City of Gold Coast (City) staff have been experiencing an alarming trend of occupational violence and aggression from the public, according to a recent study.
The study by the City revealed one in three council staffers are facing physical and verbal abuse at work from residents and visitors, with cases spiking significantly.
The types of aggression include assault, spitting, name-calling, threats, and even stalking, and there has been a 30% increase year on year for the past five years.
Mayor Tom Tate said he was shocked by the findings and urged residents to reconsider their behaviour towards essential workers.
“Violence and aggression are never okay and I was particularly shocked to learn that our libraries staff and customer service centre staff are among the most impacted,” Mayor Tate said.
“Officers from our regulatory services areas such as parking officers are also often targeted.
“You might not always love the work these officers are doing, but they are simply doing their job and it is important work they do. So please consider your behaviour and the impact it has on others.”
The City has responded with a marketing campaign aimed at reminding residents to ‘Put Their Anger Away’ after surveying staff about their experiences.
Mayor Tate said the City was always working on improvements to our services to try to help with those pain points customers feel and it was never ok to “shoot the messenger”.
“We are all human and it must be pretty difficult to come to work each day knowing that you might be abused,” he said.
The campaign uses actors in a video portraying some of the incidents which have occurred in community centres and on the streets, to raise awareness and promote behavioural change.
The City surveying report found:
· In the three months from 1 October last year, there were 434 incidents reported.
· Those staff who reported experiencing violence and aggression in the workplace reported it had occurred on average close to twice a month.
· Those most impacted were in City Libraries, Health and Regulatory Services and Customer Contact.
· The top suburbs for incidents to occur include Southport, Surfers, Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads.
