Trust in Australian public services: 2024 Annual Report

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About the Survey of Trust in Australian public services

Over 67,000 responses collected since March 2019.
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Feedback on Australian public services, also known as Federal, National or Commonwealth services.
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National representative samples based on quotas for age, gender and location.
Feedback on all services accessed in the past year, and information on the life events that led to accessing.
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Quality assured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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Tested through two pilots.
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Independent review of methodology by ANU Centre for Social Research & Method in 2019.
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For more details about the survey, visit: https://www.apsreform.gov.au/research/trust-in-australian-public-services or email TrustandTransparency@apsc.gov.au

About the report

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Reporting on over 11,000 responses from July 2023 to June 2024, as well as additional analysis from previous years.
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Data collected from approximately 1,000 people each month, reporting their experience from the past year.
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Report shows feedback on 16 public services.
Method changes this year; previous years’ results in this report have been adjusted to reflect these changes and they are not directly comparable to our previously published results.
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See Appendix for more information

Key Insights

Overall trust in Australian public services has remained steady at 58%[1], with no change since last year.
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Trust in specific services used has remained stable at 71%[2] in 2024, compared to 70% in 2023​.

The most trusted services were provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and Medicare.

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Satisfaction with public services has remained stable at 68%[3] in 2024, the same as in 2023. 

Respondents were:​

  • most satisfied[4] with the services provided by Australian Electoral Commission, Medicare, DFAT, and PBS​
  • most satisfied[5] with respectful interactions with staff and the accuracy of information provided​
  • least satisfied[6] with elements of service processes, such as the amount of time it took to reach an outcome and being kept informed of progress and wait times.
Trust and satisfaction are linked to people’s individual characteristics, reasons for accessing services and service access experiences​.
Consistent with previous years, trust in public services strongly related to individual characteristics like life satisfaction, trust in others, age, and major life events​.
On average, women trusted public services less than men (53% to 63%), similar to 2023​.
On average, people who lived in regional areas trusted public services less than people who lived in metro areas (53% to 60%).

Footnotes

[1] Q93 – Overall trust is the proportion of people who answered “Strongly agree” or “Agree” when asked “How much do you agree with the following statement – ‘I can trust Australian public services’”. It also includes a proportion of people who answered “Somewhat agree” before the method changes. See Appendix ”Method changes” for more details.

[2] Q28 – Trust in specific services is the proportion of people who answered “Strongly agree” or “Agree” when asked “How much do you agree with the following statement – ‘The service is trustworthy’” about a specific service. It also includes a proportion of people who answered “Somewhat agree” before the method changes. See Appendix ”Method changes” for more details. The proportion is adjusted pro rata for the amount of services each individual was asked about.

[3] Q24 – Satisfaction is the proportion of people who answered “Completely satisfied” or “Satisfied” when asked “Thinking about your overall experience with the above services, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you?” It also includes a proportion of people who answered “Somewhat satisfied” before the method changes. See Appendix ”Method changes” for more details.

[4] Q25 – Satisfaction is the proportion of people who answered “Completely satisfied” or “Satisfied” when asked “Thinking about your experience with the services you accessed from each of the following, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you?” about a specific service. It also includes a proportion of people who answered “Somewhat satisfied” before the method changes. See Appendix “Method changes” for more details.

[5] Q34 – Proportion of people who answered “Strongly agree” or “Agree” when asked how much they agreed with statements about their service experience. The proportion is adjusted pro rata for the amount of services each individual was asked about. It also includes a proportion of people who answered “Somewhat agree” before the method changes. See Appendix “Method changes” for more details.

[6] Q34 – Proportion of people who answered “Strongly disagree” or “Disagree” when asked how much they agreed with statements about their service experience. The proportion is adjusted pro rata for the amount of services each individual was asked about. It also includes a proportion of people who answered “Somewhat disagree” before the method changes. See Appendix “Method changes” for more details.