Kiwis Count 2018 - State Services Commission · 2019-07-25 · The 2018 result is higher than 2016...

Kiwis Count 2018

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Published by the State Services Commission PO Box 329, Wellington, New Zealand June 2019

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ISBN 978-0-478-43494-1

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Contents

Trust .................................................................................................................................. 5

Satisfaction ........................................................................................................................ 6

Trust in the public sector compared to trust in the private sector ........................................ 8

Demographic breakdown ................................................................................................... 9

Region ............................................................................................................................ 9

Gender ........................................................................................................................... 9

Ethnicity ......................................................................................................................... 9

Age ...............................................................................................................................10

Disability ........................................................................................................................11

Household income .........................................................................................................11

Highest qualification ......................................................................................................11

Overall service quality trend ..............................................................................................12

Private sector service quality ............................................................................................13

Demographic breakdown ..................................................................................................13

Region ...........................................................................................................................13

Gender ..........................................................................................................................14

Ethnicity ........................................................................................................................14

Age ...............................................................................................................................14

Disability ........................................................................................................................14

Household income and highest qualification ..................................................................14

Individual services quality trend ........................................................................................15

Since first measured ......................................................................................................15

Exploring the service improvements: recovering after an accident ................................16

Current performance (2018 results) ..................................................................................17

Exploring the service improvements: renewing your passport .......................................20

......................................................................................................................................20

SQS statistically significant changes .............................................................................21

Statistically significant increases ...................................................................................21

......................................................................................................................................21

Statistically significant decreases ..................................................................................21

Sector level satisfaction ....................................................................................................22

Satisfaction with most recent service interaction ...........................................................22

Channel use and drivers of satisfaction ............................................................................26

Improving satisfaction .......................................................................................................26

How well did each service channel meet expectations? ....................................................27

Other drivers .....................................................................................................................28

Digital experience .............................................................................................................28

https://sscnz-my.sharepoint.com/personal/paul_vance_ssc_govt_nz/Documents/Desktop/190617%20KC%20annual%20report%202018%20final.docx#_Toc12266171

https://sscnz-my.sharepoint.com/personal/paul_vance_ssc_govt_nz/Documents/Desktop/190617%20KC%20annual%20report%202018%20final.docx#_Toc12266173

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Service usage ...................................................................................................................29

Other comments ...............................................................................................................32

Background ......................................................................................................................33

New Zealanders’ Experience Research Programme .....................................................33

The drivers of satisfaction ..............................................................................................34

Survey approach ...............................................................................................................34

Questionnaire content .......................................................................................................34

Encouraging online participation .......................................................................................35

Response rate ..................................................................................................................35

Sample size ......................................................................................................................35

Service quality scores .......................................................................................................36

Example: the service quality question ............................................................................36

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Executive Summary Since 2007 the State Services Commission has been asking New Zealanders1 about their experiences and views of public services. This provides rich information about how New Zealand’s public services are performing in the eyes of the people who use them.

Kiwis Count gives us three headline measures for the Public Service:

• Trust in public services based on personal experience.

• Trust in the public sector brand.

• Satisfaction with the quality of services received.

Results show New Zealanders have increasing trust in, and satisfaction with, their public services. All three headline measures have improved in the past year. In particular, trust in the public sector brand increased by three percentage points to a new high in 2018. Kiwis Count results have now resumed their upward trend, which had paused when results fell around 2016.

Trust In 2018, 80% of New Zealanders trust public services based on their personal experience. This is 13 percentage points higher than 2007 and one percentage point higher than 2017. It is still one percentage point lower than the 2015 result, which may have been an outlier.

Trust in the public sector brand is 50% in 2018, six percent higher than 2014 and a new high. Trust in the public sector brand increased strongly from 2007 to 2013, but this growth has levelled off in recent years. Demographic analysis shows:

• Women report lower levels of trust than men for trust based on personal experience.

1 New Zealanders invited to participate in the Kiwis Count survey are randomly selected from the Electoral Roll.

How the Headline results are measured

Trust in public services based on personal experience is measured by asking respondents to think about their most recent public service interaction and to answer: “Thinking about your most recent service contact, can you trust them [public servants] to do what is right?”

Trust in the public sector brand is measured by asking respondents: “Thinking about your overall impressions and from what you know or have heard from family, friends or the media, to what extent do you trust the public service?”

Satisfaction with service quality is measured by asking respondents if they have used any of 43 commonly used public services and, if so, to rate their satisfaction with that experience. The results for all 43 services are then aggregated to give the overall service quality score (SQS) or headline result for satisfaction.

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• Women report statistically significant lower levels of trust than men for trust in the public sector brand.

• All non-NZ European ethnicities have high trust based on personal experience. Results for Māori for this measure used to be lower than other ethnicities but have improved since 2014.

• There are statistically significant differences in the results for trust in the public sector brand. In 2018, those of Asian ethnicity have the highest trust in the public sector brand (61%), followed by NZ Europeans (51%), then Pasifika (39%) with Māori lower at 35%. All have seen an increase since 2017.

• Trust by those aged over 65 years is highest of any age group, based on both personal experience and trust in the public sector brand.

• Respondents with a disability had less trust based on personal experience and less trust in the public sector brand than respondents without a disability.

