Every Sector Has a Defined Role - Essay Example

?Introduction In the public service, there are many sectors affiliated to the central government and which provides different services to the public.In this endeavour, every sector has a defined role and that they are supposed to be providing for the citizens in the offices. To make the public aware and knowledgeable of what services are provided in the specific sectors. The various public services have therefore come up with service charters that are aimed at giving the public snapshot information about what should be expected of them. In this regard, a service charter is an undertaking that is being made to the stakeholders regarding the services they should expect form to be accorded within the authority in its mandate discharge. The principal aim of a service charter is bring out awareness to the public on the roles of the authority, core activities, and values of the authority, provision of the necessary information on the services range that they offer and the standards that have been set. The service charter also informs on what the stake holders should expect for the authority, remedy avenues should the services fall short of the expected standards, and building confidence onto the public that they are striving to excellence about their provision of the services. With the listed information that is provided within the service charter, it is construable that it is a working tool that is designed to facilitate better understanding regarding the kind of services offered by an authority and put the interests of the stakeholders and the authority at the forefront. For better consideration of the service charter, it should work in tandem with other legal requirements that are enacted time to time to facilitate achievement of expectations. Several countries have come up with different service charters in the various sectors that link them to the stakeholders for the services the public should expect from them. In this essay, I have chosen to consider the service charter in Australia with reference to the Australian Federal police as an authority. This paper considers the Australian Federal police charter, the resolution to this authority is informed by the fact that is has faced several challenges in its implementation of the services to the public. The Australian Federal Police have been faced with ever changing tact if crimes including terrorism, cyber-crime, and sexual servitude among other kinds of crimes that they endeavour to fight. In response to this, they developed a service charter that informs the public of their services and how they can cooperate with the public in the fight about crimes. Development of the Charter The motivating factor for the country and specifically the authority to come up with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) service charter is because of the changing environment of the crimes. Crimes have mutated into some more dormant aspect that without a keen interest on their mitigation, it is impossible to realize their occurrence. In this reference, AFP has responded swiftly in putting structures that will keep such crimes a t a bay and to ensure that there is the much-needed cooperation from the public (Ellison, 2000). The authority has made it possible to develop a service charter that clearly stipulates their responsibilities and how they intend to fight the crimes that in the last decades have changed tact. The charter is developed due to the challenges that the AFP has been facing in containing such crimes as counter terrorism, sexual servitude, and human trafficking. The authority has also put a spirited fight against cyber-crime, protection, as well as peace operations. The fight against crime for this matter has reached transnational level and the authority is keen in ensuring that it triumphs in mitigating the consequences of crime across their boarders (Ellison, 2000). In pursuit of the implementation of the challenges, AFP in addition to the service charter has also implemented a new organizational structure that is to facilitate a high coordination internally and externally in the achievement of its goals. The service charter by the AFP has clearly stated it expected mandates to the people and how they intend to realize there core objectives. The service charters operate on six core values; trust, Accountability, excellence, integrity, commitment, and fairness (Carr, 2000). In the service charter, AFP has also defined themselves, as a common wealth law enforcement agency that operates both within Australia and overseas. The charter also gives a comprehensive account on the rights everyone is entitled to in the relationship with AFP as a client and in return, they have stipulated the corporation they need for the client to fully discharge their mandate (Charters, 1996). The needs to fight crimes that have evolved with technology is the motivating factor in this case of AFP service charter where they are seeking support from the public by creating awareness on what they do and how they intend to do it with assistance from the clients. Impacts of the Service Charter Given the rise in dormant criminal activates today; the service charter given by the AFP has received a wide support in Australia with the aim that cooperating with the authorities will reduce crime rate in the country. Indeed, the AFP service charter has clearly stipulated the kind of cooperation they would want form the clients and what the public should expect from them, in this regard, the public have responded by giving vital information to the authorities and has led to the arrest of many members of criminal gangs in the country. Since the institution of the charter, the overall crime rate in the country has significantly gone down; this is owing to the fact that the charter has ignited the much-needed cooperation between the police and the citizens. There has been a community policing in which every citizen take the responsibility of reporting a crime while at the same time assist the police in investigation by cooperating with them in investigation. The service charter has also build confidence in the public over the war against criminal in the country and more of them are willing to give leading information in combating crimes in the country. Through the AFP service charter, awareness has been created on the citizens about the different types of crimes that take place and in return, they have taken an