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Home>About Council>Customer Service>Customer Service Charter 2007/08
| Customer Service is integrated in everything we do and say in conducting our business activities.
All South Gippsland Shire Council representatives including staff, councillors, volunteers and contractors share the responsibility of providing our customers with the highest possible standard of customer service. Adequate support, training, resources and measures will ensure this is an achievable outcome.
Contacting Council:
Council Office: 9 Smith St, Leongatha
Business Hours: 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday
(Changes to any usual hours will be advised)
Mail: Private bag 4, Leongatha, VIC, 3953
Business Hours Phone: 5662 9200
After Hours Phone: 5662 9200 (In the event of an Emergency)
Fax: 5662 3754
TTY: 5662 9371
(Council Office-Telephone Typewriter access for people with a hearing or speech impairment)
Email: council@southgippsland.vic.gov.au
Website: www.southgippsland.vic.gov.au
Interpreter: 131450 (Italiano, Deutsch, Nederlands etc)
National Relay Service: 133 677 (for hearing/speech impaired)
Who are our Customers?
Our customers include anyone we interact with in conducting our Council business activities including but not limited to community members and groups, businesses, government departments, contractors and colleagues.
Our Standard of Service
We are personally responsible for conducting ourselves within the agreed standards identified in our “Code of Conduct”. Our customers can expect to be treated in a professional manner with honesty, courtesy and respect in all interactions with Council. This contact may be in the form of a telephone call, letter, email and fax or in person.
Contact by telephone:
Council Staff will answer calls promptly, they will clearly identify themselves and their service area. Only in exceptional circumstances will voice-mail be utilised during business hours.
Accurate and complete details will be requested of customers to ensure queries can be managed efficiently and effectively;
Requests may be lodged onto Councils Customer Request System, with a request number being made available to customers for future reference;
In the event that a staff member is unavailable, or a query requires further investigation, calls will be returned within one business day or within a mutually agreed timeframe.
Contact in writing (mail, email or fax):
All correspondence will be registered in Councils Document Management System and routed to the relevant council representative;
Requests will be responded to within 5 working days of receipt, indicating any actions to be taken, an approximate timeframe for this to occur and contact details for future reference;
Emergency issues will be dealt with as soon as possible.
Contact in person:
Council’s Customer Service Officers will greet and assist customers with Council enquiries, access to Council information and for payment of accounts;
Whilst it is preferable for appointments to be made with staff to ensure they are available and prepared for responding to requests effectively, every effort will be made to attend to a visiting customer to identify their needs;
We will assist customers in identifying a suitable appointment time;
We will attend within 5 minutes of any appointment being made, or notify customers of any anticipated delay.
Service Improvement:
Council is committed to providing the highest standard of customer service and will continually monitor and evaluate measures to achieve this. Some of these measures include, but are not limited to:
·An annual review of this charter to ensure it remains current;
·Customer feedback
·Customer Satisfaction Surveys
·Community Consultations
·Best Value
·Benchmarking with other organisations
·Employee Opinion Surveys
·Internal Audits
The results of our Service Standard evaluations will be reported in our Annual Report.
Feedback
Council appreciates, acknowledges and depends on Customer feedback including positive comments and complaints. Feedback will be received at any level of Council in the form of a phone call, mail, fax, email or in person.
Formal Complaints
Lodging Formal complaints: Formal complaints may be lodged in writing to South Gippsland Shire Council, Private Bag 4, Leongatha, 3953.
Request Reference Number: Complaints will be registered on Council’s Customer Request system which allocates a request number for future reference and assists Council in prioritising and monitoring customer requests and complaints.
Routed to Senior Officer: The complaint will be routed to a Senior Officer of Council, to review and investigate the issue and to feedback any progress or outcomes to the customer.
Complaint Results: Council will acknowledge, rectify and apologise for any issue or situation that is identified as being managed in a substandard manner.
Council Decisions: Complaints concerning Council decisions must be directed to the Chief Executive, or the relevant Ward Councillor.
Office of Ombudsman: The Office of the Ombusdman is independent of Council and may be contacted should a customer be dissatisfied with Council’s complaints resolution. The Ombudsman’s office may be contacted on 1800 806 314 or via their website at http://www.Ombudsman.vic.gov.au.
Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001. This Act came into effect on 1 January 2002. The purpose of the Act is to facilitate the disclosure of improper conduct by Councillors and Council Officers, and provides protection for persons making disclosures, in accordance with the Act. For further information or to make a disclosure, please contact Council on 5662 9200.
Privacy Act
Council operates in accordance with the Information Privacy Act. Privacy Act legislation came into full effect on 1st September 2002, to protect the privacy of your personal information. For further information please phone 1300 666 444.
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