In 2021, Publicis Sapient commissioned one of the largest private surveys on digital government services in Australia. The survey explored usage, experience, and perspectives on various aspects of how citizens engage with governments through digital channels. Conducted online in October 2021, it involved more than 5,000 participants across Australia, representing a demographic range of states, age groups, income statuses, and other factors reflective of the country’s population.
The intention is to run this as an ongoing survey, building an index on progress and changes to how citizens engage or would like to engage with government digital services over time. Topical issues will continue to be included to gauge citizen responses, and suggestions for new questions are welcomed.
There is a large and growing demand for digital government services across Australia. Nearly all Australians are using at least one government service digitally, with healthcare and finance/tax-related services being the most cited (used by more than half the population). Australians want more digital services in all areas, with the majority open to as many services being made available digitally as possible. Healthcare, the ATO, and Centrelink are the most common areas where citizens have suggested extending digital service offers.
Increasing uptake of digital services is primarily about user experience. Financial incentives or simply increasing service offers are less likely to drive new digital users. The key drivers are making services easier to access, simpler to understand, and saving citizens’ time.
Digital usage varies by service area, but user experience is high across the board. There is a significant difference in digital usage across key service areas, with citizens three times more likely to use digital health services compared to legal services, even though experience is rated highly across all areas.
Usage and experience are broadly consistent across states, with some exceptions. While user satisfaction is high across all states and usage is consistent, there are opportunities to learn from best practices in some areas, such as legal and family services, given more material differences between higher-performing states and others.
COVID-19 had a significant impact on the demand and use of digital services. States most affected by COVID-19 have seen the greatest proportion of new users in the last 18 months, as well as the highest demand for digital services.
Australians are generally comfortable with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated services. The majority of citizens are open to services that remember their details or tailor offerings based on personal information, with comfort levels higher among younger people, those on higher incomes, those with good tech skills, and current users of digital government services.
Trust in government is high overall, but targeted interventions are required to build trust further. Trust is a key consideration for openness to innovations in AI. While trust levels are high overall, there is a dip between younger and older citizens. Addressing issues around a perception of losing control of information and reassuring people about security protocols are key priorities for building trust.
There are opportunities to scale and enhance service offers around life events. Governments’ focus on life event service offers is well-placed, with over half of Australians experiencing a major life event in the last year. Younger Australians have the greatest needs in these areas—they are the most willing to engage in this way but also the most likely to not find what they need.
There is high demand for digital support for those experiencing mental health issues. More than half of the population has sought treatment for mental health issues. Those more likely to experience mental health issues—such as younger people, those with a precarious financial position, and those who have experienced a major life event in the last year—are also significantly more likely to seek support if offered digitally.
The survey was conducted online over approximately one week in mid-October 2021, involving 5,051 participants with a range of demographic characteristics broadly reflecting the population of Australia.
Definitions:
Nearly all Australians are using at least one government service online, with the highest usage among Millennials and those living in large cities. For those working, financial situation has less impact on usage.
92% of Australians want to use digital services more, with 'convenience' and 'saves me time' as the biggest drivers. Simplicity is also important, but less so than convenience and time-saving. Dissatisfaction with face-to-face services is not a major driver, suggesting citizens are generally happy with these channels and highlighting the importance of a good omni-channel experience.
What did you like about using online government services?Only 8% of Australians refuse to use digital government services. The main barriers are:
A small number, skewed towards younger generations, do not use digital government services because they don’t meet their service needs.
What didn’t you like about using online government services?Usage varies considerably across six core service areas, but satisfaction levels are consistently high. Healthcare is the most popular (66%), and legal is the least (19%). Gen Z and Millennials use a much higher proportion of employment services (52% and 50%) than older generations (Boomers, 14%). Millennials and Gen X are high users of tax and financial services (67% and 66%) compared to Builders (28%). Healthcare services are the most consistently used across age categories. Satisfaction is highest for digital transport and recreation services (94% rating 'very good' or 'good'), and lowest for legal (87%).
Which services have you accessed online?92% of respondents said they would use additional services. The key factors to improving service and encouraging usage are creating a simple (44%), easy (44%), and efficient (41%) experience. 'Saves time' and 'ease of access' are more important than clarity or guidance when promoting digital government services to existing users. Customisation is not a major driver (27%), nor are financial incentives (27%).
What would most improve your experience?Citizens are happy for governments to keep increasing digital service offers in all areas. The most suggestions for increased service offers were around health, Centrelink, and ATO. Healthcare was suggested the most, especially elements like pathology, electronic health records, and Medicare services. My Gov and Centrelink were also commonly suggested for improved digital services. Other suggestions included online voting, real-time citizen surveys/consultations, and digital identification/certification. Integration with services like Apple Wallet was also mentioned.
Most requested additional digital services:Digital service usage is broadly consistent across states, with all states having a usage proportion between 88% and 90%, except for South Australia (85%). Usage by service area varies, with legal services usage ranging from 15% in Queensland to 23% in Victoria, and employment-related services from 38% in NSW to 44% in SA. Confidence in government readiness to meet digital needs varies from 78% in NSW to 69% in SA.
User satisfaction is high across all states, with consistency in key service areas such as employment, finance, and health. There are more material differences in other service areas, such as legal, where satisfaction varies from 72% (SA) to 92% (WA), and family services, where satisfaction ranges from 91% (NSW) to 87% (QLD). Transport and recreation-related services are rated very highly across all states.
States most impacted by COVID-19 have seen the greatest proportion of new users in the last 18 months and the highest demand for digital services. First-time usage of government digital services was highest in Victoria (65%) and NSW (63%). Demand for more digital services is also highest in these states. Citizens in these states also have a higher opinion of their government’s performance.
