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Use of E-Government Services Through the Internet

• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Level of Government Accessed by Internet
• 4.3 Transaction Type Accessed by Internet
• 4.4 Services Accessed by Internet
• 4.5 Attitudes Towards Government Websites
• 4.6 Awareness and Knowledge of the Australian Government Portal

4.1 Introduction

The proportion of people who access government services by internet is showing signs of stability with around two‑thirds of those who have contacted government in both 2008 (63%) and 2009 (65%) using the internet on at least one occasion in the previous twelve months. This has increased from 39% in 2004–05, 48% in 2006 and 59% in 2007.

The extent to which people use the internet to contact government is also showing signs of stability with three in ten (31%) now use the internet for the majority (all or most) of their contact with government. This is double the rate reported in 2004–05 (14%).

Figure 12 Use of the internet to contact government in the previous 12 months

Text description of Figure 12 Use of the internet to contact government in the previous 12 months

Q12. Thinking of ALL the contacts that you had with government agencies and services over the past 12 months, about what proportion of these took place over the internet.
Base: All respondents (n=3667)
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding of decimals.

Previous years of this study have identified that there are a number of factors that affect the likelihood of people having used the internet to contact government at least once in the previous twelve months.  While these characteristics can still identify those groups in the community who are less likely to use the internet to contact government this has become less distinct in regard to age and personal income is also becoming less of a discriminate attribute. 

• Age—Younger people are no longer the only ones most likely to use the internet to contact government. More than seven in ten of those aged between 18 and 54 had used the internet to do so as had just over half (56%) of those in the age group 55 to 64. More than a quarter (29%) of those 65 or older who have contacted government in the previous twelve months had also used the internet on at least one occasion.
• Personal income—Those with lower annual incomes continue to be less likely to have contacted government by internet, but the distinction between those earning $50,000 or more is becoming less evident.  At least three in four of those with a personal income above $50,000 have used the internet to contact government compared with two in three among those earning between $30,001 and $50,000 and half of those with a lower income.
• Employment–Those in the workforce¹¹ continue to be more likely to have contacted government using the internet (75%) than people not in the workforce (45%) and those who are retired (29%).
• Nature of employment—People employed in office based occupations¹² are more likely to have used the internet to contact government (79%) than those engaged in non‑office occupations ¹³ (68%).
• Education—Three‑quarters (79%) of those who have completed, attempted, or are currently completing some form of post secondary study used the internet to contact government.  This compares with just over half (57%) who had completed high school, but no further studies, and a third (36%) who had not completed year 12 of high school (or its equivalent).
• Household type—Households with dependent children¹⁴ are more likely to have used the internet to contact government (76%) than other families¹⁵ without dependent children (60%) and single adults without dependent children (50%).
• Location—Those living in regional areas are less likely to have used the internet to contact government (56%) than those in metropolitan (69%) or rural/remote (59%) areas.

Figure 13 Contacting government by internet—age profile

Text description of Figure 13 Contacting government by internet—age profile

Q12. Thinking of ALL the contacts that you had with government agencies and services over the past 12 months, about what proportion of these took place over the internet?
Base: All respondents (n=3667)

Figure 14 Characteristics of those who used the internet to contact government in the previous 12 months

Text description of Figure 14 Characteristics of those who used the internet to contact government in the previous 12 months

Q12. Thinking of ALL the contacts that you had with government agencies and services over the past 12 months, about what proportion of these took place over the internet?
Base: All respondents (n=3667)

4.2 Level of Government Accessed by Internet

The proportion of people who use the internet to contact each level of government has started to stabilise The ratio of internet use to contact the Australian Government however has continued to show signs of growth, increasing from a third (34%) in 2008 to two in five (39%) in 2009. Use of the internet to contact both state and territory government (39% in 2008 increasing slightly to 42% in 2009) and local government (34% in both years) has been more stable over this period.

Figure 15 Level of government accessed by internet

Text description of Figure 15 Level of government accessed by internet

Q3C. What was the level of government for this contact?
Q4. Thinking of this most recent contact, did you do this…?
Base: Respondents who used the internet in their most recent contact with government (n=1336)
Note 1: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding of decimals.
Note 2: Percentages may not add up to 100% because some respondents were unable to say what level of government they had dealt with.

4.3 Transaction Type Accessed by Internet

The type of transactions the internet is used for when contacting government have not changed. Those who use the internet to contact government are more likely to be seeking information than undertaking another type of transaction. Half (50%) of those contacting government by internet were seeking but not providing information, a third (30%) were exchanging information, and one in five (20%) used the internet to provide information but did not seek any.

Figure 16 Contacting government by internet—type of transaction

Text description of Figure 16 Contacting government by internet—type of transaction

Q3B. What was the reason for this contact?
Base: Respondents who used the internet in their most recent contact with government (n=1336)
Note: Percentages may be shown as 0% due to rounding of decimals.

