Annual Report 2004-05

Defence Service Charter

Performance Standards and Monitoring

Defence commits to the following standards in its service charter:

• act on a request from the public in a professional and courteous manner;
• provide accurate information;
• respect privacy and sensitivities;
• respond to phone calls, faxes or emails within two working days; and
• reply to correspondence within 15 working days.

Defence's Groups have systems in place to track compliments and complaints.

Consistent with Australian Standard 4269 on Complaints Handling, Defence only reports on complaints/compliments from members of the public rather than internal complaints. Complaints are reported only if they relate to services provided (that is, the process), not to decisions made.

In most cases, written complaints referred to first assistant secretary and military equivalents or above are recorded.

Where a complaint is resolved at a lower level without recourse to senior levels, no information is recorded for service charter purposes.