A significant proportion of Australians experience major life events each year, with new jobs and new homes being the most common, especially among Gen Z and Millennials. 60% of Australians have experienced a significant life event in the past 12 months. Younger people are more likely to have experienced a life event, driven by new jobs and new houses. Death of a loved one and serious illness/disability diagnosis are higher for older ages, suggesting opportunities to tailor and target specific services to some user groups.
Those in precarious financial situations are more likely to experience life events. Loss of job is the most disproportionately impacting event for people in a precarious financial position, but moving state, marriage, and divorce are also twice as likely for people in a precarious financial situation than those in a stable position. Those with precarious or basic incomes are more likely to use digital government services during a life event and generally find them useful, but may need more support as life event services evolve.
Citizens from different ethnic groups or with physical or mental health challenges are more likely to experience key life events, highlighting the importance of designing support and accessibility into these services. Aboriginal, Torres Strait, or Indigenous respondents are more likely to experience new job, new house, death of a loved one, birth of a child, and moving state. Those with physical or mental health challenges are more likely to experience new job, new house, and death of a loved one. People from ethnic minorities are far more likely to experience new job and new house life events.
Despite the large number of citizens experiencing life events, a significant proportion (32%) were not aware of the services or could not find what they needed. The Builder age category is most likely to be unaware of service offers (56%). Millennials and Gen X were most likely to find life event services helpful, though some Millennials could not find what they were looking for, suggesting opportunities for extending digital service offers in areas such as new job or new home.
Services around birth and inter-state moves are the most helpful, with 73% and 63% of respondents, respectively, using digital services and finding them useful. Support services for those dealing with the death of a loved one were the least considered by citizens (41% did not consider using them), suggesting governments need to publicise additional support in this area.
Usage and usefulness of digital government life event services is broadly similar across states, with NSW slightly leading other states (49% found services helpful). Respondents across different states recorded similar levels of not being able to find the services hoped for, with WA and SA slightly higher.
78% of Australians are comfortable with AI-generated and data privacy issues, including a significant percentage of those who do not support the concept of government. Comfort levels are higher among those who support governments, have good tech skills, higher household incomes, are current users, and are Millennials.
Comfort with AI applications:Trust in digital government services is high across the country, with younger and older age groups as the most trusting. The main barriers to trust are lack of control of information and security. Overall, 92% of citizens trust digital government services. Trust dips in middle age categories. The main barriers are lack of control of information (48%), concerns around security (39%), and ability to fix issues (38%). 'Robodebt' is still a concern for more than a third of those who do not trust digital government services.
57% of the population has sought treatment for mental health issues, with prevalence significantly higher among younger age demographics. The most cited conditions are depression, anxiety, and stress-related. Those most likely to have sought treatment are those with precarious finances, younger people, and those who experienced a life event.
Have you ever sought treatment for any of the following?72% of those with a mental health condition say that an online consult for mental health would make them more likely to reach out for help. This is notably higher among younger populations (Gen Z 72%, Millennials 80%, Gen X 59%). Overall, 70% of Australians are comfortable with online text or video-based assistance for mental health counselling. Comfort with digital support is higher (75%) among those with a mental health condition compared to those without (63%).
People from Indigenous communities are higher users of digital government services overall (90.8% compared to 88.3%). This is driven by usage of employment, family, and legal services. Indigenous communities are more likely to have experienced a life event and are much more likely to use online services for life events. They are also more likely to have experienced mental health issues and are much more comfortable with online support for their mental health.
Indigenous use of digital government by service area (compared to all):Citizens from Indigenous communities are more open to AI being applied to their services and convey higher levels of trust in digital government services. They are significantly more comfortable with personalisation by location (41% compared to 30%) and having services recommended based on their last interactions (42% compared to 30%). This could be reflective of a higher degree of trust (47% compared to 44%).
People from Indigenous communities value support in using digital services more and are significantly more keen to understand progress of changes to their service. 25% seek more support compared to 15% average, and 35% are keen to track progress in service delivery compared to 13% overall. This suggests key design features and service supports that should be considered for this user group.
People with a disability have a higher-than-average enthusiasm for digital services and are open to services being personalised based on their disability status. However, they are nearly twice as likely to not use digital channels because they don’t cover the services they need. 92% of people with a disability use digital government services (compared to 88% overall). 26% prefer digital because they don’t like the way they are treated in government offices (compared to 16% overall). 53% prefer digital because they don’t have to talk to anyone (compared to 39% overall). 22% are not using digital because services don’t cover their needs (compared to 10% overall). 44% feel customisation would encourage use (compared to 30% overall). 38% are influenced by financial incentives (compared to 27% overall). 39% are very comfortable with personalised service (compared to 30% overall).
People with a disability are more likely to experience different life events and mental health issues. They are open to receiving support in these areas digitally but can’t currently find all the services they need. 28% of people with a disability using online services at a life event are not finding what they need (compared to 22% overall). Only 13% reported no mental health issues in the last 12 months (compared to 43% of the general population). 30% would definitely be encouraged to seek help if they knew digital support was available (compared to 27% overall).
People living in rural areas are more reluctant users of digital services. They are less likely to engage and less enthusiastic about the benefits, suggesting the need to engage and build trust with these communities. Rural residents are lower users of digital services overall and are considerably less likely to use digital in some service areas (e.g., over 10% lower for health or financial services such as ATO). 21% from rural areas don’t like to fill in forms digitally (compared to 14% overall). 13% see no benefits in digital services (compared to 8% overall). 8% are not at all comfortable with digital services remembering previous interaction (compared to 5% overall). 13% would never trust digital government services (compared to 8% overall).
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