• New Zealanders with a degree or a higher qualification have significantly higher trust in the public sector brand than those with lower level qualifications.

Satisfaction The overall service quality score (SQS) for 2018 is a record high 77. This is nine points higher than 2007 and has been slowly increasing over the past year (up one point).

The improvement in New Zealanders’ satisfaction with the quality of public services over the past decade is reflected in the fact that 24 out of the 32 services measured since 2012 or earlier have had statistically significant increases since they were first measured. Only one of the services has had a statistically significant decline in 2018. Demographic analysis shows:

• Women report higher satisfaction with public sector services than men.

• All ethnic groups report high levels of satisfaction with public sector services.

• Satisfaction with public services among those aged 65+ is higher than for younger people.

• Satisfaction with public services is lower for respondents with a disability than those without.

Since 2007 overall satisfaction with public sector services has been higher than for the private sector services and the gap is widening.

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Chapter 1: Trust Kiwis Count measures trust in public services in two ways: trust of New Zealanders based on personal experience of using public services and trust in the public service brand (perception) – see Figure 1 below. By both measures, trust (the percentage of people who answered four or five on a five-point scale) has increased markedly since 2007, with the strongest increase in trust in the public sector brand.

In 2018 trust in public services based on personal experience was high at 80%, 13 percentage points higher than when first measured in 2007. The 2018 result is higher than 2016 and lower than 2015. It may be that the 2015 result – which saw an increase – is an outlier.

Trust in the public sector brand was 50% in 2018, five percent higher than 2016 and a new high. Trust in the public sector brand increased strongly from 2007 to 2013, levelled off between 2014 and 2016 and increased strongly again in recent years.

Figure 1: Trust in public sector services based on personal experience and trust in the public sector brand

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Distrust of the public sector (the percentage of people who answered one or two on a five-point scale) has reduced since 2007. In 2018, distrust in the public sector brand, at 12%, was ten percentage points lower than in 2007 and distrust based on personal experience, at 8%, has dropped four percentage points since 2007.

Figure 2: Distrust in public sector services based on personal experience and distrust in the public sector brand

Trust in the public sector compared to trust in the private sector Since 2012, Kiwis Count has measured New Zealanders’ trust in the private sector (“to what extent do you trust the private sector?”) to help benchmark the results for trust in public services. In 2012, New Zealanders’ trust in the private sector (40%) was very similar to the result for the trust in the public sector (41%). Figure 3 shows that since 2013, trust in the private sector has not

2 Erin Research (1998) Citizens First, and subsequent Citizens First research by the Institute for Citizen Centred Service.

Trust in the public service brand is measured by asking respondents: “Overall, to what extent do you trust the public service?” Trust in public services based on personal experience is measured by asking respondents to think about their most recent public service interaction. One of the subsequent questions is: “Thinking about your most recent service contact, can you trust them [public servants] to do what is right?”

Consistently, New Zealanders’ trust in public services by recent experience has measured much higher than trust in brand. The same result is found in Canadian research2: “when citizens evaluate services they have used recently, they draw on particular memories of actual experiences. When citizens rate government services in general, they draw on opinions and possibly stereotypes of government, and these tend to be negative.”

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improved (41% in 2018) and is nine percentage points below trust in the public sector brand (50% in 2018). The gap for trust between public and private sectors continues to grow in 2018.

Figure 3: Trust in brand, public sector and private sector services

Demographic breakdown Region

• There is little clear difference between regions in trust based on personal experience, although the Wellington region has the highest level of trust.

• New Zealanders living in Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury have greater trust in the public sector brand than those in other areas.

Gender

• In 2018 men reported higher trust in public services based on their personal experience (81% in 2018) than women, who rated their trust lower (79% in 2018). This difference is not statistically significant.

• For trust in the public sector brand, men have consistently scored trust higher (53% in 2018) than women (47% in 2018). The gender difference in 2018 was statistically significant.

Ethnicity

• In 2018, people of Asian and NZ European ethnicity had similar and high results for trust based on personal experience (80% and 82% respectively). Results for Māori and Pasifika for this measure are relatively similar but significantly lower (70% and 71%), although Pasifika shows an improvement since 2017 (61%). The Pasifika result should be used with caution as it

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is based on a small sample count. Māori trust based on personal experience is statistically significantly lower than that for non-Māori in 2018.

• However, there are statistically significant differences in the results for trust in the public sector brand. In 2018 those of Asian ethnicity have the highest trust in the public sector brand (61%), followed by NZ Europeans (51%), then Pasifika (39%) with Māori lower at 35%. All have seen an increase since 2017. However, over time the gap between Māori and non-Māori has increased and is now 17 percentage points, up from 8 percentage points in 2012.

• Recent research3 using Kiwis Count data found that differences between ethnic groups in the types of public services they use is a driver of ethnic trust difference.

Age

• Those aged over 75 years have higher levels of trust in the public sector brand than other age groups. This is illustrated in Figure 4.

• Respondents aged over 65 years have the highest trust by personal experience, followed by those aged less than 25 years.

3 Papadopoulos T & Vance P (2019). Does ethnicity affect trust in public services? Paper prepared for the 2019 conference of the International Research Society for Public Management. Wellington, New Zealand.

