Fact sheet 20 – Our standards of service

The following are our minimum standards of service. Those involving response times describe the levels of service you can expect from us most of the time.

Reading room services

1. Our reading rooms in Canberra and Melbourne are open each weekday. Reading rooms in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin are open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. See Fact Sheet 1 – Addresses and hours of opening for details of opening hours and evening and weekend opening.
2. A reference archivist will be with you within three minutes of your approaching the reference desk. They will provide orientation, explain how to use our reference tools, and help you frame a search strategy.
3. Records that are open for public access will be delivered to you within 30 minutes of you placing your order, provided they are held on site.
4. In Canberra and Melbourne records are held off site. In Canberra it may take up to 1½ hours to deliver them to the reading room (up to 36 hours if they are not held in our main repository). In Melbourne it may take between 24 and 48 hours.
5. If the records are in cold room storage (eg photographs) it may take up to 14 days before they can be made available safely. Maps, plans, other large format documents and records requiring conservation treatment may also take longer to deliver, and may involve special arrangements for viewing.
6. We will not tell third parties about the topic of your research or the records you have used without your permission.
7. If we refuse you access to records we will give you our reasons in writing and will tell you how you can appeal our decision. See Fact Sheet 12 – What to do if we refuse you access for more information.
8. We encourage you to help yourself to the range of fact sheets on display. Ask the reference archivist about any titles that may not be on display.
9. You may use our reading room personal computers (PCs) to type your notes and search the Internet, provided these activities are related to your research – see Fact Sheet 118 – Computer resources in reading rooms.

1. Research inquiries may be submitted by post, fax, telephone or email. See Fact Sheet 1 – Addresses and hours of opening for contact details or email us at ref@naa.gov.au.

2. We will tell you if we hold the records and suggest appropriate search strategies, or advise you of possible alternative sources.

3. We do not undertake detailed research on your behalf. If your inquiry requires substantial research we will send you a list of private research agents with whom you may make private arrangements. For more information see the following fact sheets:  

• Fact Sheet 40 – Research agents – Canberra
• Fact Sheet 41 – Research agents – Sydney
• Fact Sheet 42 – Research agents – Brisbane
• Fact Sheet 43 – Research agents – Adelaide and Darwin
• Fact Sheet 44 – Research agents – Melbourne and Hobart
• Fact Sheet 45 – Research agents – Perth 
   

4. Research inquiries and requests for copies of World War I and World War II defence service will be answered within 30 calendar days, or we will let you know if there will be a delay.

5. If you have details of the records you wish to see, you can order them in advance of your visit by post, fax, telephone or email. See Fact Sheet 1 – Addresses and hours of opening for contact details or email the details using the reference inquiry form in The Collection part of our website.

6. If you identify records you want to have copied we will provide a quote within 30 days and supply the copies within 30 days of receiving your payment.

If you have a physical or hearing disability, are sight impaired or have special language needs please let us know in advance of your visit so that we can seek to provide the special assistance you require.

If you are unhappy with our service or we have not met our standards please talk to the member of staff you have been dealing with to try to resolve the issue.

If you are not satisfied, talk to the Assistant Director, Records Accessibility in the office you are dealing with.

If you are still not satisfied, write or speak to the

You will receive a formal response within ten calendar days.

We welcome your comments on our services and ask you to complete our readers' survey form and leave it in the comments box provided. Please understand that limited resources may mean that we are unable to implement all suggestions.

For more information see our Service Charter. Copies are available through our offices.

updated October 2006