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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 7 Hansard (17 October) . . Page.. 1733 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

There will be three parts to the customer commitment program. The first part of the program will require each agency to develop written commitment to customer service statements. These statements, which will be developed for all services provided directly to the public, will be made available from 1 January 1996. Each statement will let customers know the type and level of service the ACT public service staff are committed to providing in a particular area and how that service is to be delivered. The statements will aim to explain to customers the realistic level of service they can expect. For example, the Yarralumla Nursery's commitment to service statement explains the wholesale and retail plant supply roles of the nursery, how it will provide its range of services to various customers, including hours of business and other key customer information, where to get more information about the nursery's services, and where to make suggestions or complaints.

Simple and straightforward suggestion and complaint procedures will be incorporated in these statements. This will enable all customers of our services to provide feedback of a positive or negative nature about how the service is provided or how they are treated. The program goes beyond our officers merely listening to feedback. The feedback will be used to make changes for the better in the way services are provided. All appropriate staff will be trained in good customer service practices. Work practices will be reviewed to take into account the feedback received.

The second part of the program will build upon the improved relationships between customers and service delivery areas, develop better work practices and improve staff training. There will be a review and realignment of internal work practices and processes to ensure that there is a clear focus on customer needs. Staff training in service quality will be improved. The information gathered in the first part of the program will also be used in the second part. This process over time will build up in each agency data on what their specific customers expect. The data can then be evaluated and proposals developed to enable change in the way these customers' requirements are provided.

The third part of the program will involve measuring the performance of agencies providing the services. We will not hesitate to look at best practice in other governments or elsewhere in the ACT. Front-line complaint handling procedures to enable the handling of more serious levels of complaints at the time they occur will be implemented.

While there are three parts of the customer commitment program, they will not be discrete parts. Obviously, different areas will move through the process at different rates; but at all times there will be a will to push forward in continually improving the level and quality of service to our customers. The program will provide a gateway into continuous improvements in terms of improving productivity, improving efficiency and improving quality. Ultimately, the program will lead to the adoption of a broad approach to how the Government determines the level and types of services provided. In respect of best practice, the Government is adopting an innovative and exciting partnership arrangement with the private sector to develop our customer service training program. We will use the private sector's approaches in training our staff in good customer service practices. This will involve a sharing of experiences and approaches. We will be having further discussions about arrangements for the interchange of staff between the public and private sectors.

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