Figure 4 Trust in the public sector brand by age group (2018)

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Figure 5: Trust from personal experience by age group (2018)

Disability

• In 2018, 77% of respondents with a disability scored four or five for trust based on personal experience compared to 80% of those without disabilities. This difference is not statistically significant.

• Respondents with a disability also have lower trust in the public sector brand compared to other respondents (42% vs. 51%). This difference is statistically significant.

• Respondents with a disability also have lower trust in the private sector (31%) compared to those who do not have a disability (42%). This difference is statistically significant.

Household income

• Trust from personal experience increases as household income increases in 2018. However, the differences across income groups in 2018 are not statistically significant and this pattern was not always apparent in previous years.

• Trust in both the public and private sector brands is strongest in those earning over $100,000 per year.

Highest qualification

• Those with a degree or higher qualification have statistically significant higher trust in the public sector brand (57%) than with those lower level (45%-48%) or no (40%) qualifications. However, there is little difference when it comes to trust based on personal experience of public services or trust in the private sector brand.

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Chapter 2: Service Satisfaction Overall service quality trend Kiwis Count measures New Zealanders’ satisfaction with 43 commonly used services. The results are used to calculate the SQS for each service and an overall SQS across all services (headline result). In 2017, 11 new services were introduced to the 43 commonly used services, replacing services that had seen reductions in usage.

New Zealanders’ satisfaction with the quality of public services has increased over the past decade. The overall SQS has increased nine points from 68 in 2007 to 77 in 2018. This is the highest it has ever been.

Figure 6: Overall service quality score

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Private sector service quality Kiwis Count also asks New Zealanders about their use of, and satisfaction with, seven types of private sector companies (banks or finance companies, insurance companies, credit card companies and electricity or gas companies). These scores are aggregated to give an overall private sector SQS.

Figure 7 shows that since 2007, satisfaction with private sector services has been lower than satisfaction with public services. While satisfaction with public sector services has increased since 2007, satisfaction with private sector services since 2012 has plateaued. The result for 2018 is 68, the same as the previous six years.

Figure 7: Service quality score ‒ public sector vs private sector

Demographic breakdown

Region

• There isn’t a systematic difference in satisfaction across regions for either public sector or private sector services. The variation between regions has reduced since 2012 for public sector services. Two regions – ‘Wellington’ and the ‘Rest of the South Island’ have seen statistically significant reductions in trust for ‘bank of finance company’.

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Gender

• Women report higher satisfaction with most public and private sector services than men. In 2018, the overall public sector SQS for women was 79, and 75 for men. This reflects a small increase for females and the same result as 2017 for males.

Ethnicity

• In 2018, all ethnic groups report high satisfaction with the quality of public services they used. There were similar scores for those of Asian (76), NZ European (78) and Pasifika ethnicities (76) all of which have improved since 2017. Satisfaction is lower for Māori (74) and has not changed since 2017.

• Service satisfaction has fluctuated for Māori, dropping in 2016 but increasing again in 2017 and plateauing in 2018. Those respondents of Asian ethnicity have seen a decline since 2015, falling from 75 in 2016 to 74 in 2017 but recovering to 76 in 2018. NZ Europeans have also seen a fluctuation in their satisfaction scores since 2015, dropping from 80% to 75% in 2016 and increasing to 78% in 2018. Looking at a direct comparison of NZ Europeans vs non-NZ Europeans, the SQS gap has narrowed from a five-point gap in 2012 to a three-point gap in 2018. Services appear to be more equitably delivered to all ethnicities.

Age

• Those over 65 years report higher satisfaction with both public and private sector services than other age groups.

Disability

• Satisfaction with the quality of public services for those with disabilities (74 in 2018) is lower than for those without disabilities (77 in 2018). Satisfaction with private sector services for those with disabilities (66 in 2018) is also lower than for those without disabilities (69 in 2018).

Household income and highest qualification

• There was little difference in the satisfaction with both public and private sector services by the household income earned.

• There was little difference in the satisfaction with both private and public sector services for those respondents holding degree/ higher qualifications, lower level and no qualifications.

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Individual services quality trend Kiwis Count measures New Zealanders’ satisfaction with 43 commonly used public services4. In this section, we discuss changes in satisfaction ratings for individual services. The removal and addition of 11 services mean change in 2017 is not measured for these services. The chart consequently reports change for 32 services. The trend over time is important because it highlights whether services are, continuing to meet or exceed individuals’ expectations. We highlight those changes in the quality of individual services that have been statistically significant5 since services were first measured and in the latest year.

Since first measured

24 Significantly 1 Significantly

The improvement in New Zealanders’ satisfaction with the quality of public services over the past decade is reflected in the fact that 24 out of 32 services in the current Kiwis Count survey have had statistically significant increases since they were first measured in 2012 or earlier. Figure 8 shows the level of improvement since first measured of all 32 services (significant change since first measured is shown in green/red).

Levels of significant improvement since first measured range from +21 for “Applied for, or lived in a publicly subsidised house (a house owned by Housing NZ or a community housing provider or a local council)” to +13 for “Applied for and/or received a housing subsidy or accommodation supplement” and +12 for “Applied for and/or received Accident Compensation (ACC) for injuries” and “Applied for or renewed a NZ passport”. Visited sorted.org.nz (for information to help manage your personal finances or planning for retirement) has the largest decrease at -8. See “Statistically significant decreases” on Page 21 for more details on this.

