Service charter
Our service charter has been developed in consultation with our stakeholders and staff. It covers the whole of AMSA and sets out:
- the services we provide
- the level of service that a stakeholder can expect to receive from us
- the process by which we will address a stakeholder's concerns.
Our role
AMSA is a statutory authority established under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990 (AMSA Act), with the primary role to:
- promote maritime safety and protection of the marine environment
- prevent and combat ship-sourced pollution in the marine environment
- provide infrastructure to support safe navigation in Australian waters
- provide a national search and rescue service to the maritime and aviation sectors
- provide, on request, services to the maritime industry on a commercial basis
- provide, on request, services of a maritime nature on a commercial basis to the Commonwealth and/or states and territories.
Our stakeholders
- Our regulated community—domestic commercial vessel industry, shipping industry and seafarers
- Maritime service providers and partners—including navigation, pollution response and maritime and aviation search and rescue
- Australian Government, state and territory governments and their agencies
- International maritime community
- Australian community
Our client service responsibilities
When dealing with us, you should expect:
- professional, quality and timely delivery of our services
- staff members who identify themselves and give courteous and respectful consideration of your views
- timely, understandable and accurate advice and information
- information about your rights, obligations, entitlements, and any costs for services, where appropriate
- respect for your privacy and appropriate treatment of your confidential information
- explanation of how decisions have been made and information about your rights to have decisions reviewed, where relevant
- handling of feedback, including complaints, in a professional and fair manner, as outlined in this charter
- advice about other relevant organisations that can assist where we do not provide the service requested
- consultation during our reviews of functions and performance, as appropriate.
Our standards of service
We will strive to:
- respond to telephone inquiries within two working days
- respond to written and electronic communications within 20 working days and where this is not possible, inform your of the time needed to respond to your request
- use plain language that is clear and easy to understand.
Your responsibilities
We seek the support and cooperation of you as our client in achieving our service standards. It is expected that you will:
- provide timely and accurate information
- treat our staff with courtesy and respect
- fulfil any financial and other obligations in a timely manner
- be honest and fair in your dealings with us
- provide appropriate feedback on our service delivery.
Feedback
It is important that our clients and stakeholders can give us feedback, including compliments, suggestions for improvement of our services, and complaints to foster continuous improvement in our service delivery.
We receive feedback through several channels, including through established consultative committees, industry meetings and consultations, reviews of our functions and performance, and conferences and workshops.
In addition, we welcome your feedback on the quality of our service delivery. If you are not happy with the service received:
- Contact the staff member you have been dealing with.
- If the complaint cannot be resolved by that staff member, contact the manager responsible for that service or function.
- If the complaint has not been resolved by either of these actions, write to:
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
GPO Box 2181
CANBERRA ACT 2601
or email AMSAConnect@amsa.gov.au - If you are dissatisfied with the way that we have handled your complaint, contact:
Commonwealth Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Telephone: 02 6276 0111
Toll Free: 1300 362 072
Monitoring and review
We regularly review our client feedback mechanisms, including the currency of our service charter, to ensure that it continues to reflect your needs and expectations.
We monitor our performance against our service charter through the AMSA Management System, which includes a review process. We regularly publish information and publications about our functions, our governance, and planning and reporting:
Administrative decisions and Freedom of Information
This service charter deals with the quality of service that we provide to you, our clients. If you are not satisfied with an administrative decision that affects you, you may have the right to seek review of that decision. We notify you of your rights of review and appeal when delivering an administrative decision. The public also are entitled to apply for access to documents that fall within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Read more about making a Freedom of Information application.