DIMA Annual Report 1998-99
Sub-program 1.4: Migration Support and Services
Performance outcomes
(i) Quality services
Most of the Department's service delivery to clients in Australia continues to occur over the counter at state and regional offices. The trend of assisting more clients but receiving fewer applications continues.
More than 969 000 clients were seen by the Department throughout Australia in 1998-99, an increase of more than 130 000 on the previous year. The average waiting time for clients to be served is 20 minutes, a small increase on 1997-98.
Receipted transactions dropped slightly this financial year, from a reported 517 714 in 1997-98 to the current figure of 487 017. This is reflected in the following graph.
Client Service Charter
During July and August 1998 the Minister launched the Department's Client Service Charter in each state and territory. The Charter includes a statement of the Department's commitment to high-quality service, an explanation of what clients may expect of DIMA, clear service standards, an explanation of clients' responsibilities to DIMA, and methods for making a suggestion or complaint.
The Charter and its companion brochure Do you have a complaint? are now available through DIMA offices in Australia and overseas and from organisations which provide services on the Department's behalf. The brochures, translated into 19 community languages, are also available electronically.
A training program for staff preceded the introduction of the Charter. At the same time a complaints monitoring and reporting process was set up, a network of dedicated complaints officers established to resolve service complaints.
Complaints handling procedures were issued as an administrative circular to guide staff in dealing with client feedback. The procedures emphasise providing a 'seamless' service for clients and promoting continuous improvement in client service by responding to client feedback.
Already the complaint mechanism has generated improvements to departmental processes, information and employee training. They included:
- detecting hardware inadequacies in some departmental PABX equipment;
- introducing priority service at the Melbourne Central Business District office for clients with simple inquiries such as paying fees or collecting forms;
- advising Complaints Handling Officers on the availability of Migration Program Management System processing times to ensure consistent advice is given to client queries about offshore processing times; and
- staggering counter rosters to provide better coverage of processing peaks.
Further improvements and client service focus are expected over 1999-2000.
An external review is underway to examine the effectiveness of the Charter's implementation, including client and staff awareness of the Charter, and whether the Charter is consistent with Government policy objectives.
Results of the review are expected in the latter half of 1999, and will form the basis of the Department's contribution to the whole-of-government report on service charters.
Interactive Voice Response Units/'13' number
During 1998-99, 990 000 calls were received nationally through the Interactive Voice Response Unit (IVRU)/'13' inquiry number. This represents an increase of 70 per cent on the 580 000 calls to this number in 1997-98. The trend is expected to continue in 1999-2000, especially with the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics.
In 1998-99, seven out of 17 State and regional offices were using IVRUs as an initial point of contact for callers who dialled the '13' inquiry number.
Additional work is being done to expand and standardise the '13' inquiry number function by providing improved and uniform services to clients through the use of automated information, call screening and voice mail options.
In addition, a national script for the '13' inquiry number was developed for implementation on 1 July 1999. The script, which is centrally managed, has provision for regional variations in information. It will be continually monitored and adjusted, and allows quick dissemination of information should the need arise.
In October 1998 a Regional Client Service Managers conference in Canberra endorsed a strategy where all calls made to the '13' inquiry number would be directed initially through this script.
Part of the strategy is to extend IVRU services and call queuing functions to departmental offices throughout Australia. It includes providing equipment to help local monitoring of the resultant service quality.
Measuring current IVRU traffic has shown that about 60 per cent of inquiries can be successfully answered within the system, freeing staff to deal with more complex inquiries.
The Department intends to complete benchmarking of its telephone service later in 1999. This will assist with establishing strategies for further phone service improvements.
Top of PagePerformance outcomes
(ii) Cost effectiveness
Regional structures overseas
As at 30 June 1999, visa services were being provided through an international network of 74 posts, of which 39 have departmental Australia-based (A-based) staff. This followed the transfer of an A-based officer to Mumbai and the introduction of an A-based position in Auckland.
There was an average staffing level of 127 departmental A-based, and 624 Locally Engaged Staff (LES) dedicated to visa functions, compared with 112 departmental A-based, and 604 LES at 30 June 1998.
