are impartial and ethical; using information and Council resources responsibly and efficiently; and acting in accordance with the law, Council's Code of Conduct and the Code of Meeting Practice.
Council recognises the importance of correspondence such as letters, facsimiles and email messages and aims to provide a clear and concise response promptly.
Council is committed to:
- Acknowledging correspondence or providing an interim reply, where appropriate, within one week
- Responding to correspondence by telephone where appropriate (such as simple requests and correspondence for information only) and recording the response
- Providing a substantive response within two weeks in the case of simple inquiries and within four weeks for more complex inquiries
- Keeping the writer informed if a final reply cannot be provided within the time allowed
- Ensuring all correspondence includes the name and contact details of the officer dealing with the matter and Council's file reference
- Using plain language that is clear and concise.
Council recognises the importance of telephone calls and will try to answer calls promptly, quickly refer calls to the appropriate officer and provide clear and concise information in responses.
Council is committed to:
- Answering calls within five rings, whenever possible
- Advising the caller of the name and department of the officer answering
- Dealing with the call, redirecting the call or taking a clear message as appropriate
- When redirecting the call, ensuring the staff member to whom the call is being redirected is available and the caller's details are announced
- Ensuring messages taken include details of the caller's name and number, the caller's message and details of the timing of the call and who took the call
- If the call cannot be fully responded to, giving clear advice on what has to be done to respond to the call fully and how long that will take
- Speaking clearly and dealing with callers calmly, courteously and patiently
- Recording all significant telephone calls in the form of a written file note
- Answering unattended telephones in the absence of the responsible officer
- Returning telephone messages as soon as possible, within one business day
- Ensuring voice mail is used in compliance with Council's Voice Mail Policy.
Council recognises the need to promptly serve members of the public who come to Council to seek information or for other business. Council will accommodate interviews by appointment and aim to ensure the appropriate Council officers are available.
Council is committed to:
- Making staff available for interviews by prior arrangement
- Attending expeditiously to members of the public at customer service counters
- Promptly advising staff when there is a member of the public waiting for an appointment
- Attempting to arrange a mutually convenient appointment time, if staff cannot attend interviews on request
- Providing convenient access to all information on public inspection/exhibition
- Speaking clearly and dealing with visitors calmly, courteously and patiently.
Council recognises that a fundamental component of quality service and improved communication is effective notification and consultation with the community. Council recognises that the community is entitled to be notified of proposals that affect, or might reasonably be seen as likely to affect their interests and to have their attitudes, concerns and needs acknowledged and taken into account.
Complaint handling and reviewing decisions
Council values the opportunity that complaints give in identifying areas of service that need improvement, in responding to individual dissatisfaction and in strengthening the relationship between Council and the community.
Responsibilities of the community
Communication is a two-way process. To be effective, both Council and the public should strive to adopt a fair and reasonable approach to communicating with each other.
What if Council does not honour its commitments
Any member of the public who believes that Council has failed to honour its commitments set forth in Council's Service and Communication Policy should raise the matter with Council in the form of a complaint. Council will investigate the complaint and advise the complainant of the outcome in a reasonable time. Complaints will be investigated in accordance with Council's Complaint Handling Policy. If the complaint is justified, Council will try to explain the problem and outline what Council is doing to resolve the matter. If the complainant remains dissatisfied, the complainant can seek a review. Alternatively, the complainant can complain to the NSW Ombudsman, the ICAC or the Department of Local Government.
Putting limits on services from, and communication with, Council
Council accepts and values complaints about Council's performance. Nevertheless the General Manager or the General Manager's delegate may, in extreme cases, place limits on communication between certain members of the public and Council. This applies where communication becomes abusive or excessively demanding on resources. This is in the interests of responsible management of Council's limited resources and in order to fulfil Council's obligations as a responsible employer.
Council may place limits on communication when a customer:
- Cannot be satisfied and all appropriate avenues of internal review or appeal have been exhausted
- Is making unreasonable demands on Council
- Is constantly raising the same issues with different staff.
Customers who behave in a rude, abusive or aggressive manner
Rude, abusive or aggressive behaviour may include vulgar noises, expressions or gestures, verbal abuse of either a personal or general nature, threatening or offensive behaviour, physical violence against property or physical violence against a person.
Many of these types of behaviour can be considered as harassment. If a member of the public, Council employee or a Councillor believes they have been discriminated against or harassed, while conducting business with Council or assisting a member of the public to conduct business with Council, they have legal right to complain to the Anti Discrimination Board of NSW.
If in the opinion of the General Manager or the General Manager's delegate, any correspondence to Council contains personal abuse, inflammatory statements or material clearly intended to intimidate, it will be returned to the sender and not otherwise acted upon.
Council notes that despite its commitment to quality service and improved communication, there are occasions where conflict between Council and members of the public may escalate to the point where parties resort to legal action.
Council considers that legal action should only be considered when all other reasonable and appropriate alternatives to resolving disputes have been attempted.
This information is an extract of Council's Service and Communication Policy.
A copy of the full policy can be downloaded.
- Customer Service and Communication Brochure
- How to Have Your Say Brochure
- Council's Services and Communications Policy
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