Defence

Corporate Services and Infrastructure

Mail—the way forward

by Darien Smith

Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group's (CSIG) mission is to support Defence people where they work, train and live. In order to achieve this mission, CSIG is focused on continuously improving the way in which it does business. As part of this ongoing process, CSIG has a number of initiatives under way, including the Mail and Freight Business Improvement Project.

The aim of this project is to create a more efficient and cost-effective service for all of its Defence customers. This is not just about CSIG doing business better—it also needs your cooperation, as its customers, to make ethical and appropriate use of Defence services.

Defence's mailrooms have an annual throughput of approximately 11 million items. Guidelines and procedures for using mail and freight services are fragmented, and little information is currently available to Defence customers on how to best use this CSIG service.

Mail Handbook

To address these issues, the Mail and Freight Business Improvement Project is compiling a Defence Mail Handbook. It will provide guidance on topics such as correct addressing, redirections, personal use of the mail system and how to access ad hoc services, bulk mailouts and international mail, including the diplomatic mail service.

The expected date of the handbook's release is July 2006. When the handbook is endorsed, a DEFGRAM will be distributed, detailing how to access the handbook on CSIG Online.

What does this mean for me?

Every one of us working in Defence is an active user of the departmental mail system. We all have a responsibility to use it, along with all other Defence services, in a professional and appropriate manner. Defence allows for the reasonable use of the mail services for personal purposes, so we all need to think carefully about what this means.

You might think that sending the occasional piece of personal mail through the Defence system is harmless. You've even used your own postage stamp! But say each one of us puts a personal Christmas card or two in the Defence mail system, that could be over 90 000 additional mail items. Thus, not only are Defence resources being diverted from their business to sort and deliver your personal mail, but your work-related mail may be getting delayed due to the sheer volume of the Christmas card rush.

Take another example. You wouldn't move house and not tell anyone, would you? And if you did move and not tell anyone, you wouldn't expect Australia Post to know where to forward your mail. The same rule applies in Defence. When you relocate please advise people who are likely to correspond with you of your new location and update your details on the Defence Telephone Directory. This action on your part will help improve Defence's mail service. The ACT – Southern New South Wales mailroom at Queanbeyan redirects approximately 70 000 items per year. This takes one person approximately 150 days per year to do!

For further guidance on the reasonable use of CSIG mail services please refer to DEFGRAM 157/2006.

More information and FAQs about Defence mail and freight services can be found by searching the 'CSIG Online' website at: http://intranet.defence.gov.au/csig/ and by typing in 'Mail' in the search box.

Alternatively, you can contact Darien Smith, acting Director Mail and Freight Improvement Project, by email at darien.smith@defence.gov.au or by phone on (02) 6266 4414.

Darien Smith works in CSIG's Mail and Freight Improvement Project

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