4 See Appendix One for a description of the Kiwis Count methodology.

5 Significance is calculated at the 95% confidence level using a weighted two-sample t-test. This means that changes in SQS score are highlighted where there is less than a 5% chance that the change was due to sampling error. Sampling error is due to sample of the population being surveyed rather than the entire population.

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Figure 8: Service quality scores for individual services (2018), significant change since first measured Exploring the service improvements: recovering after an accident

The focus of service improvements by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has been on what it’s like for a client to deal with ACC and how a better experience for the thousands of Kiwis we deal with every day can happen. It’s a process that’s been going on for several years and the last twelve months has been the time when a number of improvements have been introduced. The improvements include:

Faster decisions. We have aimed to make faster claim decisions so that customers quickly find out what’s happening with their claims (including immediate text notification of claim acceptance in many cases).

Faster payments. ACC has also introduced a more efficient compensation payment process.

Customer communications. ACC has also updated some customer communications, such as the letter sent when a claim is accepted, to make it easier to understand what clients can expect from us.

Customer feedback. ACC has also implemented a new customer feedback system, which allows the organisation to hear and act on feedback from our customers in real time.

Case management and technology. ACC has also piloted a new case management model. This model means that clients receive services tailored to their individual needs – from intensive one-on-one support, through to enabling clients to manage their recovery plan online if that’s what they want. This new model means customers can talk to someone who can help them immediately, as opposed to waiting for a Case Manager to call them back. It also includes a new MyACC portal for customers that want to engage with ACC via a digital channel. Clients have given positive customer feedback about the new model and it will be gradually rolled out to all case-managed clients from August 2019.

In 2020 customers will continue to see improvements to our service, including improved digital channels and more ways of accessing ACC services.

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Current performance (2018 results) There is a wide range in the satisfaction levels across the 43 services. At the top there are six services that have a rating between 86 and 89. This means that the average rating on a five-point scale is between four and five.

• Applied for and/or received New Zealand Superannuation (88)

• Applied for or renewed a NZ passport (88)

• Licensed or registered a vehicle (87)

• Used a Gold Card (87)

• Visited a public library (86)

• Visited a public museum or art gallery (86)

At the other end, there are three services with ratings around 50 or less. This means the average rating is just below three on a five-point scale.

• Applied for, used or asked for information about a building permit (51)

• Made a noise complaint (50).

• Applied for a resource consent or made a submission on a notified resource consent application (42)

Table 1 shows all annual results for each service.

Table 1: Service quality score for individual public services

Question asked 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Applied for or renewed a NZ passport 79 79 80 83 85 88 88

Applied for and/or received New Zealand Superannuation

84 82 81 81 85 89 88

Licensed or registered a vehicle 80 80 80 83 84 86 87

Used a Gold Card - - - - - 89 87

Visited a public library 85 84 84 85 86 85 86

Visited a public museum or art gallery - - - - - 87 86

Visited a national park 78 78 79 80 80 84 84

Registered a birth, death, marriage or civil union 80 76 76 81 79 81 83

Purchased a road user charge (e.g. diesel mileage or paying a road toll)

- - - - - 79 82

Used or contacted a kindergarten, day-care, crèche, preschool, home-based service, playcentre, Kōhanga Reo, Aoga Amata, Puna Reo or playgroup etc. that a child in your care attends or may attend in the future

78 79 81 84 81 82 81

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Question asked 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Obtained, renewed, changed or replaced a driver licence

73 74 74 74 77 81 79

Been through the arrival process at a New Zealand international airport (when arriving from outside NZ)

79 79 79 80 79 80 79

Applied for, or lived in a publicly subsidised house (e.g. a house owned by Housing NZ or a community housing provider or a local council)

58 62 67 71 55 66 79

Applied for or had contact about a hunting or fishing license

81 78 79 85 81 82 79

Used or contacted a state or state integrated (public) school that a child in your care attends or may attend in the future

75 76 76 77 77 78 78

Used emergency services by calling 111 82 82 79 79 81 80 78

Applied for and/or used a Community Services card

74 76 75 73 73 71 78

Applied for and/or received Accident Compensation (ACC) for injuries

68 67 70 72 72 74 77

Taken a child in your care to see a doctor/GP - - - - - 75 76

Used a local council provided community facility (e.g. a swimming pool, community hall or local park)

- - - - - 76 76

Attended or contacted a university, polytechnic or wānanga about a course you are attending or may attend in the future

75 75 72 73 71 69 74

Used an 0800 number for health information (e.g. services like Healthline, Quitline, depression, alcohol, drug and gambling helplines, the Poisons Centre and the Immunisation Advice line)

70 77 74 79 74 73 73

Had contact with the Police (excluding calling 111)

66 66 69 67 69 71 73

Applied for a rental property bond lodgement, refund or transfer

73 67 71 74 75 68 73

Received outpatient services from a public hospital (includes Accident and Emergency)

73 74 73 75 72 72 72

Stayed in a public hospital 73 75 73 76 73 74 72

Requested information about personal tax and/or filed a personal tax return (includes filing via an agent)

- - - - - 71 71

Used ERO (Education Review Office) school or early childhood reports for a child in your care

