NCJ Number
183047
Date Published
February 2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the findings from a 1999 telephone survey of 1,502 people throughout Queensland (Australia) regarding their confidence in, knowledge about, and satisfaction with the police, public servants, and local council employees.
Abstract
The majority of respondents believed that most government employees were honest and that the public service was largely free of individuals who engaged in misconduct. Most respondents (84 percent) also believed that there would always be some degree of government corruption. Fifty-eight percent of respondents stated that more should be done about reducing government corruption, and approximately half believed there was only a slim chance of wrongdoing being detected in a government job. A little more than half of the respondents were confident that a proper investigation would be conducted if they were to complain against a public service employee. The majority of respondents (78 percent) believed that most local council employees were honest, and 82 percent believed that local councils were largely free of individuals who engaged in misconduct; 81 percent agreed that there would always be some degree of corruption in local councils. Although few respondents had experience of serious misconduct by public service or local council employees, complaints about service issues were relatively common. Based on the survey findings, councils and public sector agencies should consider developing more "user friendly" complaint processes. Currently, many citizens who have concerns about the behavior of local council or public sector employees fail to make a formal complaint because of the perception that these complaints are not taken seriously. 20 tables and 4 figures