Service 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.

ANSTO has a commitment to quality as per the requirements for ISO9001. Read more.

Who we are

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 and reports to the Australian Parliament.

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 mission

To provide expert scientific and technical advice across the nuclear fuel cycle to government and to support Australia's 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
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

Curiosity: Harness our curiosity to explore new opportunities and create an environment where ideas can thrive
Excellence: Consistently delivering high value outcomes and looking for ways to improve the quality of our performance
Leadership: Ownership, accountability and working with integrity to inspire and motivate others
Trust and respect: An inclusive environment that's built on our trust and respect for each other's contributions and capabilities
Working together: Success through collaboration, team work and a sense of collective purpose
Safe, secure and sustainable: Three key principles that underpin everything we do and every decision we make

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
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
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 party's 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
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 [email protected], we will:

Acknowledge receipt of your request within two working days
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
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 enquiries 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
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
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.

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 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 ANSTO's 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
Make improvements on the basis of the monitoring process