Published on Thursday, 31 July 2025 at 10:11:24 AM
“Our community has once again shown how deeply they care about building a strong and sustainable future for our region” said Shire of Esperance Deputy President Jennifer Obourne, reflecting on the newly released Shire of Esperance 2025 MARKYT Community Scorecard results.
“A heartfelt thank you to the 1,502 people who took part – that’s more than 10% of our population! Your feedback gives Council and the Shire a clear roadmap, helping us move forward with confidence, knowing we’re focused on what matters most to you.”
The 2025 MARKYT Community Scorecard Report shows that the Shire of Esperance continues to perform strongly compared to other local governments across Australia. All four Strategic Overview markers – Vision, Liveability, Governance, and Value (previously called Rates Value) – remain at or above the industry average, with Value standing out at seven points higher. While there has been a dip in overall community sentiment since 2023, this mirrors a nationwide trend linked to current economic pressures.
The Report highlights areas of strength identified by the community, with Deputy President Obourne commenting; “The Community Scorecard continues to prove its value, demonstrating just how closely Council and the Shire listen to local feedback. It’s great to see strong improvements for three of the five Community Priority areas from 2023 - Airport Services, Seniors’ Services, and Local Roads—all now ranked among the five Most Improved Shire services. That’s real progress driven by community input.”
This year’s top Community Priorities show a clearer distinction between services directly managed by the Shire and those where the Shire plays an advocacy role. Of the four highest-ranked priorities, three – Airport Facilities and Services, Town Centre Development and Activation, and Local Roads – fall under the Shire’s direct responsibility.
The fourth priority, Advocacy, includes Housing, Aged Care and Accommodation, Health and Community Services, Main Roads, and Telecommunications and Internet Access. These are areas where the Shire and Council does not have control over final decisions or delivery of services. However, the community made it clear they want Council and the Shire to speak up and push for improvements through other levels of government and service providers. This marks a noticeable shift from the 2023 Scorecard, when Advocacy and Lobbying were among the lowest community priorities.
“Advocacy has always been a responsibility - and a priority - of Council”, Deputy President Jennifer Obourne said. “What’s changed is that the community has given us clear directions on what issues they need us to go in to bat for them. We were already heading down this path, and now we’ll step up our strategic advocacy efforts, including continuing to push for State Government support for projects such as our shovel-ready Key Worker Accommodation Project.”
With the Community Scorecard held every two years and the results available on the Shire website, tracking community directions on what is important to them and actions in response is easy and illuminating. The 2021 Report lists Economic Development and Job Creation as one of the top Community Priorities; this appears again in the 2023 Report as one of the Most Improved areas.
Reflecting the effort put in by the Shire to streamline business processes after previous poor feedback, sentiment among local business owners and operators regarding the Shire as a place to own or operate a business showed an 84% positive rating. This is a great result, coming straight from those working on the front lines of our economy.
“The Community Scorecard Reports give us a clear picture of our achievements, areas for growth, and progress on key issues,” said CEO Shane Burge.
“The Reports provide essential insights into how different segments of the community perceive our work, and help us focus our efforts where they’re needed most. I was glad to see that rural respondents once again made up 13% of submissions—just one of the many groups whose perspectives we value", Shane continued. "Crucially, the Reports also highlight the Shire’s agility in responding to emerging priorities. I’m looking forward to unpacking the 2025 results and continuing to act and report on the community’s latest priorities.”
“We sincerely thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Your contributions are invaluable and will now be used to build the 2026-2036 Council Plan.”
A total of 1,502 people took part in the Shire of Esperance’s 2025 MARKYT Community Scorecard. Of these 1,296 were local residents, 346 owned or operated a business, 28 were out of area ratepayers or visitors and 180 were Shire employees or Elected Members. To ensure the results and reporting were unbiased, independent research company CATALYSE excluded Shire-affiliated responses from the main report and provided an individual summary for this group. This, along with separate information on Business Owners and Operators, and Out-of-Area Ratepayers and Visitors, may be found at the back of the 2025 Report.
And finally - a shoutout to the men of Esperance! Early results showed male respondents made up only a third of submissions, but by the end of the survey period they had stepped up to represent roughly half of all responses. All in all, a fantastic show of engagement from across the community.
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