Australians' Use of and Satisfaction with e-Government Services
7 Levels of satisfaction with e-government services
The surveys used in this study were designed so that satisfaction could be measured for specific contacts with government. This was done to ensure that respondents had to assess the elements of a specific interaction with government, rather making a judgment about all of their contacts. This approach enabled the study to examine satisfaction against a number of indicators. It also allows for satisfaction to be broken down according to the service category accessed and the channel used (Internet and telephone).
Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with the government service they had accessed through the Internet or telephone against a range of indicators. Three of those indicators were common to both Internet and telephone contacts:
- the extent that respondents achieved what they intended;
- the ease of using the service; and
- the ease of finding the specific information or service they were after.
Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction on a 5 point scale where 5 was extremely satisfied, and 1 was not satisfied at all.
7.1 Levels of satisfaction by channel
Satisfaction levels for both Internet and telephone access to government services were high, with satisfaction being slightly higher for Internet than telephone.
Overall, the satisfaction levels for both Internet and telephone access to government services were high. Satisfaction was slightly higher for Internet than telephone using all common indicators. Figure 7.1 shows the proportion of contacts that were rated as satisfactory[16] on all three indicators.
Contacts made via the Internet had a greater proportion of respondents reporting a high level satisfaction than contacts by phone (55% Internet compared with 49% phone). Similarly, contacts made via the telephone had a greater proportion of respondents reporting lower levels of satisfaction than for the Internet (21% phone compared with 14% Internet).
7.2 Variations in satisfaction levels by service category
Satisfaction was higher for the Internet than telephone across all service categories.
Among contacts made via the Internet, satisfaction was highest for services in the environment, climate and conservation category.
Among contacts made via the Internet, satisfaction was highest for services in the environment, climate and conservation category (98%) than the 93% average across all service categories. There were no statistically significant differences by service category in relation to satisfaction with phone contacts.
When analysing satisfaction at the level below service category – that is, at the specific service level - the picture is quite different. The following section identifies key findings against the three indicators used to compare Internet and telephone satisfaction.
7.2.1 The extent that the respondent achieved what they intended
Internet users
Overall, 90% of all Internet contacts resulted in people achieving what they had intended to do. Satisfaction was highest for weather or climate services, land rates or tax services, library services, and car, boat, vehicle registrations or licence services.
Overall, 90% of all Internet contacts achieved what they had set out to do.
Services where satisfaction was significantly higher included weather or climate services (100%), land rates or tax services (97%), libraries (97%) and government jobs services (95%). Satisfaction with car, boat, vehicle registrations, or licence services (95%) was also significantly higher than the average for this indicator.
Satisfaction was lower than the average for Internet contacts involving a job seeker’s allowance, unemployment benefit, and working for the dole services (77%, compared with 90% for Internet contacts overall) and family benefit, child allowance, or childcare benefit services (84% compared with 90% average).
Telephone users
The only significant variation for telephone users achieving what they intended was for contacts involving car, boat, vehicle registrations, or licence services. For these services, only 82% of contacts were deemed satisfactory on this indicator (compared to the 90% average).
7.2.2 The ease of finding specific information or service respondents
Internet users
Approximately 90% of Internet contacts rated this indicator satisfactory. Satisfaction levels for Internet contacts was higher than the average for weather or climate services (100%), utilities services or accounts (98%), tourism, holidays or travel within Australia services (98%), libraries (98%), land rates or tax services (97%), car boat, vehicle registrations, or licence services (95%) and income or personal tax services (94%).
Telephone users
Approximately 83% of telephone contacts rated this indicator satisfactory. Telephone users were more likely to be satisfied with the ease of finding the specific information needed for contacts involving family benefit, child allowance, or childcare benefit services (89% compared with 83% average for all telephone contacts).
7.2.3 The ease of using the service
Internet users
Approximately 93% of Internet contacts rated this indicator satisfactory. Higher levels of satisfaction were reported for weather or climate services (100%), land rates or tax services (98%), libraries (98%) and routes or timetables for travelling by train, bus or tram (97%).
People accessing family benefit, child allowance, or childcare benefit services were less likely than average to be satisfied on this indicator (85% compared with 93% average of all respondents to random survey).
Telephone users
No significant differences were reported for telephone users on this indicator.
7.3 Causes of dissatisfaction
The following section examines services where respondents expressed greater levels of dissatisfaction. A large number of reasons were given for dissatisfaction. They have been classified into the following broad categories:
- usability issues (including difficulties navigating Internet services);
- content issues (including Internet services containing incomplete or out-of-date information);
- access issues (including government services difficult to find, don’t have the software to do it);
- infrastructure issues (including Internet service is slow or network unreliable);
- customer service issues (including no or late reply to query);
- security issues (concerns about security of information); and
- privacy issues (concerns about personal privacy).
7.3.1 Dissatisfaction with Internet contact
Part of the study’s objectives was identifying the specific reasons why the Internet caused dissatisfaction for people who used it to contact government. The reasons were classified into categories, including usability (which related to the service’s navigation), content (including the type of information available), access issues (such as difficulties finding services and not having the password or software required to access a service) and infrastructure issues (such as websites crashing or being slow).
Figure 7.2 indicates that the main reasons for Internet dissatisfaction relate to usability and content issues. Approximately 14% of contacts by Internet were reported as being unsatisfactory. Problems with usability and content were each mentioned in relation to 7% of Internet contacts. The percentages expressed below represent the proportion of all re-contact survey respondents that indicated dissatisfaction on any of these fronts.
The study also sought to identify reasons for Internet dissatisfaction below the level of the broad category. The specific reasons for Internet dissatisfaction underpinning these general causes of dissatisfaction in contacting government via the Internet are shown in Figure 7.3. Only looking at those people who expressed dissatisfaction with the Internet, difficulties navigating websites was the primary reason (43%), followed by the websites containing incomplete information (28%).
Dissatisfaction with the Internet was primarily due to difficulties navigating websites, followed by websites containing incomplete information.
7.3.2 Dissatisfaction with telephone contacts
Convenience issues were most often cited as dissatisfactory in contacts made via telephone. The next most significant cause of dissatisfaction for telephone contacts was content issues.
Approximately 27% of all telephone contacts were reported as being unsatisfactory on at least one indicator. Figure 7.4 indicates convenience issues were most often cited as dissatisfactory in contacts made via telephone. The next most significant cause of dissatisfaction for telephone contacts was content issues.
As indicated in Figure 7.5, waiting too long to be served was the main reason for dissatisfaction with contacts made via the telephone. Being unable to complete an enquiry by phone and being given the incorrect advice over the telephone was also cited.
The main reason for dissatisfaction with telephone contacts was waiting too long to be served. Being unable to complete an enquiry by phone and being given the incorrect advice over the telephone were also significant issues.
[16] Where ‘satisfaction’ was summed as responses of ‘extremely satisfied’, ‘very satisfied’, and ‘somewhat satisfied’ (leaving out ‘not very satisfied’ and ‘not satisfied at all’).
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