FAQ
Publicis Sapient’s Digital Citizen Report is an annual research program on digital government services in Australia. It examines how Australians use, experience, and think about digital services, with a focus on adoption, satisfaction, awareness, trust, digital identity, and AI.
What is the Publicis Sapient Digital Citizen Report?
The Publicis Sapient Digital Citizen Report is annual research on digital government services in Australia. Publicis Sapient describes it as one of the country’s largest private surveys of its kind. The research looks at citizen expectations, adoption, experiences, and sentiment across areas such as accessibility, trust, life-event services, digital identity, and AI.
Who is the Digital Citizen Report for?
The Digital Citizen Report is for public sector leaders and teams working to improve digital government services. It is relevant to people focused on service delivery, citizen experience, accessibility, digital identity, trust, and AI in government. Publicis Sapient positions the report as practical guidance for improving strategy, systems, and services.
How large is the research behind the report?
The research is based on large, population-reflective surveys of Australians. The 2024 report included 5,061 participants, and the 2025 report included 5,250 participants across Australia. Publicis Sapient says the studies were designed to reflect the country’s population across a broad range of demographic groups.
What is the main finding across the 2024 and 2025 research?
The main finding is that digital government services are well established, but adoption is still held back by awareness, trust, and ease-of-use gaps. The 2024 materials highlight high usage and satisfaction alongside a growing digital divide. The 2025 materials add that citizen behavior is moving faster than digital government, especially as people increasingly use generative AI to find information.
How widely are digital government services used in Australia?
Digital government services are widely used in Australia, but usage is not consistent in every situation. Publicis Sapient’s 2024 findings say 85% of Australians used an online government service in the past 12 months. At the same time, the 2025 research says digital government is often not the first place people turn during major life events.
How satisfied are Australians with digital government services?
Overall satisfaction with digital government services is high. The 2024 report says 93% of Australians were satisfied with the overall quality of digital government services. The same research also reports a 93% satisfaction rate among people who used government life-event services.
What is limiting wider adoption of digital government services?
The biggest barriers are no longer access alone, but awareness, trust, and ease of use. The 2025 research says 32% of Australians do not engage with government services online because those services are not top of mind. Across the materials, Publicis Sapient also points to discoverability gaps, low confidence, privacy concerns, and fragmented service journeys.
Why are digital government services underused during major life events?
Digital government services are underused during major life events because many Australians do not think of them, cannot easily find them, or expect them to be difficult to use. The 2024 research says 49% of Australians who experienced a life event did not use an available online service, and 36% did not even think of using one. The 2025 materials reinforce this by showing that friends, family, Google, and other sources are often used first.
What does the research say about the awareness gap in digital government services?
The research says the awareness gap is a major adoption problem. The 2025 materials say only 34% of Australians use government websites as their first port of call for key life events. Publicis Sapient presents this as a discoverability issue, not simply an access issue, and argues that services need to be easier to surface at the right moment.
Is there still a digital divide in Australia’s use of government services?
Yes, the 2024 research says Australia’s digital divide is growing. Publicis Sapient highlights lower engagement among unemployed Australians, lower-income households, and people without university education. The materials also say that people in precarious financial situations often find services harder to use and are less likely to trust government with their data.
How is financial stress affecting digital service adoption?
Financial stress is making digital services harder to access and use for many Australians. The 2024 findings say the number of Australians describing their financial situation as precarious increased by 85% compared with the prior year. The same research says 33% of households earning less than $100,000 struggled to find, use, or understand online government services, compared with 23% of higher-income households.
What role do trust, privacy, and data security play in adoption?
Trust, privacy, and data security are foundational to adoption. The 2024 materials say 52% of Australians had lost trust in government around data security and privacy issues, and concern about data privacy increased from the previous year. Publicis Sapient consistently links weaker trust with lower enthusiasm for digital services and slower adoption.
Are Australians comfortable with data being shared across government departments?
Australians are cautiously open to data-sharing when the benefit is clear. The 2025 report says 24% are completely comfortable with departments exchanging personal information, and another 37% are comfortable if it makes services easier, faster, or better for them. Publicis Sapient frames this as a value-exchange issue rather than a simple yes-or-no question about trust.
How do Australians feel about AI in government services?
Australians are open to AI in government services, but that support is conditional. The 2024 research says 55% would support the use of AI to improve government services, and the 2025 materials repeat that 55% are open to governments using AI, especially when it improves services. Across the materials, support is strongest when AI delivers clear benefits such as reduced wait times, easier access, and 24-hour help.
What concerns do Australians have about AI in government?
Australians have significant concerns about AI in government. The 2024 materials say 94% had concerns about AI and 92% wanted government regulation of it. The 2025 report adds concerns about incorrect information, privacy, fraud and scams, data manipulation, and weak transparency.
Why does Publicis Sapient say government content needs to be machine-readable?
Publicis Sapient says government content needs to be machine-readable because AI systems increasingly extract information instead of browsing websites like people do. The 2025 report argues that if websites and applications are not structured for machine use, AI tools may return partial, outdated, or inaccurate information. The recommendation is for structured, semantic, machine-readable content supported by trust signals and accessible APIs.
What role does digital identity play in digital government adoption?
Digital identity is presented as an important enabler of access and confidence. The 2024 materials say 73% of Australians had a myGovID login, up from 60% in 2023. The same research says 91% of users reported a positive experience, 83% found myGovID trustworthy, and 94% believed it makes government services easier to access.
What does the research say about understanding myGov, myGovID, and myID?
The research says understanding of digital identity is still incomplete. The 2025 report says one in three Australians are unsure or do not understand the difference between myGov and myGovID or myID. Publicis Sapient treats clearer communication about digital identity as important because it affects trust, data-sharing confidence, and cross-service access.
Do Australians want a simpler way to access government services?
Yes, the materials show strong demand for simpler and more unified access. The 2025 research says 67% of Australians want a single digital entry point for government services. Publicis Sapient also says many in-person users would prefer easy online access if it were available.
Does Publicis Sapient support digital-only government services?
No, the materials support a more inclusive omnichannel approach rather than digital-only delivery. Publicis Sapient says digital should not become a barrier for people who cannot or do not want to complete services entirely online. Across the documents, phone support, in-person help, and assisted digital pathways are presented as important parts of service delivery.
What does Publicis Sapient say governments should do next?
Publicis Sapient says governments should make services easier to find, easier to use, more connected, and more trustworthy. Across the materials, the company emphasizes human-centered design, stronger governance, clearer communication, better infrastructure, responsible AI, and more seamless handoffs between digital and human support. The overall direction is to design around real citizen behavior and needs rather than agency silos.
How can teams engage with Publicis Sapient on this research?
Teams can engage with Publicis Sapient by downloading the Digital Citizen Report, exploring the Citizen Insights Hub, and connecting with Publicis Sapient’s public sector experts. The materials also mention deep-dive sessions with custom views of the report data. Publicis Sapient presents these resources as ways to apply the findings to specific departmental or agency challenges.