active role in working together with the relevant authority in tracking the criminals and bringing them to book. The charter has stated it mandates clearly with the assistance they want from the public in order to achieve their objectives of tracking criminals that has mutated with time and are under disguise making them not to be easily be noticed. Through the service charter, most of the public have appreciated the role of the police in mitigating crimes and in response, they have become more law abiding and report circumstances that looks suspicious to the police. The public have also developed the tendency of coming forward without coercion and testifying against crimes in the ATC, Norfolk Island, and in Jervis Bay, this tendency has made it possible for the police to convict suspected criminals. This service charter has also reduced incidences of corruption in which the public official extort money from the public before giving services or any action that contravenes the law and regulation. Social security fraud in which one claims benefit that he/she is not entitled to has also significantly reduced courtesy of the public vigilant that report such fraudsters. The citizens have also developed being honest and reasonable in reporting criminal cases or when dealing with the police and in this sense, they have been a very important tool for leading information to the police (Carr, 2000). This enhanced cooperation between the police and the public led to reduced criminal cases and occurrence in the country. It is envisaged that if the association between the two ill exist following understanding of the charter, fight a gains criminal activities will be won effectively. Challenges posed by the charter to Service Delivery Even though the charter has its mandate unequivocally stated and that most of the public have conceptualized the mandate and its responsibilities, it is important to note that there are a few challenges that are still being experience in the service delivery. The main target in the service delivery in this case is to protect the public from criminal activities that targets them. As stated in the charter, the public are invited to give information that would help the police track criminal; this can be through testimony or giving vital information about the operation of the criminals. In some cases, the public are very hesitant to come forth and assist the police in combating crimes rendering the police incapability of effectively contain the spread of the criminals (Brook, 1989). Because the AFP is dealing with an amorphous group that is not defined, it has been very challenging for the AFP to live to their charter promise of eliminating the criminals amidst the public, this call for intense public awareness about cooperation with the police in the fight against criminals in what is referred to as community policing. Efficacy of the Charter in Improving Service Delivery In making inference over the service charter by the AFP regarding the services they are supposed to give to the public, it is true that the services to the public has been immensely been improved. Unlike other service charter that are only stated for aesthetic value, this one for the AFP have been closely monitored and the authority has worked tirelessly to ensure that their proposed mandate to the public is achieved. For some organization, service charter is only appearing on the paper work with no structures to achieve the objectives (Dickens, 2011). AFP has ensured that they remain accountable to their promises and mandate and that explains why they have put a feedback mechanism for the public to give their views on the way it manages it responsibilities to the public. The authority has worked with the public closely where the keep on adjusting on how to live to their promises following the regular interaction they do have with the members of the public, in this level of association they have updates on what the public opinion is about their endeavours to achieve stated objectives. The success of the service charter can also be deduced by the report that shows reduced cybercrime, counter terrorism, and other form of crimes that falls within the jurisdiction of the authority. It is also confirmed that most criminals in the associated areas are have been arraigned in courts following successful prosecution by the AFP. With the stated development over the crimes control by the AFP, it is fair to say that the body has managed to discharge their mandate and service delivery to the clients in that regard has been remarkably improved for the benefit of the clients (the public). Conclusion It is not an easy task to match performance with what is what is given in the service charter; this is why a greater percentage of the organizations fails to meet what they have in the service charter leading to the belief that service charters are just but a facade that organization use for public relation exercise. Most of the firms have proven unable to align their performance with their promises either because they have no adequate structures to meet the standards they have set or that there is unlimited bureaucracy coupled with lethargy at the work place. A mixture of the two leads to high level inefficiency and will certainly make an organization fail to meet its objective as promised. For an organization to conform to the service charter by action, it should have dedicated team that will show commitment in service delivery without being deterred by external forces. Corruption is one of the cancers that make organizations to fall short of their promises. Involvement of the public in assessing the performance and citing faults in the authority is also an essential tool in making service delivery be efficient is as much as there is a service charter as used by the AFP. Bibliography Brook, D. 1989. Corporate planning in the Australian Federal Police: towards better law enforcement at the Commonwealth level. Canberra, A.C.T.: Australian Federal Police. Carr, D. 2000. Australian Federal Police in East Timor. Canberra: Australian Federal Police. Charters, D. 1996. Intelligence analysis and assessment. London: Frank Cass. Dickens, A. 2011. Australian Federal Police Protection Services: Australian Federal Police. Barton, A.C.T.: Australian National Audit Office. Ellison, C. 2000. Service charters in the Commonwealth Government: second whole-of-government report. Canberra: Dept. of Finance and Administration. Read More