68 68 69 73 74 65 70

Visited sorted.org.nz (for information to help manage your personal finances or planning for retirement)

78 76 76 80 75 74 70

Applied for and/or received a housing subsidy or accommodation supplement

63 61 59 60 63 58 69

Used public services for employment or retraining opportunities

61 61 64 64 64 60 68

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Question asked 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Applied for or received a student loan or allowance

56 56 54 64 59 64 68

Had contact with your local council regarding property rates

56 60 61 64 64 66 66

Requested information or made an application, payment or claim for child support, student loan repayments, KiwiSaver, or tax credits (e.g. Working for Families)

- - - - - 67 66

Contacted Statistics New Zealand for information or about taking part in a survey

65 69 69 64 70 71 66

Had a child in your care that has received special education services (e.g. early interventions services, speech and language support, resource teachers: learning and behaviour, vision and hearing)

- - - - - 64 65

Received help for mental health or substance abuse problems from a doctor or nurse at your local medical centre

- - - - - 64 65

Paid or got information about fines or reparations 62 62 63 64 63 63 65

Applied for and/or received a benefit (eg Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support or a Supported Living Payment)

59 59 61 54 62 59 65

Had contact with your local council regarding collection of your household rubbish/recycling

67 66 67 68 65 61 61

Applied for, used or asked for information about a building permit

52 52 49 54 48 54 51

Made a noise complaint - - - - - 50 50

Applied for a resource consent or made a submission on a notified resource consent application

- - - - - 43 42

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Exploring the service improvements: renewing your passport

The passport service provided by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is often praised by members of the public for being fast, efficient, and exceeding their expectations. The speed we can issue passports when a customer has applied online surprises and delights many customers – both those in New Zealand and those living overseas. The departments dedication to our customer-centred approach has seen regularly introduced service improvements. Some specific improvements introduced over the past twelve months have included the following areas: Making it even easier for our customers to apply online for a passport. We have made it easier to apply online by improving our Online Photo Checker. The page hosting the checker now details the basic requirements for a photo suitable for a passport and contains reference photos that applicants can use as exemplars. Users are also being prompted to self-assess their photo before submitting it. Improvements have also been made to the error messaging our customers see when their photo is rejected. Due to these improvements we have seen a significant reduction in online photo upload failures. These failures slow down the passport application/ renewal process and are a ‘pain point’ for customers. Delivery options. The department has also been working closely with NZ Post to roll out improved delivery features for our passport customers. Changes to the application process mean that there is more upfront information about passport delivery, and customers received enhanced notifications about courier timeframes. As well as being able to have their passport couriered to a residential or business address, they are now also able to pick up their passport from a number of collection points across New Zealand. Enhanced notifications have made it easier for people to track their passports, without needing to call the contact centre enquiring about the status. Social media. We have also established the @nzpassports Twitter handle which allows customers to ask us questions and for us to provide updates and responses on Twitter. This is but one aspect of putting customers at the centre of what we do. The department works collaboratively and staff members involved in the passports teams take pride in our high-performing service. We are still aiming for new and exciting ways in which we can further improve customers’ experiences with the service.

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SQS statistically significant changes

Over 2018, four services have improved and one service has declined.

4 Significantly 1 Significantly

Statistically significant increases

The improvement in overall satisfaction in the 2018 results is seen in the fact that more services had statistically significant increases than decreases in the most recent year. Four services had statistically significant increases over the year and three of these recorded their highest ever SQS score:

• Applied for and/or used a Community Services card.

• Attended or contacted a university, polytechnic or wānanga about a course you are attending or may attend in the future.

• Applied for and/or received a housing subsidy or accommodation supplement.

• Used public services for employment or retraining opportunities.

Statistically significant decreases

One service recorded a statistically significant decrease in service quality over the year:

• Visited sorted.org.nz (for information to help manage your personal finances or planning for retirement).

What’s happening at the Sorted Website

The Commission for Financial Capability (https://www.cffc.org.nz/), who operate the Sorted website (Sorted.org.nz) note that –

“SSC’s 2017 report (p.25) shows an increase in the usage of Sorted between 2016 and 2017, after being stable between 2012-2016. We are intentionally seeking to reach a broader audience – shift from those already “financially sorted” to those who need more help – and have put focus onto this with our new site launched in late August 2018. That said, we are in a continuous improvement phase to understand how best to meet the needs of this audience, which could contribute to a lower satisfaction score. We are also aware of a growing number of commercial organisations offering financial tools and education who are better funded. With continuous leaps in technology we are seeing consumers’ expectations increase, also possibly leading to a lower score”.

https://www.cffc.org.nz/

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Sector level satisfaction The content of Table 2 identifies the SQS score for each sector that is investigated in the survey. There are three sectors (Environment, Culture & Recreation, Citizenship, Passports & Border and Transport) that out perform all others.

Table 2: Sector SQS scores

Sector 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Citizenship, Passports & Border 78 77 78 80 79 82 82

Education & Training 70 70 71 73 72 72 74

Environment, Culture & Recreation 75 75 76 78 77 85 85

Justice & Emergency 66 67 68 68 69 71 72

Local Government 72 72 72 74 71 73 73

Public Health 72 75 73 76 73 73 73

Social Assistance & Housing 70 69 71 71 73 75 78

Taxation & Information 67 67 67 70 69 71 69

Transport 79 78 79 81 82 83 84

All sectors have improved since 2012, albeit some more than others. Only one sector – Taxation and Information – has decreased since last year.

