Life Events

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People rely on public services for support during life events

Public services support people during life events, with employment support being the most common

Life events include transitions and experiences, such as finishing school, having a baby, or starting a new job.

Some people experience multiple life events in a year, and use multiple services for them.

There are five common ‘clusters’ of life events when people use public services: family formation, family dissolution, health, employment, and travel and migration.

Employment 42%: Looked for work 30%; Started a new job 21%; Unemployed 10%. Health 37%: Experienced injury/illness 24%; Disability 15%; Responsible for unwell/injured person 8%; Dependent on care inside home 4%; Dependent on care outside home 2%. Travel and migration 9%: Travelled overseas 5%; Moved back to Australia 2%; Stay visa pathway 2%; Citizenship PR pathway 2%. Family formation 9%: Became primary carer 7%; Had a baby 5%. Family dissolution 7%: Single parent 4%; Separated 3%; Got divorced 1%.

The survey asks people about services they have used during life events. In 2021, Monash University analysed the survey results and created a typology of life events, including these clusters. Results show the percentage of people who accessed services for life events in those life events clusters identified by Monash University, and the percentage of people who accessed services for individual life events Monash University identified as in those clusters.

Trust and satisfaction with public services varies across life events

Trust highest for ‘travel and migration’ life cluster at 79% and lowest for ‘family dissolution’ life event cluster at 54%. Satisfaction highest for ‘travel and migration’ life cluster at 79% and lowest for ‘family dissolution’ life event cluster at 61%.

Trust results show percentage of people who said they “strongly agree”, “agree” or “somewhat agree” with the statement: “I can trust Australian public services”. Satisfaction results show people, who have used public services in last 12 months, who said they were “completely satisfied”, “satisfied” and “somewhat satisfied” when asked “Thinking about your overall experience with the services, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you?”.