Why do a Resident Survey?

    Our residents matter! Understanding the resident experience of the city is fundamental to building strong communities and an enviable city lifestyle. Our residents are an invaluable source of information and perspective as we strive to refine our services and deliver for the community.

    The City of Adelaide 2020-2024 Strategic Plan has a vision for Adelaide to be the most liveable city. Further improving Adelaide’s liveability, enhancing the wellbeing and resilience of city residents, and working to ensure environmental sustainability are key tenets of the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan. You will find questions on each of those aspects in the survey.

    The 2020-2024 Strategic Plan includes ‘measures of success’.  A number of these are tracked through questions in the Resident Survey.

    What is the purpose of the Survey?

    The survey aims to provide a rich, quality, local level data that is relevant to the needs of the City of Adelaide. The data from the survey may inform:

    • the conduct of City of Adelaide operations and service reviews
    • activities to improve the city residential experience
    • activities to market the city (as a place to live, work or play)
    • activity around wellbeing and resilience
    • advocacy to other levels of government
    • progress against Objectives in the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, and future planning.

    What sort of things does the survey ask about?

    The survey asks questions about you as the respondent (age bracket, household type, etc.).  You will be asked to identify which of six areas in the City of Adelaide you live in.  The topics included in the survey are:

    - health and wellbeing

    - access and inclusion

    - emergency preparedness

    - city living

    - sustainability

    - Adelaide Park Lands

    - Western Park Lands

    - mainstreets

    - services provided by Council

    How does the content compare to past years?

    In 2019, the City of Adelaide undertook this comprehensive research for the first time in a long time. That research asked you a broad range of questions related to your health and wellbeing, emergency preparedness, access and inclusion in your community, safety, and aspects of city living.

    In 2020 the Resident Survey repeated some of the questions from 2019, removed some that were not needed, asked some things about city living and expectations due to COVID-19, and included a new section about what residents do to be environmentally conscious at home.

    The 2019 and the 2020 Surveys both asked about the importance of the services delivered by Council, and how well Council was doing in delivering them. These were asked in different ways in each survey as we worked to determine how best to meaningfully ask you about services.

    In 2021 the approach to services has a focus on whether they are meeting your expectations and how important you think it is that the services are provided.

    The 2021 Survey also:

    • includes most of the questions on wellbeing and community connectedness used in previous years
    • has a new section about main streets so that we can better inform Mainstreet Revitalisation Programs for Hindley Street, Hutt Street, Melbourne Street and O’Connell Street
    • has new questions about the Adelaide Park Lands with a particular focus on the Western Park Lands
    • removes a couple of the demographic questions that we realised we do not use the data from and do not need to ask you.

    That's a lot of content! Do I have to do it all?

    It is a lot of content and while we would like you to do the whole survey, we understand that you might not want to or that some parts may not be relevant to you.

    This year, compared to the 2020 Resident Survey, the number of questions that are marked with an asterix (*) and require a response in order to move on, have been reduced.

    Generally, a question is mandatory if we use the information from it on a dashboard or for performance reporting, or if we need an answer in order to direct you properly through the survey

    How were the findings of the 2020 Resident Survey used?

    The information our residents shared through the 2020 Resident Survey have been valuable to many City of Adelaide activities. These include:

    • to track progress on priorities around wellbeing and resilience and measures of success in the City of Adelaide 2020-2024 Strategic Plan
    • to define and offer programs and activities to support the wellbeing of young people living in the city
    • to inform the engagement and activities for resource recovery being rolled out over the next 3-5 years. This includes the free caddies being provided to apartment buildings, to encourage the use of green waste services.
    • to inform the ongoing review of what sustainability incentives to offer.  Council has provided over $1 million in incentives towards sustainable technologies since 2015, for residents and business. 
    • helping to shape a workshop offering to start in September 2021, providing residents with ways to be green at home.
    • helping to position marketing for our community activities, and the Sustainability incentives, by understanding residents’ environment choices. 
    • to assist Council with determining service priorities
    • as inputs to the Dynamic City: Arts & Culture Dashboard: https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/about-adelaide/dynamic-city-arts-culture-dashboard/

    I’m not sure this survey is for me. Who should participate?

    To complete the survey we ask that you: 

    • live in Adelaide (5000) or North Adelaide (5006). You can own or rent the property you live in, but Adelaide or North Adelaide must where you usually live. (“usually” means you have lived there or intend to live there for at least six months). 
    • are aged 18 years or older. 

    People who are not eligible include people who are: 

    • Property owners in Adelaide or North Adelaide who usually LIVE elsewhere
    • Visitors on holiday who live elsewhere.

    Will I be identified as a participant?

    No. Responses will not be attributed to an individual. All responses will be viewed as an aggregate across the sample of respondents. Your comments will not be linked directly to you. 

    Data collected will only be used for City of Adelaide purposes and will not be sold or shared with any third party. Specifically:

    1. If you opt into the prize draw at the conclusion of the survey, your data will only be used to make contact if you are a winner.
    2. If you opt in to receive the Your Community e-newsletter, your data will only be used to send you emails about community-related news.


    What if I have another question that is not addressed here?


    If you have a question about this research please contact Megan Fink at the City of Adelaide.   Megan’s phone number is 82037561 and her email is m.fink@cityofadelaide.com.au.