The Town of Port Hedland’s latest Community Sentiment Survey has returned damning results, with Commission chair Jessica Shaw describing the findings as “among the worst” in the country.
The survey, conducted between August and September 2025, assessed the Hedland community’s opinion on the local government’s performance in areas such as governance, community safety, housing affordability, and overall liveability.
The town received an overall performance score of 21 out of 100 — about 30 points below the industry average — placing it among the lowest-performing local governments nationally.
Liveability was also 30 points below the industry average, scoring 44 out of 100.
The weakest results in the survey were overwhelmingly about leadership, direction and governance, with only 9 per cent of respondents agreeing the town had a clear vision for the future and a good understanding of community needs.
Town of Port Hedland Commission chair Jessica Shaw said the results were “confronting”.
“Council leadership, financial management, communication, community engagement and overall governance sit well below industry benchmarks and, in some cases, place Port Hedland among the worst-performing councils in the country that participate in this benchmarking,” she said.
“These are not marginal results. They reflect a serious loss of confidence in local government, and it’s important to say this plainly. These results did not emerge overnight. They reflect years of instability and the cumulative impact that that has on trust.
“It’s difficult to hear, but it’s necessary to acknowledge, because what the community is telling us is it’s not just services that matter. They are telling us that how the town is governed matters.
The survey also found in several key areas, performance had declined since 2023 — particularly in governance and leadership, with governance scores falling by 11 points alone in two years.
“That tells us something important — instability has consequences,” Ms Shaw said.
“In a sense, this survey is not a surprise.
“When leadership churns, when decision-making feels inconsistent, when normal council practices break down, trust erodes quickly, and the survey captures the cumulative effect of that experience.”
Commissioner Ron Yuryevich said he had not seen a worse result from a community sentiment survey in his long career in local government.
“I haven’t seen this one this bad, quite frankly,” he said.
“The participation rate went down a third from 1055 people to about 695 participants. That tells a story in itself.
“But one good thing about it, in my view, is the only way is up from here. There is a challenge on the table for the incoming council, and they’ve got a good, solid report to work from.”
Ms Shaw said the survey, together with internal and external feedback, had directly informed the commissioners’ program of work.
“Following many years of instability and governance failures, the (survey) results closely align with what we were hearing from staff, from community members, and from external stakeholders and partner organisations when we commenced,” she said.
“Our role has not been to fix everything overnight. It’s been to stabilise the organisation, restore the fundamentals of good governance, and prepare the town for the return to elected council.
“This survey is not the end of the story. It’s a line in the sand and a clear signal that the people of Port Hedland expect and deserve better local government.”
