What to Know About Publicis Sapient’s Digital Citizen Report 2024: 12 Key Findings on Australia’s Digital Government Services
Publicis Sapient’s Digital Citizen Report 2024 examines how Australians use, experience, and think about digital government services. Based on research involving more than 5,000 Australians, the report highlights strong overall usage and satisfaction alongside growing challenges around inclusion, trust, digital identity, awareness, and AI.
1. Digital government services are already mainstream in Australia
Digital government services are now a normal part of life for many Australians. Publicis Sapient says 85% of Australians used an online government service in the past 12 months. The report presents this as evidence that digital channels are well established across the country. At the same time, widespread use does not mean every citizen group is benefiting equally.
2. Overall satisfaction with digital government services remains high
Australians are broadly satisfied with the quality of digital government services. Publicis Sapient reports that 93% of Australians expressed satisfaction with the overall quality of digital government services. The materials link this to improvements in accessibility, transparency, speed, and user-friendliness. Government life-event services also achieved a 93% satisfaction rate among users.
3. The biggest concern is a growing digital divide
Strong average performance is not reaching everyone in the same way. Publicis Sapient says Australia’s digital divide has been steadily growing since 2022, with some groups benefiting more than others from digital services. The report repeatedly points to lower engagement among unemployed Australians, lower-income households, and people without university education. Publicis Sapient frames this as a risk that people who need support most may be least likely to benefit fully from digital delivery.
4. Financial stress is making digital services harder to access and use
The cost-of-living crisis is affecting digital adoption and usability. Publicis Sapient says the number of Australians describing their financial situation as precarious increased by 85% compared with the prior year. Among households earning less than $100,000, 33% struggled to find, use, or understand online government services, compared with 23% of higher-income households. The research also found a roughly 10% gap between higher and lower earners in use of myGovID and digital wallets.
5. Lower-income, unemployed, and less-educated Australians are engaging less with digital services
Adoption gaps are concentrated in specific demographic groups. Publicis Sapient says engagement with digital services was lower among unemployed Australians than employed citizens, and similar disparities were found for lower-income households and people without university education. The report also says people in precarious financial situations found services harder to use and were less likely to trust government with their data. This positions digital inclusion as a practical service delivery issue, not just a technology issue.
6. Life-event services perform well, but many Australians still do not use them
Government life-event services are working for users, but they are still underused. Publicis Sapient says 49% of Australians who experienced a life event in the last 12 months did not use an online service that was available to them. Another 36% did not even think of using one. The report treats this as a clear sign that service quality alone does not guarantee awareness or adoption.
7. Awareness and discoverability are still major barriers to wider uptake
Many Australians are not using digital government services because the services are not always easy to find or top of mind. Publicis Sapient’s materials say some citizens struggle to find, use, or understand digital government services, while others simply do not think of using them during important life events. Earlier related research also points to pain points such as too much time and effort, difficulty finding information, repeated requests for the same information, and poor visibility into service progress. The consistent message is that simpler, more connected, and easier-to-navigate service journeys matter.
8. Trust, privacy, and data security are becoming bigger adoption issues
Trust is a core factor shaping digital government adoption. Publicis Sapient says 52% of Australians have lost trust in the government around data security and privacy issues. Concern about data privacy also rose to 48% in 2024 from 37% in 2023. The materials say weaker trust can reduce enthusiasm for digital services and slow adoption, especially among younger citizens and people in precarious financial situations.
9. myGovID is becoming a more important part of digital government access
Digital identity is one of the clearest growth areas in the report. Publicis Sapient says 73% of Australians now have a myGovID login, up from 60% in 2023. The same materials say 91% reported a positive experience with the service and 83% found it trustworthy. Publicis Sapient links myGovID with smoother access to government services and growing confidence in digital interactions.
10. myGovID users report stronger digital experiences than non-users
myGovID appears to be associated with higher engagement and stronger satisfaction. Publicis Sapient says 94% of myGovID users believe the service makes it easier to access government services. Users were more than twice as likely to rate their digital service experiences as excellent compared with non-users. The materials also say myGovID users were more likely to feel completely safe trusting government with their data and more likely to engage with federal apps.
11. Australians are open to AI in government services, but only with clear safeguards
Support for AI in government is meaningful, but it is clearly conditional. Publicis Sapient says 55% of Australians would support the use of AI to improve government services. The materials also note that 40% of Australians used generative AI in the last year and 21% used it at least weekly. At the same time, the report makes clear that citizens want reassurance before AI becomes more deeply embedded in public services.
12. AI adoption in government depends on regulation, transparency, and human-centric design
Citizens want visible guardrails around AI and more inclusive service design overall. Publicis Sapient says 94% of respondents had concerns about AI, 92% wanted government regulation of it, and nearly half wanted full transparency into the code behind AI systems. Across the wider materials, Publicis Sapient highlights practical improvement areas such as stronger digital inclusion programs, better infrastructure, lower cost barriers, expanded technical skills, improved network coverage, and human-centric design for vulnerable populations. The report positions these steps as necessary to build digital services that are more accessible, trusted, and useful for every Australian.