Policies and Procedures

Customer Service Charter 2021(PDF, 315KB)

Hindmarsh Shire Council is committed to delivering excellent service standards to you, our customers. Our customer service charter sets out our commitment to provide you the service you can expect.

We will:

• Treat you in a courteous, respectful and professional manner in all your contact with us
• Greet face-to-face customers promptly, with eye contact and a smile
• If discussing confidential information, offer a meeting room as a more private location
• Aim to answer the phone within 6 rings
• Transfer your call to the appropriate officer or take a message if the officer you require is unavailable, providing you with an estimated return time of the officer
• Respond to phone messages and emails within 2 business days
• Respond to mail within 5 business days
• Provide accurate and consistent information, delivered in a timely manner that is easy to understand
• Keep you informed of the progress of your enquiry or request
• Treat all complaints seriously, confidentially and professionally
• Refer all complaints to the appropriate manager for investigation and resolution
• Encourage customer feedback and use it as an opportunity to improve
• Be punctual to scheduled meetings, or advise of lateness or non-attendance as soon as possible
• Represent Council professionally
• Respect your privacy and meet our obligations with respect to your information
• If for any reason you feel that we have not adhered to our Charter, you can contact our Customer Service team on 03 5391 4444 so that your concerns can be dealt with.

What do we ask of you?

• To treat our staff with mutual respect
• To respect the rights of other customers
• To provide accurate and complete information in your dealings with us
• To respect the community in which we live
• To work with us to solve problems
• To submit ALL customer requests / feedback to Council via phone, email, website or via written correspondence
• To respect Council Officers private lives and allow Council Officers to enjoy community events or functions in a personal capacity.

Policies responsibility of the CEO:

Councillor Interaction with Staff Policy(PDF, 263KB)
Complaints Handling Policy(PDF, 167KB)
Dealing with Difficult and Vexatious Customers Policy(PDF, 172KB)
Privacy Policy
Incident Management Procedure(PDF, 413KB)
Healthy Food Choices Policy(PDF, 170KB)
Community Transport Policy(PDF, 123KB)
Child Safety Policy (PDF, 165KB)
Election Period Certification Procedure(PDF, 200KB)

Policies adopted by Council:

Public Transparency Policy(PDF, 164KB)
Conflict of Interest Policy(PDF, 106KB)
CEO Employment and Remuneration Policy(PDF, 168KB)
Councillor Gifts and Hospitality Policy(PDF, 179KB)
Gender Equality Policy(PDF, 235KB)
Human Rights Policy(PDF, 252KB)
Procurement Policy(PDF, 424KB)
Community Engagement Policy(PDF, 287KB)
Financial Hardship Policy(PDF, 176KB)
Media Policy(PDF, 167KB)
Public Interest Disclosure Policy(PDF, 295KB)
Public Arts Policy(PDF, 138KB)
Policy Framework Policy(PDF, 173KB). 
Fraud Prevention Policy and Plan(PDF, 846KB).  
Councillor Code of Conduct(PDF, 296KB)
Councillor Interaction with Staff(PDF, 180KB)
Advisory Committee Policy(PDF, 159KB)
Live Streaming and Publishing Recordings of Council Meetings(PDF, 219KB)
Volunteer Policy(PDF, 136KB)
Asset Management Policy(PDF, 135KB)
Councillor Interaction with Developers(PDF, 252KB)
Body-worn Cameras(PDF, 207KB)
Privacy and Data Protection Policy(PDF, 257KB)
Fee Waiver and Reduction Policy(PDF, 331KB)
Community Projects Contributions Policy(PDF, 198KB)
Sports and Recreation Reserves Allocation, Use and Fair Access Policy(PDF, 248KB)
Councillor Expense Entitlements Policy(PDF, 232KB)
Councillor Complaints Handling Policy(PDF, 215KB)
Risk Management Framework(PDF, 1MB)
Risk Management Policy(PDF, 222KB)
Risk Appetite and Tolerance Statement(PDF, 443KB)

Social Media Management(PDF, 214KB)

The purpose of these guidelines is to present a clear and transparent direction on how Hindmarsh Shire Council monitors the comments and interactions on all of Council’s Social Media pages.

Commercial Business Promotion on Social Media for Visit Hindmarsh(PDF, 280KB)

The purpose of these guidelines is to present a clear and transparent direction on how Visit Hindmarsh social media platforms can incorporate private enterprise content whilst clearly avoiding any real or perceived unfair commercial advantage.

The guidelines clearly define what content is seen as tourism related and therefore appropriate for promotion on a tourism site.

The guidelines also clearly define how this content is to be generated, approved for publishing, and monitored so Council can maintain transparency in their actions and management of the pages. 

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