Satisfaction with most recent service interaction

Another way of measuring overall satisfaction is asking respondents about their satisfaction with their most recent service interaction – this is also how trust based on personal experience is measured. Overall satisfaction using this measure remains strong, at 78%, slightly up from last year. While this is slightly lower than in 2015, it is five percentage points higher than the overall satisfaction score in 2012. Figure 9 illustrates the trend in satisfaction with the most recent service interaction.

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Figure 9: Satisfaction with the most recent service interaction

In the new questionnaire, first used in 2017, the survey asked the public to identify what was the most important service to them. Responses to this question are given in Table 3. As can be seen, the areas of health and education feature prominently in the top 10 services as do other services such as licensing or registering a vehicle.

Table 3; most important service

Service

% rated it most important service

2017 2018

Taken a child in your care to see a doctor/GP 9% 11%


10% 10%


7% 7%

Licensed or registered a vehicle 7% 7%


5% 5%

Visited a national park 4% 4%

Visited a public library 4% 4%

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Service


2017 2018


5% 4%

Stayed in a public hospital 4% 4%


5% 4%

Used emergency services by calling 111 4% 3%

Applied for or renewed a NZ passport 3% 3%

Applied for and/or received New Zealand Superannuation 3% 3%

Applied for and/or received Accident Compensation (ACC) for injuries 3% 3%


2% 3%

Obtained, renewed, changed or replaced a driver licence 2% 3%


2% 2%


2% 2%


2% 2%

Used a Gold Card 1% 2%

Had contact with the Police (excluding calling 111) 3% 2%

Visited a public museum or art gallery 2% 1%

Applied for and/or received a benefit (e.g. Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support or a Supported Living Payment)

2% 1%


1% 1%

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Service


2017 2018

Applied for or received a student loan or allowance 2% 1%

Had a child in your care that has received special education services (e.g. early interventions services, speech and language support, resource teachers: learning and behaviour, vision and hearing)

1% 1%

Applied for, used or asked for information about a building permit 1% 1%

Had contact with your local council regarding property rates 0% 1%

Used an 0800 number for health information (e.g. services like Healthline, Quitline, depression, alcohol, drug and gambling helplines, the Poisons Centre and the Immunisation Advice line)

1% 1%

Made a noise complaint 0% 1%

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Chapter 3: Customer insight Channel use and drivers of satisfaction

Kiwis Count measures service satisfaction and trust in government services at the macro level. Agencies are also encouraged to measure satisfaction with their services at a detailed level to help them understand how they are doing in improving areas that matter most to New Zealanders, and where to focus resources for the greatest impact.

In 2007, SSC undertook research to identify the key factors or drivers that have the greatest influence on New Zealanders’ satisfaction with, and trust in, public services. These results were published in the Drivers Survey6 (2007). Since 2012 Kiwis Count has asked respondents to answer questions about aspects of their satisfaction (the driver questions) based on the channel used for the most recent service interaction. These responses show:

• New Zealanders access public services most often via the face-to-face channel (39%). This has reduced markedly since 2012 (52%).

• Sending or receiving an email is the second most common channel (15%). This has increased from 6% in 2012.

• Accessing information online is the third most used way to access public services (12%) and use of this channel has increased from 2012 (4%).

• Transacting online follows as the next most used way to access public services (12%). up from 6% in from 2012.

• The phone is the fifth most used channel (11% in 2018, down from 15% in 2012).

• Sending or receiving a letter is used by only 10%, down from 17% in 2012.

• Only 2% or respondents in 2018 used social media to get information or to give feedback (e.g. Facebook or twitter).

Improving satisfaction One way of improving satisfaction with public services is for agencies to focus on these key drivers (Drivers Survey, 2007):

• The service experience met your expectations.

• Staff were competent.

6 The full report on the 2007 Drivers Survey can be found at http://www.ssc.govt.nz/drivers-report and the summary report can be found at

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/understanding-drivers-report

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/drivers-report


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• Staff kept their promises, they did what they said they would do.

• You were treated fairly.

• You feel your individual circumstances were taken into account.

• It’s an example of good value for tax dollars spent.

Kiwis Count has measured the drivers of satisfaction since 2007. Not all drivers are equal: ‘the service experience met your expectations” is the most important driver and accounts for nearly one third of satisfaction with public services. Results for this driver are shown in Figure 10.

How well did each service channel meet expectations? The results for “met expectations” on transacting using the online channel is high in 2018. This is illustrated in Figure 9. Notable among these results are the following:

• 90% of respondents had their expectations met when transacting online with the public service (an increase from 84% in 2017).

• 73% of respondents had their expectations met when looking for information online, down from a high of 87% in 2016.

The face-to-face channel – visited an office, branch or location or received a visit (and dealt with a person) has not shown much of an increase since 2012, but 2018 is still a healthy result at 84%. There is a slight increase in respondents having their expectations met on the phone channel, being 68% in 2018 up from 65% in 2017. Satisfaction on the phone channel has always been lowest for the “met expectations” driver.

