The AFP remains committed to ongoing cooperation, collaboration and enhanced interoperability with federal, state, territory agencies (including the Australian Intelligence Community), and regional law enforcement partners offshore. These parties recognise the AFP’s role in providing a specialist capacity in investigations and in the development of whole-of-government and regional responses to help counter crime by building social cohesion and increasing social capital (including security) within diverse communities. The Business Satisfaction surveys have been instrumental in driving improvement in service delivery to better meet the needs and expectations of the AFP’s increasingly diverse range of clients and stakeholders.
Client satisfaction is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) within the AFP’s performance framework. Each program within the AFP Portfolio Budget Statement (PBS), [PDF, 233KB] includes satisfaction KPI’s. The AFP Business Satisfaction Survey (BSS), formerly known as the Client Satisfaction Survey, has been conducted annually since 1999-2000.
The survey is designed to assess the AFP's commitment to its core values, the performance of the AFP in conducting and undertaking investigations, and working with our clients and stakeholders. The results provide valuable feedback about the AFP's activities and enable the identification of areas of service delivery requiring attention. Those surveyed include staff from organisations that the AFP routinely works with, including commonwealth, state and territory government agencies, foreign governments, law enforcement agencies, industry clients, embassies and diplomatic missions in Australia and overseas. Survey participants contribute their views anonymously.
The most recent survey was completed in March 2011. Clients and stakeholders from over 500 different organisations were invited to participate. A total of 865 people completed the survey.
Overall, 85% of the respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied in their dealings with the AFP, 5% were dissatisfied and the remainder were neutral. This is a small decrease from last year in satisfaction (down from 88%). This decrease is associated with an increase in neutral responses from 2010 to 2011, rather than an increase in the percent of respondents who reported being dissatisfied. Since 2006 the AFP has experienced a continuation of longer term positive trends in client satisfaction. The highest levels of client satisfaction relate to ethical standards, professionalism and respect for the individual. The highest levels of dissatisfaction were observed for resourcing and timeliness issues. This is a similar pattern to last year’s results.