Executive Summary
1.1 About the Study
This study is the fifth in a series exploring Australians’ use and satisfaction with e‑government services (provided through the internet and telephone). It investigates:
- how people contact government (internet, telephone, in‑person or mail)
- satisfaction with these means of contacting government, including reasons for satisfaction and dissatisfaction
- reasons why people choose to use or not use e‑government services
- preferences for future delivery of government services.
The study was commissioned by the Australian Government, through the Australian Government Information Management Office in the Department of Finance and Deregulation.
1.2 Major Findings
Use of e‑government services is stabilising with similar proportions using internet, telephone and in‑person channels as in 2008. The number of people in older age groups who use e‑government services continues to grow.
- Internet remains the most frequent channel last used to contact government with two in five (38%) people doing so. This is followed by in‑person and telephone usage (32% and 30% respectively).
- While in previous studies the internet was the most frequently used channel for contacting the government among those aged 18 to 44, it is now also the most frequently used channel amongst those in the 55 to 64 years age group. Those in older age groups are also making increased use of communication technologies such as email, SMS, and social networking sites.
There is a strong preference for the use of e‑government service channels.
- A strong preference for using the internet or telephone over other channels such as in‑person contact or mail is evident among those who have used an e‑government channel before and those who have not.
Attitudes towards government websites remain unchanged.
- Ratings of key aspects of government websites remain high. The majority of people (85%) thought that in general, government websites were trustworthy. Positive ratings were also given for government website most recently visited in terms of being: up to date (91%), designed to help you find out information (83%), easy to use and clearly written (83%), designed to help you get things done quickly (80%).
People continue to be satisfied with e‑government service delivery, however there has been little increase in satisfaction scores.
- Overall satisfaction with the outcome of the service received is high (87%). This is consistent with previous studies and could indicate either that there has been little improvement in services or that services have improved at the same pace that public expectations around quality of service have increased.
- People are comparatively less satisfied with the time it took to receive a reply, although the rating remains high (83% satisfied to some degree).
- The level of satisfaction with outcomes varies depending on the service delivery channel used. Those who contacted government by internet have the highest level of satisfaction (91%), closely followed by those who did so in person (89%). Those who used mail had the lowest level of satisfaction (80%).
Convenience, channel features, and availability influence the decision to choose a particular service delivery channel to contact government.
- Convenience is the main reason four in five (82%) people use the internet to contact government. It is also an important factor for over two in five (44%) of those who use the telephone. Channel features are the main driver for half (55%) of those choosing to use the telephone while use of in‑person and mail channels are driven by availability (43% and 61% respectively)
- Improving access would encourage one in five (21%) of those who currently do not use the internet to contact government in this way. They could also be encouraged by improvements in their skill level (17%), in particular by improved familiarity with using the internet or computers in general.
Being unable to find information and use or understand government websites are the main reasons for unsuccessful attempts to find government information or services online
- A quarter (26%) of internet users and two per cent of those who reported not to be internet users said that they tried unsuccessfully to find government information or services online in the previous twelve months
- The main reasons cited were that the website did not have the information they wanted (42%) and that the website was too hard to use or understand (28%). Sixteen per cent did not know which department/agency/service to contact and 15% did not know where to find the website they wanted. A further 13% found the website they needed, but the search did not work for them.
Security remains an underlying concern when contacting the government by internet.
- Attitudes toward security remain consistent with previous studies. There is still some discrepancy between the desire to save time providing general information and government departments sharing personal details, with 69% preferring this convenience and 58% preferring complete anonymity. Three in five (58%) who contact the government by internet would prefer to have a high level of security than a shorter transaction time.
1.3 Conclusions
Internet use as a means for contacting the government is now well established.
- Internet use is now positioned as the main service delivery channel for Australians to interact with government. The use of the telephone is also strong.
There is scope for increasing use of e‑government channels for contacting the government.
- Comparison of actual channel use against preference indicates that, while mail and in‑person channels are still widely used, most people would prefer to use e‑government channels. Those who did not use their preferred channel did so because there were barriers which prevented use, such as no e‑government option being available, or the interaction had to be done in person.
- The growth in broadband connections is greater than the growth in government contact by internet. This suggests there is still scope to increase use of the internet to contact government.
- Use of communication technologies such as email and text messaging has increased, opening up greater communication options which could be used to encourage use of e‑government channels for contacting government.
Older users are increasingly adopting e‑government and other communication technology channels.
- Those in older age groups are increasingly using the internet to contact government. They are also adopting communication technologies such as email, SMS and social networking sites.
- The take up rate of those over 65 lags behind that of other age groups. Australians in this age group indicate that they might be more likely to use e‑government channels if they had better skills and/or improved access. However, over two in five of those in this group said that they were not interested in using this channel.
Image and awareness of government websites has remained unchanged.
- While people’s satisfaction with and perceptions of government websites remain high there has been no significant increase in these ratings despite attempts by government agencies. As in 2008, this indicates growing community expectations arising from increased use and comparisons with commercial websites.
- The portion of Australians aware of australia.gov.au has not changed significantly since 2007.
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Contact for information on this page: Measurement.project@finance.gov.au