The country’s leading independent customer service organisation, Customer Service Institute of Australia, has recognised Australia’s most outstanding customer service-driven organisations and individuals in the 2015 Australian Service Excellence Awards, announced last night in Melbourne.

In the 15th year of the awards, the Best of the Best was awarded for the first time to Brisbane City Council for its Customer Focus Team’s tireless work with both individuals and departments to ensure that the voice of the customer is always represented and considered, along with increasing their focus on delivering great customer experiences. BCC also won the Customer Service Team of the Year Award.

There were 12 national organisational winners – including HCF, American Express, Mirvac Retail, Ivy College, Maui Jim, and Signet – and 30 award categories overall that cover a broad spectrum of organisations from across the country.  

This year also saw the introduction of Highly Commended awards, of which 24 were given.

Olympus Australia’s Customer Experience Centre won Customer Service Project of the Year for bringing a new dimension to the concept of customer experience with a custom-built, state-of the-art, hands-on medical facility.

In the highly competitive individual awards that recognise a passion for customer engagement, Harbour City Ferries’ Grant Richards took out the coveted Customer Service Advocate of the Year Award and Ahmed Belrhachi from First Contact won Customer Service Professional of the Year.

The world’s fourth largest employer, ISS Facility Services, was strongly represented in the individual categories taking home three of the 11 awards: Customer Service Executive of the Year and, Customer Service Manager of the Year, with Darryl Prince winning Chief Customer Officer of the Year Awards for the second year running.

CEO of CSIA, Anouche Newman said: “There were a significant number of strong entries this year, and all of an incredibly high standard. The winning organisations and individuals are those that continually focus on keeping customers at the heart of everything they do.”

“We believe customer service is fundamental to the success of every business. It gives them a strong competitive edge and we are delighted to have the opportunity to acknowledge this through the Australian Service Excellence Awards.”

The awards we presented at a Gala Dinner held on Wednesday, 28 October at the Crown Palladium Ballroom, Melbourne.

A full list of national winners presented with their awards appears below:

National winners – organisations

Best of the Best:

Brisbane City Council, Customer Focus Team

Service Excellence in a Large Business:

HCF (the Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Limited)

Service Excellence in a Medium Business:

Ivy College

Service Excellence in a Small Business:

Maui Jim

Service Excellence in a Division of a Large Business:

Mirvac Retail

Service Excellence in a Contact Centre (over 100 employees):

American Express Australia Limited

Service Excellence in a Contact Centre (under 100 employees):

Sunsuper Pty Ltd

Service Excellence in a Business Unit:

Defence Housing Australia, Operations

Service Excellence in a Service Desk/Help Desk:

Northern Territory Government & Kinetic IT

Service Excellence in a Local Government:

City of Canning

Service Excellence State & Federal Government:

Queensland Building and Construction Commission

Customer Charter:

Signet Pty Ltd

Service Excellence in a Not-for-Profit:

HCF (the Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Limited)

Training Excellence:

Signet Pty Ltd

International winners

Service Excellence in a Large Business:

ICICI Bank

Service Excellence in a Medium Business:

Servion Global Solutions

Customer Charter:

Clarks Exotica Report & Spa

Service Excellence in a Service Desk/Help Desk:

Snapdeal

Service Excellence in a Division of a Large Business:

Apollo Hospital

National winners – individuals

Customer Service Advocate of the Year:

Grant Richards, Harbour City Ferries

Customer Service Professional of the Year:

Ahmed Belrhachi, First Contact 

Customer Experience Executive of the Year:

Joshua Walther, ING Direct Australia

Customer Service Executive of the Year:

Greg Gately, ISS Facility Services

Chief Customer Office of the Year:

Darryl Prince, ISS Facilities Services

Contact Centre Manager of the Year:

Paul Claassens, ING Direct Australia

Customer Service Leader of the Year:

Kelly Marr, American Express Australia

Customer Service Manager of the Year:

Nick Athan-Iksidis, ISS Facility Services

Customer Service Project of the Year:

Customer Experience Centre, Olympus Australia

Customer Service Team of the Year:

Customer Focus Team, Brisbane City Council

Customer Service CEO of the Year:

Peter Howman, Defence Housing Australia