4.4 Services Accessed by Internet

The types of government services accessed have been consistent over the five years of the study. 

There continues to be, however, some differences in the categories of service for which the internet is used to contact government. The internet is less likely to be used for accessing ‘community and social services’ (18% compared with 30% for all methods of contact) or ‘health and health services’ (5% compared with 8%). The internet is more likely to be used to contact government for ‘business services, economics, finance and taxation’ (16% compared with 11% for all methods of contact).

Figure 17 Government services accessed by internet

Text description of Figure 17 Government services accessed by internet

Q3A. I would like you to think of government services, of any type at all in Australia, including local councils, state governments and the Australian Government. I am interested in all contact you have had with ANY government services in the PAST 12 MONTHS. Contact can include applying for things, providing information about yourself, making payments, enquiries, or looking for information. What was the MOST RECENT contact you had with a government service? Please name the service you contacted and the reason for the contact.
Base: All respondents (n=3667); Respondents who used the internet in their most recent contact with government (n=1336)
Note 1: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding of decimals.
Note 2: Only the most common reasons are summarised in the above figure.

4.5 Attitudes Towards Government Websites

Respondents whose most recent contact with government was by internet were asked how they found the website and their views about its content, design and ease of use.

Those who had used the internet to contact government sometime in the previous twelve months were asked about finding government websites and to rate government websites in terms of quality, trustworthiness and the extent to which they would recommend them to others.

4.5.1 Recent use of the internet and government websites

Two in five (38%) people used the internet for their last contact with government, whereas three in five (62%) used a non‑internet channel.  Of those who used the internet, the majority (89%) accessed a website and nine per cent used email.

Those whose last contact with government was through a website were asked how they had found it.  Just over a quarter (28%) already knew about the website because they had previously used it.  A similar proportion (25%) found out about the website by searching for it.  One in five (19%) obtained its address from a printed source (such as a printed article or brochure), while one in ten (11%) obtained it from a government department or employee.

As was the case in 2008, broadband users and those in older age groups were more likely to know about the website because they had used it before.

Figure 18 How the most recent government website visited was found

Text description of Figure 18 How the most recent government website visited was found

Q6C2. How did you find out about this website?
Base: Respondents whose most recent contact was visiting a website by internet or website by mobile phone (n=1187)
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding of decimals.

4.5.2 Attitudes towards the most recent government website visited

Respondents were asked to rate the government website they had most recently visited in terms of it being:

• up to date
• easy to use and clearly written
• designed:
• to help find information
• to get things done quickly
• for all kinds of people.

The strength of government websites continues to remain as being up‑to‑date, with seven in ten people (72%) rating this factor as excellent and a further two in ten rating it as good.

While very few people rate any of the quality measures as poor or very poor there has been no improvement in the likelihood of the websites being rated as “excellent” for the other attributes tracked in this study.

As was the case in 2008, slightly more than half rated the government web site they had most recently visited as excellent for ease of use (55%), being designed to help find information (55%) and being designed to help you get things done quickly (52%).  A more moderate proportion (36%) gave an “excellent’ rating for the web site as being this designed for all kinds of people.

Figure 19 How the most recent government website visited was rated

Text description of Figure 19 How the most recent government website visited was rated

Q6C3a-3e. Still thinking about your most recent contact with this Government website, I am going to ask you to rate various aspects of that website. On a scale of 10 to zero, where 10 is excellent and 0 is very poor. how would you rate [the website] on ... ?
Base: Respondents whose most recent contact was visiting a website by internet or website by mobile phone (n=1187)
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding of decimals.

Those who are more positive about their experience with contacting the government via a website were more likely to contact the government via this method. This was evident for each of the issues examined in the survey:

• designed for all kinds of people—seven in ten (70%) of those who made all or most of their contact with government by internet gave a positive score compared to three in five (62%) of those who had made contact by internet just once or only a few times. 
• designed to help you get things done quickly—frequency of use had less influence with this rating. Four in five (82%) of those who made all or most of their contact with government by internet gave a positive score compared to three‑quarters (76%) of those who had made contact just once or only a few times. 
• designed to help you find out information and easy to use and clearly written—those who made all or most of their contact with government by internet were much more likely to give a positive score than those who had made contact just once or only a few times (86% and 74% respectively). 
• up to date—most people rated this positively. Over nine in ten (93%) of those who made all or most of their contact with government by internet gave a positive score as did the majority (85%) of those who had made contact by internet just once or only a few times. 

Figure 20 Positive perceptions of government websites by proportion of contact by internet

Text description of Figure 20 Positive perceptions of government websites by proportion of contact by internet

Q6C3a-3e. Still thinking about your most recent contact with this Government website, I am going to ask you to rate various aspects of that website. On a scale of 10 to zero, where 10 is excellent and 0 is very poor... how would you rate [the website] on…?
Q12. Thinking of ALL the contacts that you had with government agencies and services over the past 12 months, about what proportion of these took place over the internet.
Base: Respondents whose most recent contact was visiting a website by internet or website by mobile phone (n=1187)
Note: A positive perception is defined as being a rating of 6-10.

