AN Ormiston resident who campaigned against Redland City Council’s $1.70 fee for paper rates notices has been formally restricted from contacting the organisation, after the CEO ruled her ongoing correspondence constituted “unreasonable customer conduct”.
In a letter dated October 23, Council chief executive officer Louise Rusan advised long-time resident Emmanuelle Rousseau that her communications about the levy had been “ongoing for a number of months” despite multiple responses from senior officers.
Ms Rusan said Ms Rousseau’s behaviour showed “unreasonable persistence” and “unreasonable lack of cooperation”, prompting Council to impose restrictions on her future contact.
Under the order, Ms Rousseau is barred from making phone calls to Council or its officers, with any such calls to be “terminated”.
She can communicate only in writing—by email or mail—and is prohibited from raising further questions about Council’s power to charge for paper rate notices.
The restrictions take effect immediately and will remain for 12 months.
“These steps have been taken with the greatest reluctance; however, equity and the impact on time and Council resources leaves me no alternative,” Ms Rusan wrote.
Ms Rousseau, who has lived in Redlands for more than 30 years, has been an outspoken critic of the paper notice fee, which she described as “unfair and discriminatory” when addressing councillors earlier this year.
“This fee punishes those who are not digitally connected,” she told the meeting.
“While encouragement to go digital may work for most, penalising residents for circumstances beyond their control is unfair.”
Ms Rousseau argued the charge undermined Council’s stated commitments to accessibility, equity and inclusion, and said only seven of Queensland’s 77 councils imposed a similar levy.
“Paper notices are not just about convenience – for some residents they are the only way to receive their bill,” she said.
“Without them, people face the risk of confusion, costly missed payments and unnecessary hardship.”
One councillor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the restrictions were unsurprising after months of persistent communication from Ms Rousseau.
“It was bound to happen. I must’ve dealt with about 25 emails from her alone as one councillor — and that’s not even counting the hundreds of responses she received,” the councillor said.
“She just wouldn’t let up. She had multiple email accounts she was writing from, yet still claimed she couldn’t possibly receive her rates notice by email.”
The council informed Ms Rousseau that the fee could be avoided by choosing electronic delivery.
A Council spokesperson previously said the $1.70 administration charge, introduced on October 1, was designed to offset the costs of producing and delivering about 187,000 paper notices each year.
Residents were notified of the change in their July rates notice, which included information about how to register for emailed notices.
