1 Customer Service in SA Courts Bill Cossey & John Sanders SA Courts Administration Authority AIJA Annual Court Administrators Conference 6 Aug 1999

2 Presentation Objectives Summary of June/July 1999 Market Research Project re customer attitudes to fines and expiation notice payment Summary of community attitudes to Justice system by focus groups in Market Research Project Outline of SA directions towards improved customer service in penalty mangement

3 Community Attitudes to Fines Group 1 - Meet all committments on time (about 33% of population) Group 2 - Well intentioned, but have occassional lapses in memory Group 3 - Generally well intentioned, but take occassional risks with payment defaults Group 4 - Multiple fines, some ability to pay, but test the system fully Group 5 - Fined frequently, almost no capacity to pay, let the system run it’s course (about 12% of population)

4 Target Groups for PR Campaign The “DO PAYS”(Groups 1 & 2) Acknowledge & affirm behaviour The “WON’T PAYS”(Groups 3 & 4) Advise of options, warn of sanctions, facilitate appropriate responses The “CAN’T PAYS”(Group 5) Identify early, steer into alternate penalties

5 General Observations For regular defaulters, TV and Radio are the dominant media Term “expiation” is misunderstood. Public only relates to “fine” Defaulters don’t understand notices, identify Court envelopes and don’t open them Pay by phone or at Australia Post preferred, not at Court Registries.

6 Customer Service Issues Access to Courts services Understanding Courts processes Staff skills in customer handling Complaints vs Service focus Reactive vs proactive service responses Growing volumes of business Enabling technology Most issues concerned penalty management

7 Evidence of Service Issues High level of payment default Complaints from public Staff stress at front desk High cost of cash handling Long queues in registries Increasing cost of skip tracing and enforcement

8 Credi t Card $ Magistrates Court Registries (19) 26 FTE’s 420,000 Payments per annum 1998

9 Customer Service Remedies Access to Courts services - establish call centres, new payment options, Internet listings service Understanding Courts processes - brochures, volunteers, information services, PR campaigns Staff skills in customer handling - training, Courts Charter Reactive vs proactive service responses - case management Growing volumes of business - new business unit, outsourcing payments collection Enabling technology - new applications, integrating agencies systems

10 Notice Authorit y Pay Australia Post 35% 0 Locked Bag 10% 0 Transport SA 2% 0 Registries 10% 3 Call Centre 23% 6 Direct Debit 20% 2 Credit $ 2000 FTE’s

11 New Fines Enforcement Benefits Increased recovery rate New staff roles to replace cashiers (higher staff morale) Lower cost of payment processing Public acceptance of interim measures (public preference confirmed by Market Survey) Improved customer service

12 Future Directions Further integration of agencies systems Higher productivity using workflow applications Increased community awareness Upgrade call centre facilities Continuous service quality improvement Monitor responses of the public Further extension to Internet services