At 32 posts, departmental LES were supervised by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff, and three posts were supervised by Austrade staff. Regional headquarters with departmental A-based staff support visa operations at these posts.
During 1998-99, the Department implemented a regional structure for all overseas posts.
The 10 overseas Regional Headquarters are:
- Athens (with posts in Ankara, Beirut, Nairobi and Pretoria);
- Bangkok (with posts in Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh and Singapore);
- Beijing (with posts in Guangzhou and Shanghai);
- Hong Kong (with posts in Manila, Seoul and Tokyo);
- Jakarta;
- London (with posts in Bonn, Manchester and Paris);
- New Delhi (with posts in Colombo, Islamabad and Mumbai);
- Suva (with posts in Auckland and Port Moresby);
- Vienna (with posts in Belgrade, Moscow and Warsaw); and
- Washington (with posts in Los Angeles, Ottawa and Santiago).
This revised structure allows clearer lines of leadership, management and communication, with more systematic regional compliance. It has also increased the ability of regions to deal flexibly with resource, program management and training issues.
Cost pressures
In 1998-99, the overseas property budget was about $55 million. This included provisions to cover redundancies resulting from introducing Electronic Travel Authority into Hong Kong, preparations for transferring the office from Bonn to Berlin, and from transferring Manchester's caseload to London, several short term missions to manage unforeseen contingencies, medivacs, and foreign exchange losses.
Additional funding was allocated as a result of the expanded immigration presence announced in the 1998-99 Budget. It resulted in an increase in A-based and LES positions at a number of posts.
Top of PagePerformance outcomes
(iii) Support services Help Desk Client Services System/Client Service Manager
In support of visa delivery services in Australia, the Client Services System/Client Service Manager (CSS/CSM) Help Desk responded to an average of 300 calls a month from regional office staff. The calls helped to identify training needs and requirements for system improvements.
Help Desk staff delivered training in all state and territory offices to upgrade counter officer system skills and maintain service standards for departmental clients. A resource-intensive schedule for ongoing system improvements and Y2K-related compliance testing was completed.
The Help Desk was heavily involved in preparations for introducing the Integrated Client Service Environment (ICSE), including assistance to the Department's Information Technology service provider, CSC, with a nation-wide roll-out of new PCs, delivering procedural training to prospective ICSE users, and testing of the ICSE system.
Property
During the year the Department achieved the finalisation and formalisation of devolved arrangements with the Department of Finance and Administration's Property Group for Government-owned overseas estate (office and residential), and leased overseas office accommodation. At the same time, the Department assumed full responsibility for managing its leased residential property portfolio.
The Department also initiated and completed office expansion and office fit-out in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Colombo, Vienna, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Bangkok, New Delhi, London, Dubai, Suva, Santiago and Nairobi.
While the projects met demands for additional space, they also addressed program delivery integrity, Occupational Health & Safety, and client service issues.
Further scrutiny of DIMA operations has taken place with options to achieve efficiencies in domestic property holdings. It was decided to close the Department's Box Hill office in Melbourne in June 1999.
A proposal has been developed to relocate the Preston office in Melbourne to a smaller, better-situated site in the same area. The Parramatta office is being relocated to a better client-servicing site within the same building, and is to undergo refurbishment.
In Central Office there has been an increase in office space to meet the Department's emerging needs in areas such as the expanded information technology delivery requirements, the Kosovo Taskforce, Year 2000 (Y2K) and the Olympics.
Central Office finalised a national contract with KFPW Pty Ltd to provide property management services for the Department's office accommodation throughout Australia. This move streamlined current processes and created savings from the previous service arrangement.
An energy and environmental review is being conducted in Central Office and ACT Regional Office by AGL to provide practical recommendations to improve the energy and environmental performance of operations.
This is in response to the directions of the Federal Government for Commonwealth agencies to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse emissions to meet set targets by 2002-03. The results will guide an expanded review covering state and territory offices.
Work was undertaken on identifying Year 2000 issues that may affect the Department's office accommodation in Australia and overseas. All departmental tenancies in Australia have been assessed as having a low risk of exposure to Y2K issues.
In conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other government agencies represented overseas, Y2K contingency plans for all 74 department posts have been developed.