Figure 10: “Met expectations” driver

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Figure 11: Met expectations by channel used

Other drivers When considering all channels, the drivers present a strongly positive picture. Two drivers “You were satisfied with the amount of time it took to do what you wanted to” (77%) and “You got what you needed” (81%) saw strong improvements in 2018 with increases of 11 percent and 12 percent respectively since 2016. “Overall you can trust them to do what is right” (80%) increased by 1% in 2018. The driver “The service is an example of good value for tax dollars spent” stayed at 74%, down from a high of 77% in 2016.

Digital experience The digital experience for New Zealanders saw improvements in satisfaction across all four areas examined. The area of “the layout was clear” saw an increase of five percent, increasing from 77 to 82%. Overall satisfaction with accessibility as measured by the “Overall, you were satisfied with the accessibility of the site or digital service” question increased to 85% in 2018, though still down from 86% in 2016.

Ease of use as measured by “The process was straightforward and easy to understand” increased from 78% in 2017 to 82% in 2018. This is the highest score so far. Ease of finding the service or product, measured by “When you got to the site it was easy to find what you were looking for” increased following a dip in 2017 to 77%. This result is still down from the high of 83% in 2016.

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Service usage Kiwis Count measures New Zealanders’ satisfaction with a basket of 43 commonly used public services7. The usage of the services examined is given in Table 4.

Table 4: Service usage

Service used 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Licensed or registered a vehicle 71% 69% 69% 71% 71% 74% 72%


- - - - - 67% 66%

Visited a public library 55% 53% 54% 54% 54% 53% 55%

Visited a public museum or art gallery - - - - - 51% 53%


36% 36% 36% 39% 40% 51% 50%


- - - - - 49% 46%

Visited a national park 37% 38% 37% 40% 42% 45% 43%


34% 34% 34% 35% 39% 37% 37%


- - - - - 32% 34%

Taken a child in your care to see a doctor/GP - - - - - 30% 31%

Applied for and/or received Accident Compensation (ACC) for injuries

18% 18% 19% 19% 21% 26% 25%


21% 22% 22% 23% 23% 24% 25%

Obtained, renewed, changed or replaced a driver licence

23% 23% 24% 23% 28% 25% 24%

Applied for or renewed a NZ passport 22% 23% 22% 24% 23% 25% 24%

Had contact with the Police (excluding calling 111) 21% 21% 21% 21% 23% 23% 22%


- - - - - 22% 22%


21% 20% 20% 20% 21% 19% 18%

Used emergency services by calling 111 13% 12% 12% 13% 12% 15% 18%

Had contact with your local council regarding collection of your household rubbish/recycling

18% 20% 20% 20% 25% 16% 17%


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Service used 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Paid or got information about fines or reparations 19% 20% 20% 19% 19% 16% 17%

Used a Gold Card - - - - - 16% 16%

Stayed in a public hospital 15% 16% 16% 15% 16% 15% 16%

Had contact with your local council regarding property rates

17% 17% 15% 17% 18% 15% 16%

Applied for and/or received NZ Superannuation 16% 16% 16% 17% 17% 15% 16%

Applied for and/or used a Community Services card 20% 18% 16% 17% 13% 15% 15%


8% 10% 13% 13% 13% 15% 13%

Visited sorted.org.nz (for information to help manage your personal finances or planning for retirement)

9% 8% 8% 9% 10% 13% 10%

Used an 0800 number for health information 13% 13% 13% 12% 13% 11% 10%

Used public services for employment or retraining opportunities

14% 16% 14% 14% 15% 9% 10%

Applied for and/or received a benefit (e.g. Jobseeker Support or Sole Parent Support)

11% 11% 10% 9% 9% 8% 10%

Applied for or received a student loan or allowance 11% 11% 11% 12% 11% 11% 9%

Applied for, used or asked for information about a building permit

7% 7% 7% 7% 9% 10% 9%

Applied for and/or received a housing subsidy or accommodation supplement

- - - - - 9% 9%


- - - - - 7% 8%

Registered a birth, death, marriage or civil union 8% 9% 8% 8% 8% 7% 8%

Applied for a rental property bond lodgement, refund or transfer

10% 11% 10% 8% 9% 8% 7%

Made a noise complaint - - - - - 8% 6%

Used ERO (Education Review Office) school or early childhood reports for a child in your care

7% 8% 7% 8% 7% 7% 6%

Applied for or had contact about a hunting or fishing license

7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6%

Had a child in your care that has received special education services

- - - - - 5% 6%

Contacted Statistics New Zealand for information or about taking part in a survey

8% 11% 8% 8% 8% 3% 5%

Applied for a resource consent or made a submission on a notified resource consent application

- - - - - 6% 4%

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Service used 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Applied for, or lived in a publically subsidised house (e.g. a house owned by Housing NZ or a community housing provider or a local council)

4% 5% 4% 3% 3% 2% 2%

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Other comments Kiwis Count measures New Zealanders’ satisfaction with a basket of 43 commonly used public services8. In doing so, the survey also offers opportunity to make other comments regarding the services identified. Few people take the opportunity to make such a comment. Those that do often comment on the following areas (numbers from 2018):


Figure 12: Areas of commentary

2.6% 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 4.3% 4.3% 4.3% 4.3% 5.1% 5.1%7.7%

10.3%

31.6%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Num

ber o

f res

pons

es

% of total responses with more than 3 'mentions'

% of total responses

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Appendix 1: Background and Technical Information At the start of each month, the research provider, Gravitas Limited, sends out 432 survey invitations9. The annual information included in the report draws on the experiences of 1,901 New Zealanders who completed Kiwis Count between January 2018 and December 2018.

