This Service Charter is a commitment about the service Geoscience Australia will provide when you deal with us. It tells you what we do, the standards we set for service and how you can give us feedback.
The standards in this Charter are consistent with the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct and form the basis of evaluating and reporting on our service. Our performance against these standards and your feedback is reported in our Departmental Annual Report.
We look forward to your support and encouragement to continuously improve our service.
Dr Neil Williams
Chief Executive Officer
We are Australia's national geoscience research and geospatial information agency. Located within the Resources, Energy and Tourism portfolio, Geoscience Australia is directly accountable for its performance to the Minister for Resources and Energy, the Australian Government and, through them, to the Australian community.
Geoscience Australia produces geoscientific and geospatial information and knowledge to enable the government and the community to make informed decisions about the exploitation of resources, the management of the environment, the safety of critical infrastructure and the resultant well-being of all Australians.
Our agency works in partnership with other Commonwealth agencies and State and Territory governments through coordinating bodies including the Chief Government Geologists Committee and ANZLIC - the Spatial Information Council. It also encompasses the Office of Spatial Data Management (OSDM) which coordinates the implementation of the Australian Government's policy on spatial data access and pricing.
Our activities cover onshore, offshore and spatial information.
Geoscience Australia's customers and clients include:
Geoscience Australia is open for business on all normal business days from 0900 to 1700 hours Eastern Standard/Summer time except between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
If you use a TTY or a computer with a modem for telephone conversation and want to talk to someone in Geoscience Australia, call the National Relay Service (NRS) on 13 36 77 and quote the number you wish to call. If you are phoning a toll free number (a 1800 number) then the NRS number is 1800 555 677. If you are phoning from outside Australia call +61 3 9963 6948 and quote the number you wish to call. These services are available during normal Geoscience Australia business hours.
If you need an interpreter to assist when you contact us from within Australia, phone the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 13 14 50 for the cost of a local call. TIS is available during normal business hours.
Geoscience Australia provides high quality products and services. The standards for our products and services are on these web pages:
We improve these standards in response to customer needs and feedback.
If you believe a product does not meet our standards, you should advise us and return it within 30 days. If we agree that the product is defective, we will replace it free of charge or provide a full refund or credit note. We will send a replacement to you within two working days of receipt, or contact you to tell you of delivery arrangements.
If you request printed information, reference material, brochures or publications, we will respond within five working days of receiving your request. If the request is more complex we will respond within 14 working days. If we cannot respond within these periods, we inform you of progress. We will provide contact names and phone numbers in all correspondence.
Geoscience Australia is bound by the Australian Public Service Values, the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct, the Public Service Act 1999 and the Charter of Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society.
Our staff will:
Under the Geoscience Australia Charter, you have a right to:
We expect you to
If you consider that we have breached your privacy, you can contact the Department's Privacy Contact Officer. You also have the right to contact the Privacy Commissioner.
Applications for access to Geoscience Australia's documents under the Freedom of Informatin (FOI) Act must be in writing, include the applicant's Australian address and contact details and be accompanied by a $30 application fee. Enquiries about FOI should be directed to the Department's FOI Coordinator.
If you have a complaint about the services or products that you have received from us, we would like to know about it. We view effective resolution of complaints as a very important part of our commitment to ongoing customer care. We believe that the most effective and quickest way to resolve a complaint and achieve customer satisfaction is to deal with the issue at the point where the service was provided, and so we recommend that you first contact our customer service staff.
To assist us with your complaint we need you to:
We will:
If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact the Geoscience Australia Chief Information Officer.
If you are still not satisfied, you can contact Geoscience Australia's Chief Executive Officer. We will respond to your enquiry within seven working days.
If you do not believe that Geoscience Australia has adequately addressed your concerns you may refer the matter to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
The following three areas are not covered by our Service Charter.
If you wish to comment on Government policy you may contact:
If Geoscience Australia receives a complaint or compliment more relevant to another agency, it will be referred if the complainant agrees. We will record the correspondence.
Allegations of criminal conduct against a Geoscience Australia officer in the conduct of his or her duties should be referred to the General Manager, Corporate Branch, Geoscience Australia, or the police.
We welcome your comments on our success in achieving the standards in this Charter, please email feedback@ga.gov.au.
Geoscience Australia publishes performance against this Charter in the Department's Annual Report which is tabled in Parliament.
Geoscience Australia will:
FOI Coordinator
Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism
GPO Box 1564
Canberra ACT 2601
Telephone: +61 2 6243 7026
Facsimile: +61 2 6243 7037
Commonwealth Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
Canberra ACT 2601
Freecall: 1300 362 072
Ombudsman Website
Privacy Contact Officer
Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism
GPO Box 1564
Canberra ACT 2601
Telephone: +61 2 6243 7026
Facsimile: +61 2 6243 7037
Federal Privacy Commissioner
Federal Privacy Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Facsimile: +61 2 9284 9666
Email: privacy@privacy.gov.au