The primary objective of this research is to provide the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet with a better understanding of public demand for, and trust in, Australian public services in regional/rural/remote areas with the aim of guiding the delivery of responsive public services that better meet the needs of these areas.
The research is designed also to make sense of existing key quantitative findings generated from the 2018-19 Citizen Experience Survey:
- satisfaction with Australian public services (52%) is higher than trust in government services (31%);
- public trust is lower in regional (27%) in contrast to urban (32%) areas;
- personal individual service delivery experiences drive overall levels of public trust;
- perceptions of transparency affect trust;
- service experience during significant life events affect trust in the APS;
- citizens and/or residents who were born overseas have higher levels of trust; and,
- citizens do not establish an independent view of the APS – they just see government.
With these observations in mind, the research focuses on identifying regional citizen perceptions of the key barriers and enablers to high quality service delivery, and gathering stakeholder insights into the capability, governance enablers and technologies to support long term policy thinking and service change. It is important to note that this research does not provide a comparative study of regional and urban citizen perspectives. Rather, in recognising the potential differences in service delivery approaches and requirements it focuses on giving voice to the perceptions of regional citizens of Australian government services.