Background In 2007, for the first time, SSC asked a sample of New Zealanders about their experiences and views of public services. Known as the Kiwis Count survey, this provided rich information on how New Zealand’s public services were performing in the eyes of the people who use them. The survey ran for a second time in 2009. These first two surveys were point-in-time surveys.

In 2012 the survey moved to a continuous collection methodology. This is sixth report of annual results from the Kiwis Count survey since the survey became continuous in 2012.

Based on the methodology of a Canadian government survey called Citizens First, Kiwis Count measures satisfaction in public services. Public services means all services provided by government and includes central and local government services, tertiary institutions, schools and hospitals.

Kiwis Count is an integral part of the New Zealanders’ Experience Research Programme (NZE), an SSC research initiative begun in 2007 and designed to find out how New Zealanders experience public services and to develop tools through which services can improve. The other two parts of NZE, designed to work together and complement and enhance each other are work on the drivers of satisfaction and the Common Measurements Tool.

New Zealanders’ Experience Research Programme

9 More survey invitations were sent out in the first half of 2014 to ensure a sufficient sample of parent / primary caregivers answered the survey

for a one-off module for the Ministry of Education.

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The drivers of satisfaction

The Drivers Survey10, published in July 2007, identified the key factors (or drivers) that have the greatest influence on New Zealanders’ satisfaction with, and trust in, public services. The most effective way to improve satisfaction with public services is for agencies to focus on these key drivers.

Kiwis Count has measured the drivers of satisfaction since it began in 2007 and, since 2012 Kiwis Count has measured the drivers by channel.

Survey approach The Kiwis Count team have published a survey methodology report on the SSC website (http://www.ssc.govt.nz/kiwis-count-technical-reports).

Questionnaire content The Kiwis Count survey is modular. At the heart of the survey are questions about the public services that New Zealanders use most frequently. These core questions have been fixed since 2012, with new questions added only as required to reflect actual changes in services.

The modular part of the questionnaire is designed to change as required to focus on service delivery priorities:

• In the 2012 calendar year the survey included a module of questions on channel use and preferences. This repeated a module of questions which was included in the 2009 survey.

• Starting in 2013 a module of questions about the ease of transacting with government in the digital environment replaced the previous module. The new module, developed with the team responsible for Result 1011 of the Better Public Services programme, will be one of a suite of measures used to report on the progress of Result 10.

• For the first half of 2014, a new module of questions was included. It was about parent/primary caregiver’ satisfaction with education services.

• In the second half of 2014, at the request of the Result 10 team, new questions were added:

o To the Government and the digital environment module.

o To the main body of the survey, at A10, about experiencing public services.

o In 2015, new questions were added, at A13, about the privacy of personal information for the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer.

10 The full report on the Drivers Survey can be found at http://www.ssc.govt.nz/drivers-report and the summary report can be found at


11 “People have easy access to Public Services, which are designed around them, when they need them.”

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/kiwis-count-technical-reports

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/drivers-report


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In 2016 a comprehensive review of the questionnaire was undertaken to ensure its continued usefulness. This new questionnaire has been used from the beginning of 2017. The new questionnaire can be downloaded or viewed at http://www.ssc.govt.nz/kiwis-count.

Encouraging online participation Seventy percent of respondents chose to complete the survey online in the year to December 2018, up from 65% in 2017. Online completion rates have been growing since 2015. This compares to online rates of 17% in 2009 and 8% in 2007.

Response rate The response rate between January 2018 and December 2018 was 37%. This is the lowest response rate achieved since the continuous approach was adopted. This reflects greater emphasis on sampling younger people and Māori – both groups tend to have lower response rates. Key drivers of response rates include sampling, questionnaire length and incentives provided to complete surveys. Analysis undertaken by the Kiwis Count team shows a correlation between response rates and questionnaire length.

Sample size

Collection Year Numbers of New Zealanders

who answered the survey % online % hardcopy/ office

2007 3362 - -

2009 3724 - -

2012 2226 58% 42%

2013 2524 57% 43%

2014 6050 57% 43%

2015 2232 58% 42%

2016 2137 60% 40%

2017 1935 65% 35%

2018 1901 70% 30%

A total of 26,091 New Zealanders have completed the survey since it began.

http://www.ssc.govt.nz/kiwis-count

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Service quality scores The Kiwis Count survey asks New Zealanders to rate services or express opinions using a scale from 1 to 5. To enable comparisons between Kiwis Count and Citizens First to be made, we have adopted the Canadian approach of converting five point rating scales to service quality scores ranging from 0 to 100.

The overall SQS is calculated by rescaling the result from each respondent’s five-point scale (1,2,3,4,5) to a 101 point scale (0,25,50,75,100) then calculating an average of these scores from all the services used.

The overall average uses all service experiences, so a respondent who has used 10 services contributes 10 observations to the overall score and a respondent who has used one service contributes one observation to the overall score.

Example: the service quality question

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