This charter outlines what you can expect from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the department) customer service and how you, as a member of the public or as a regulated entity, can help us to deliver professional, reliable and consistent customer service. 

Our commitment to you 

We recognise that the customer service we provide you is integral to your needs and may impact upon your ability to meet your legal requirements under the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010 (BEED Act). We are committed to providing you with the service needed to meet these obligations in a responsive and professional manner to a high standard. 

However, it is not the policy of the department to provide rulings or specific advice on whether potential or hypothetical transactions would be required to comply with the disclosure obligations of the BEED Act. This is because whether or not disclosure obligations are triggered depends on a range of factors which may only be able to be ascertained at the time a building or area of a building is actually offered for sale or lease. We recommend that you (or your client) seek independent legal advice if unsure of your disclosure obligations under the BEED Act. 

Our customer service 

The department provides a consistent approach to customer service support. 

Our customer service principles 

We have a set of overarching principles that underpin the delivery of our customer service to you. In providing this service we will: 

Be responsive to enquiries 

We will respond promptly to your enquiries through our phone, email and website. We aim to respond to phone enquiries, emails and mail correspondence within five working days. We will provide accurate and up to date information. 

Be diligent with applications 

While the BEED Act does not legislate processing timeframes for the CBD Program, we will process all applications in a timely way, acknowledging that different types of applications have different processing timeframes.

General guidance on different application processing timeframes is shown below:

However, the CBD program will aim to certify 90% of all correctly submitted applications within 10 working days. 

Be accountable 

We will be open and accountable and regularly measure our performance and seek feedback. We have a set of performance metrics for the CBD Program to measure our performance against. We report our performance under the Australian Government’s Regulator Performance Framework on our website. This ensures we maintain a focus on delivering high quality service. 

Be consultative 

We will foster a coordinated and integrated approach to the delivery of our service. We aim to tailor our response to your needs. We aim to provide linkages and referral to other government and industry information relevant to your needs. 

Strive for continuous improvement 

We will strive to continuously improve the service we provide to you. We will be innovative in designing new and progressive ways of doing things, be it the way we interact with you or developing new processes, to better support you. 

Communicate 

We will ensure that there is easily accessible information about the CBD Program and the service we provide to you. Our information, resources and services will remain accessible to all. 

Our staff 

Our customer service is delivered by skilled, motivated, professional and courteous staff. In providing this service to you, we will ensure that our staff: 

  • deliver quality service with courtesy and minimal delay 

  • are well supported and trained 

  • have the capability to understand your issues because of their experience 

  • have up to date knowledge on policy, procedures and processes 

  • are committed to understanding your needs and the broader industry context and environment that we operate in to assist you 

  • treat you with dignity and respect 

  • ensure that we protect confidential information you may provide, understanding that this is a mandatory disclosure program and Building Energy Efficiency Certificates are public documents. 

Customer service standards 

We aim to provide a consistent and reliable service. The department is committed to: 

  • providing accurate and helpful information. 

  • answering phone calls and emails as soon as possible during normal office hours (9:00am to 5:00pm AEST). An answering service is available when the phone is unattended or outside of normal office hours and any messages are dealt with as soon as possible. 

  • if we are unable to answer your query immediately or it is best handled by a different service area, we will take your contact details and ensure that your enquiry or complaint is attended to by the most suitable area and aim to provide a response within 5 days. 

  • some enquiries may be more complex than others. In these cases, we will notify you if there is a delay in delivering on our service commitment. 

How you can help us 

Recognising and understanding that the provision of customer service support is a two-way process, we appreciate your assistance in helping us provide you with a high standard of service by: 

  • providing us with timely and complete information in both enquiries and applications so that we can facilitate timely advice and processing 

  • recognising and understanding your responsibilities and accountabilities 

  • working with us to resolve any issues with an application or enquiry 

  • having a realistic expectation of the service offered 

  • treating our staff with courtesy and respect. 

Tell us how we are doing 

We value your feedback. It provides us with information that helps us to refine and improve our service. The Contact Us page contains information on how to provide feedback.  

Please let us know if we’ve exceeded your expectations. It is important for us to know what works well. By telling us when you have received excellent customer service and what we got right, it helps us to recognise the efforts of our people and to ensure we continue to deliver high quality service. 

We are committed to ensuring all complaints received are taken seriously and handled efficiently, fairly and confidentially. If the service received does not meet expectations, we ask that you tell us as soon as possible. 

Complaints can be made either verbally or in writing. 

We will aim to resolve all complaints as soon as possible, however depending upon the nature of the complaint response times may vary. All complaints will be handled in a confidential manner, and you will be provided with updates during the investigation of your complaint. 

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