The key findings that emerge from this research are reflected in the subtitle of our report – “Citizens not consumers – keep it simple, say what you do and do what you say”. The evidence from our research points to the need to drive a public sector reform agenda that:
- empowers service users as citizens with rights and obligations;
- builds whole of government collaboration;
- enhances the quality of service-delivery reform, and
- co-designs tailored responses with the citizenry that reflect the plurality of individual and community identities in Australia.
It should also be noted that regional Australians in the vast majority of the communities we visited, welcomed and enjoyed the opportunity to engage with us on these issues. The findings demonstrate that everyday Australian citizens have the capability to both identify service problems and make informed suggestions for their improvement. When we asked our sample of focus group participants how service provision could be improved, they proposed many similar changes to our sample of APS policy leaders although articulated in a different language:
- Improve the service experience – cut the complexity, reduce the silos, collaborate across jurisdictions, make services easier to access, increase the knowledge and interpersonal skills of front-line staff;
- Increase the transparency of the service process – including clear lines of accountability between government and citizen;
- Embed a service culture – address issues of poor service through reforms that recognise and respect citizens – improved training and resourcing of front-line staff is deemed essential;
- Deliver for citizens – deliver services that suit citizens not government. Make them accessible by reducing wait times, hold office hours outside normal business hours to improve access, use a variety of delivery platforms that are designed for the local context;
- Ensure that the right information is in the right place at the right time – improve clarity of, and access to, information and thereby increase awareness of services. Use a variety of channels to target segmented audiences.
In summary, citizens have high expectations of service culture, quality and procedural fairness. They see these expectations as entitlements of citizenship. Public trust in government services is therefore undermined by:
- Localised social, economic and political factors (demand-side factors)
- Perceptions of a ‘top-down’, impersonal service culture (supply-side factors)
- Negative personal and social network experiences (demand-side factors)
- Perceptions of procedural unfairness (supply-side factors)
The degree of common ground between citizens and APS leaders on both the barriers and enablers to a higher quality service experience is remarkable and helps us to clarify pathways to reform. Many of the underlying drivers of trust and areas for potential improvement stem from and/or are exacerbated by current service systems and culture. We therefore propose a set of future-state options drawing on international best practice and citizen and stakeholder insights. The following recommendations do not represent a commitment by PM&C or the Australian Government to change but have been distilled by the research team for further exploration by the APS.
- Achieve ‘line of sight’ between policy, programs and services around the first principle of integrating program management and delivery functions through regional service centres.
- Citizen-centred service culture – introduce a ‘user-first’, ‘co-design’ approach for all services and a personalisation approach with strong advocacy capability for citizens experiencing complex problems. Citizens expect greater personal care and support.
- Capacity, communication and capability – enhance service culture capability, greater advocacy support for the vulnerable and intelligent marketing and communication of government services through targeted channels (strategic communication and engagement).
- Service quality – establish a single source of truth across government information and reduce the complexity of the service offer.
- Service experience – introduce a ‘tell us once’ integrated service system which values the time of the citizen and understands and empathises with their service journeys.
- Citizen-centred service innovation – an opportunity for innovation lies in digital access and support; the creation of integrated regional service hubs; the recruitment of “trusted” and “local” community service coordinators; and viewing complaints as learning opportunities.