The lower their use of government websites, the more likely people are to have a poorer opinion of them.

The category ‘being designed for all kinds of people’ received the highest proportion of poor ratings, followed by ‘designed to help you get things done quickly’. These scores are still a relatively low level of dissatisfaction.

Figure 21 Negative perceptions of government websites by proportion of contact by internet

Text description of Figure 21 Negative perceptions of government websites by proportion of contact by internet

Q6C3a-3e. Still thinking about your most recent contact with this Government website, I am going to ask you to rate various aspects of that website. On a scale of 10 to zero, where 10 is excellent and 0 is very poor... how would you rate [the website] on…?
Q12. Thinking of ALL the contacts that you had with government agencies and services over the past 12 months, about what proportion of these took place over the internet.
Base: Respondents whose most recent contact was visiting a website by internet or website by mobile phone (n=1187)
Note: A negative perception is defined as being a rating of 0-4.

4.5.3 Government websites used in the previous 12 months

There has been little change in the way people find a government website between 2008 and 2009.  Most people (91%) use a search engine to find government websites while one in four (24%) reported using written material from the organisation. One in five (20%) had found the website by using a link from another site (20%) or from a government entry point (17%, up from 14% in 2008).  

Figure 22 How government website and email addresses are found

Text description of Figure 22 How government website and email addresses are found

Q16e. If you wanted to contact a government organisation using the internet, how would you go about finding their website or email address?
Base: Respondents who used the internet in last 12 months to contact government (n=2315)
Note: Percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents were able to provide more than one response.

4.5.4 Attitudes towards government websites visited in the previous 12 months

Respondents who had used the internet to contact government in the previous twelve months were asked to rate¹⁶ the quality of government websites compared with non‑government business websites, their trustworthiness and the likelihood of recommending them to someone else.  While there has been a positive result overall, there has again been no improvement in the overall image of the quality of government websites.

Ratings tended to be very positive on each of these issues.  This was particularly the case in relation to their trustworthiness, with three in five (63%) rating government websites as excellent for this and a further one in five (22%) rating them as good.

Ratings for the extent to which people would recommend them to someone else also rated well, with half (50%) rating them as excellent and nearly a third (31%) rating them as good.

The ratings for quality compared to non‑government business websites was still high, though slightly more moderate with 44% rating government websites as excellent and 30% as good.

Figure 23 How government websites visited in previous 12 months were rated

Text description of Figure 23 How government websites visited in previous 12 months were rated

Q16a-c. Thinking about government websites you have used in the last 12 months, overall, how would you rate them on a scale of 10 to 0, where 10 is excellent and 0 is very poor in terms of...?
Base: Respondents who used the internet in last 12 months to contact government (n=2315)
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding of decimals.

The ratings for government websites on each of these issues again vary with age. Those aged 18 to 24 have the highest ratings on each of these issues, and ratings decrease steadily as age increases:

• extent to which you can trust the government website—nine in ten (90%) per cent of those aged 18 to 24 provided a rating of either good or excellent; this declines steadily with age to three in four (73%) of those 65 and older.
• extent to which you could recommend them to someone else—most (85%) of those aged 18 to 24 gave this measure a rating of ‘good’ or ’excellent’ compared to two‑thirds (68%) of those 65 or older
• the quality of government websites compared to non‑government business sites—four in five younger people gave a ‘good’ or ’excellent’ rating compared to less than three in five (59%) of those 65 or older.

4.6 Awareness and Knowledge of the Australian Government Portal

Those who had used the internet to contact government sometime in the previous twelve months were also asked about their awareness of the Australian Government internet entry point (portal), australia.gov.au.

4.6.1 Awareness of australia.gov.au

Awareness of the Australian government portal is consistent with the last study (59% in both 2009 and 2008 compared with 61% in 2007).

Figure 24 Awareness of australia.gov.au

Text description of Figure 24 Awareness of australia.gov.au

Q20A. Have you heard of www.australia.gov.au?
Base: Respondents who used the internet in last 12 months to contact government (n=2315)

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Footnotes:

11. “The workforce” includes those working full or part time or looking for work.  “People not in the workforce” includes students, non‑workers and people undertaking home duties.
12. Managers or administrators, professionals, community and personal service workers and clerical and administrative workers
13. Technicians or trade workers, sales workers, machinery operators or drivers, labourers
14. Includes couples and single parents with dependent children
15. Couple without dependent children or extended families
16. These ratings were based on an 11 point scale where ‘0’ was very poor and ‘10’ was excellent. For reporting purposes, these have been summarised as follows:
    0 to 2 are ‘very poor’
    3 to 4 are ‘poor’
    5 is ‘neither poor nor good’
    6 to 7 are ‘good’
    8 to 10 are ‘excellent’.

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