Service Charter

This Charter

This Service Charter sets out a statement of what ANSTO does and the standards of product and service you can expect from the organisation.

Who we are

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is Australia's national nuclear organisation. Its functions and activities are set down by the ANSTO Act 1987. ANSTO is a statutory authority with its own Board. It reports to the Australian Parliament through the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science, Climate Change, Research and Tertiary Education.

What we do

We offer products and services and undertake research and development projects in:

• The application, manufacture and supply of radiopharmaceuticals;
• Irradiation services including radioactivity and dosimetry standardisation.
• Radiation protection and occupational health and safety.
• Environmental monitoring and dosimetry services.
• The design, construction, installation and testing of equipment and facilities to meet rigorous regulatory standards.
• Risk, reliability and safety management.
• The management of radioactive wastes.
• Environmental management.
• The application of isotopes, neutrons and radioanalytical techniques to understanding environmental and industrial processes and providing solutions.
• Analysis, characterisation and modification of materials by neutrons, ion beams and x-rays, and;

The processing of minerals and ceramics.
 

Our vision

ANSTO's vision is for nuclear science and technology to benefit all Australians and for ANSTO to be acknowledged as the premier nuclear science and technology organisation in the Asia Pacific Region.

Our mission

• To provide expert scientific and technical advice across the nuclear fuel cycle to government and to support Australias national strategic and nuclear policy objectives;
• To operate large nuclear science and technology based facilities in Australia and overseas for the benefit of industry and the Australian research and development community, including postgraduate students and staff in higher education;
• To undertake research on specific topics to advance the understanding of nuclear science and the nuclear fuel cycle; and
• To apply resulting technologies and other relevant unique capabilities to focused research and development and other scientific activities to increase the competitiveness of Australian industry and improve the quality of life for all Australians. 

Our core values

Commitment to:

• Excellence, creativity and innovation in our work.
• Cooperation and interdisciplinary responses to meet objectives.
• Integrity in the pursuit of excellence and service to Australia.
• Enhancement of safety culture, quality practices and good environmental management, and
• Perceptive leadership and good management.

Our customers

ANSTO's customers come from both Australia and overseas. They include:

• Companies engaged in manufacturing, mining, mineral processing, environmental management, the health sector, petrochemical, energy and other technology-based industries, and emerging high technology companies.
• Government and international organisations, and;
• Academia and research organisations.

ANSTO works with its customers in a number of ways. These include:

• Supplying products and services.
• Undertaking research and development for and in partnership with government, industry and other research organisations.
• Licensing our intellectual property for use elsewhere.
• Providing consultancies.
• Sponsored research, and;
• Joint business activities.

Our customer service standards

We will:

• Treat all customers fairly, impartially and courteously.
• Respond promptly to our customers requests.
• Understand our customers business needs.
• Provide fair and easily understood business arrangements that include mutual understanding and identification of each partys obligations.
• Ensure our proposals, quality of service, reports and products are of a high standard.
• Ensure the consistency and timeliness of service delivery with contractual terms.
• Provide appropriate follow-up advice and support.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality.
• Comply with relevant health, safety and environmental regulations and guidelines, and;
• Listen to our customers when they suggest ways to improve our services and give serious consideration to all suggestions.

If you phone, we will:

• Your call will be answered promptly during normal office hours.
• We will tell you the name of the person and area you have contacted.
• We will transfer or refer you to an appropriate person if we are unable to assist you at first instance.
• We will take your contact details and tell you when you can expect to receive a response, if we are not able to answer your query immediately.

If you email your enquiry to enquiries@ansto.gov.au, we will:

• Acknowledge receipt of your request within two working days, and;
• Reply within ten working days or, if your business inquiry is more complex and requires more time, inform you of our progress in answering it. 

If you write, we will:

• Reply within ten working days or, if more time is required, inform you of the progress of your business inquiry, and
• Provide contact names and phone numbers in all correspondence.

ANSTO is a body corporate. Decisions on programs and activities within the organisation rest with the organisation.

How to get information

ANSTO seeks to assist the community in being well informed on our objectives and activities by providing up-to-date information in a wide variety of forms, including an Internet website.

To this end, we will provide reasonable information on our organisation, funding and activities free of charge to the community. We will also provide leaflets, booklets or other publications, where they are available, free of charge.

Information held by ANSTO and relevant to its functions as described under the ANSTO Act will be provided to the public within 20 working days, and will be in plain English. A request for such information must be as specific as possible and, unless of a straight-forward nature, in writing.

Public inquiries on an urgent issue will receive an immediate response from ANSTO. However, where the request would involve the use of substantial resources or produce an extensive workload, we will:

• Provide the inquirer with an estimate of the resources or workload involved, identifying all subject headings relating to the request, and
• Negotiate a more specific request, a fee for the provision of the information, and a time-frame for delivery.

ANSTO is not able to make available:

• Information that is confidential from a personal, business, legal, government or national security perspective, or is incomplete or in draft reports, or
• Documents containing information which would come within the exemptions specified in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 or documents which could clearly endanger safety.

ANSTO reserves the right to publicly disclose any request for information and any information provided pursuant to this Service Charter.

Requests for information on ANSTO should be addressed to our Strategic Communications Manager. Phone (02) 9717 3199, or email: enquiries@ansto.gov.au.

Monitoring and review

We welcome your feedback on our performance so we can improve our standards of service. If you have a compliment or suggestion, we will ensure that the relevant staff receive recognition or ideas for consideration.

If you are not satisfied with our services or have any concerns about them, please discuss this with the person you dealt with or their supervisor, and he or she will try to resolve your concerns.

If the matter remains unresolved, you should address your concerns to the head of Government Internation and External Relations, Nadia Levin, who will respond within five working days. Phone (02) 9717 3199, fax (02) 9717 9274, or email: nadia.levin@ansto.gov.au.

If you are dissatisfied at any time with our handling of your complaint, or you feel that your complaint has still not been dealt with satisfactorily using ANSTOs internal mechanism, you may contact an office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has offices in each State and Territory except Tasmania.

Complaints can be made:

• In person at any of these offices
• By telephoning 1300 362 072
• By writing to: The Commonwealth Ombudsman, GPO Box 442, Canberra, ACT 2601
• Via the internet on the Commonwealth Ombudsman's home page.

Checking our performance

We will:

• Monitor and evaluate our performance against the standards we have set in this Charter.
• Report on our performance in the ANSTO Annual Report, and;
• Make improvements on the basis of the monitoring process.

Where you can contact us

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation - ANSTO
 
Street address:

New Illawarra Road
Lucas Heights
NSW 2234
Australia

Postal address:

Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW, 2232 Australia
Phone: (02) 9717 3111
Fax: (02) 9543 5097
www.ansto.gov.au/
Email: enquiries@ansto.gov.au