DIMIA Annual Report 2001-02
HEALTH SCREENING
DIMIA has also been successful in protecting Australia from unacceptably high rates of tuberculosis (TB).
Fig. 10 shows the rate of TB amongst people living in Australia but
born overseas. Our rigorous health screening processes have
resulted in this rate being considerably lower than in comparable
countries.
PERFORMANCE AGAINST THE CLIENT SERVICE CHARTER
The department's Client Service Charter informs our clients of the standards of service they can expect from the department, provides an avenue for clients to comment on our performance and advises on how clients can help the department to serve them better.
The Client Service Charter and its companion brochure Do you have a complaint? are obtainable at offices of the department in Australia and overseas, through our general inquiry line, from organisations that provide services on the department's behalf and electronically from the department's website.
Both documents are available in 19 community languages.
In line with the government's requirement that agencies review their Charters regularly, the department is undertaking a major review of the Client Service Charter and its associated complaint handling mechanism during 2002-03.
The review, currently in its planning stage, will focus on aligning our service standards with the revised Charter principles, in particular focusing on electronic services and client diversity.
Furthermore, the review will seek to clarify the services provided by the department and the level of assistance clients can expect, as well as to support recent changes to our operating environment, including global processing and e-Visa initiatives.
The Client Service Charter contains service standards that specify the department's public commitment to high-quality client service.
To identify problems and facilitate continuous improvement in service delivery, ongoing monitoring and periodic evaluation of performance against the service standards contained in the Client Service Charter are undertaken.
Performance against the service standards contained in the Client Service Charter for 2001-02 has, on the whole, improved over results for 2000-01 for both onshore and offshore operations.
The service standard indicating that we will explain our decisions and advise about any review rights was again our most successful, being met both onshore and offshore on average 98 per cent of the time.
The Client Service Charter's complaint handling mechanism continues to be a valuable performance monitoring tool, enabling clients to provide feedback to the department orally and in writing.
Integral to this is a network of complaints handling staff who investigate and resolve client complaints as far as possible at the local level.
In 2001-02, the department received 1,812 complaints, down from 3,676 in 2000-01 and 6,244 in 1999-2000.
The number of complaints received by the department during 2001-02 represents 0.15 per cent of total applications made for the same period.
On average, 78 per cent of complaints are resolved within three days and 88 per cent within 10 days of being received.
The nature of complaints continues to be for the most part attributable to either accessibility or delivery of service with 66 per cent of all issues raised for 2001-02 against these key issues.
Telephone access to offices, timeliness, and staff attitude continue to be the major issues of complaint for our clients.
To address the complaints about the telephone service, the department's 131 881 general inquiry line is continually reviewed to improve the service provided to our clients.
Along with continuing emphasis on local call management, DIMIA has delivered significant improvement in both call waiting times and abandonment rates.
During 2001-02, some 1.55m. calls were made to the department's 131 881 inquiry number.
This represents an increase of 27 per cent compared to 2000-01 (1.22m. calls).
The number of calls received has increased substantially from 290,000 in 1996-97, 580,000 in 1997-98, 866,000 in 1998-99 and 1.24m. in 1999-2000.
To further assist the department in making strategic decisions on its 131 inquiry services, Coolong Consulting (Australia) was engaged in March 2002 to provide DIMIA with expert advice on inquiry call handling, email for general inquiries, and the handling of other forms of general client contact.
For the third year running, the department's telephone based service delivery to clients in Australia has exceeded services provided over the counter at state and regional offices.
The number of clients seen at our counters increased from 838,000 in 1997-98, 969,000 in 1998-99 and remained steady at 1.1m. for each of 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
During 2001-02, 947,000 clients presented at our counters throughout Australia.
The average waiting time for clients to be served was approximately 28 minutes, an increase on the 25 minutes for 1999-2000 but the same as 2000-01.
Timeliness of processing and waiting times at our counters continue to be issues of concern to our clients.
Strategies to address these issues have included:
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continued emphasis on lodgement of complete applications
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following a successful trial during 2000-01, full implementation of cashless office initiatives encouraging clients to pay through electronic means
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ongoing review of counter operations with sharing of best practices, including requiring certain clients (e.g. students) to first contact the department by telephone to make an appointment prior to coming into an office, also helping to ensure that they are 'application ready'
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better management of client expectations for service
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extending the range of electronic services
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enhancing call handling arrangements.
In addition to the decrease in complaints received, the department has seen a further increase in the number of compliments received through the complaints handling mechanism (270 in 2001-02, up from 229 in 2000-01 and 42 in 1999-2000).
In the main, the positive feedback related to the positive attitude and friendly and professional manner of staff, appreciation of time taken to fully discuss matters and address client concerns, and the timeliness of processing applications both in Australia and overseas.