IPC Service Charter

Read the document below or download it here: IPC Service Charter, updated January 2023. 

About the IPC Service Charter

We are committed to providing you with the highest quality of service and opportunities for you to give feedback on our services. This Service Charter sets out our commitment to:

1. Delivering the best standard of service that reflects our values of being:

• Service Focused
• Fair
• Accountable
• Transparent
• Acting with Integrity, and
• Innovating to ensure we provide the best service we can.

2. Providing opportunities for you to give feedback on the service you received, how we treated you and how we dealt with your information.

Our Service Commitment

1. We will make it easy to access our services by providing:

• access to the IPC website 24 hours per day, seven days per week
• free telephone calls from anywhere in NSW
• access to IPC email address
• attendance at our Sydney office by appointment
• in person access anywhere in NSW by videoconference, wherever possible
• assisted access via the National Relay Service and the Translating and Interpreter Service
• contact details on our website – www.ipc.nsw.gov.au.

2. We will treat you fairly, with respect and courtesy by:

• providing our names and appropriate contact details
• being polite and helpful
• behaving with honesty and integrity
• being sensitive and responsive to culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and people with disability
• keeping you informed as your case progresses
• informing you and apologising if we get it wrong.

3. We will provide you with accurate and consistent information and options by:

• explaining the IPC services that best meet your needs, and what you need to do to access them
• providing accurate and up to date website information
• giving you information in an appropriate format that is easy to understand, clear, accurate, current and complete
• providing Information Access and Privacy resources that are easy to read, accurate and available in a number of community languages and accessible formats
• putting you in touch with the appropriate organisation to assist you where we are unable to provide the service you need.

4. We will provide a timely and reliable service that meets our service level goals by:

• answering your telephone enquiries during the call or if that’s not possible to return telephone calls as soon as possible
• answering your in person enquiries at the time of your appointment or if that’s not possible we will advise you how and when a response will be available
• respond to your correspondence as quickly as possible, with at least an interim response advising of the likely length of any delay (responses will include the name and contact details of the staff member responsible for your matter)
• maintaining efficient and regular contact with all parties as we deal with complaints and reviews
• consulting widely when developing resources to ensure a range of views are considered and provide a reasonable time for comment on proposals.

5. We will be fair and transparent in our decision-making by:

• ensuring that decisions and actions are reasonable and appropriate to the circumstances, based on a consideration of all the relevant facts and supported by legislation, policies and procedures
• providing you with the facts and reasons for decisions we make
• providing a fair process
• explaining your right to request a review/reconsideration and providing information regarding that process.

6. We will treat your information lawfully 

The way we treat information is regulated under the:

• State Records Act 1998,
• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the
• Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

These are available at: www.legislation.nsw.gov.au

7. We will welcome and respect your feedback

• We welcome your feedback – whether compliments, suggestions or complaints. What you tell us can help us improve our services or correct a problem we may not have been aware of
• We also seek feedback through regular surveys and research, by speaking with community organisations, industry and consumer groups, and government agencies to monitor how well we are doing
• We also welcome any comments you have in regard to this Service Charter and our performance
• You can provide feedback in any way that suits you – See Contact Us.

8. We will respect your right to make a complaint

• We recommend you try to resolve the issue with the staff member, their supervisor or manager in the first instance. If you are not satisfied after taking these steps, write to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – See Contact Us
• If you are not satisfied with the response provided by the CEO, you can contact the NSW Ombudsman – https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/.

Our way of working