My submission focuses on the citizen experience of two of the eighteen departments, being Department of Health and Department of Human Services.
I have drafted a set of possible Citizen Experience Principles for the Review's consideration. These principles are informed by my own experience in leading Customer Experience in Telstra and providing customer experience consulting services to a number of Australian and global corporations. They are also informed by my own personal experiences with these departments, and I've taken the liberty to request input from family, friends and colleagues on their current experiences with these departments, and their desired experience.
I propose the following principles (noting that these are formed with a limited fact base):
- Seamless - it all happens smoothly, behind the scenes, and I have little to do with them. Our actions are clear, and my expectations are well managed.
- Digital - if I have to interact at all, it's "Digital First", intuitive and simple
- Empathetic - my needs are understood and my circumstances accordingly adapted to. The people I have to interact with show care for fellow citizens, regardless of the situation.
- Time and Effort - my time is respected and the effort on my part is low. You do what you say you'll do, and I never need to follow up.
Further to these principles, I have attached the output of my informal research into the current experience with these two departments, and the desired experience. I approached 15 family members, friends and colleagues and sought the answers to "what three words would you use to describe the current experience, and what three words would you use to describe the desired experience" - the answers to these questions are in the attached document.
I have also attached a couple of stories that highlight the criticality of these proposed principles.
I would love to contribute more to this review, and feel I have so much to give, for one of the most important causes in Australia at present. What could be more impactful than improving the experience that every Australian Citizen has to be more seamless, more digital, feeling more cared for, and saving them time and effort?
Count me in!
Download (202.66 KB)Input into the Australian Public Service Review
Citizen experience
July 2018
Current citizen experience with Department of Human Services and Department of Health
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Desired citizen experience with Department of Human Services and Department of Health
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A couple of real life stories relating to the citizen’s experience with Department of Human
Services
Story number 1:
Having to deal with Centrelink to organise child care rebates has been painful. As my child was
starting day care four weeks before the new Child Care Subsidy came into effect, I had to complete two
separate claims for the former Child Care Rebate and the new Child Care Subsidy despite the fact both
ask for the same personal information. My Child Care Rebate was processed without too much fuss,
although I did have to follow up on three separate occasions. The Child Care Subsidy claim however
took more than 10 phone calls where staff told me completely conflicting information about where it
was stuck and why it was taking so long. In the end, I refused to get off the phone until it was sorted;
which took more than 90 minutes. The root cause ended up being a “glitch” in their system where
confirmation of my daughter’s immunisations had not flowed through from Medicare to Centrelink. All
up, I’ve probably spent close to 10 hours waiting on hold, speaking with agents and sending the same
information through again and again. Very, very frustrating
Story number 2:
In the past 6 months, my son’s CRN account has been removed from husband’s account and we
stopped receiving rebates. No one told us that the CRN had been removed or contacted us to tell us
the rebates had ceased. There is certainly blame with the company who manage the after school care
however when l tried to call through to Family assistance to get it resolved I could not get through to
anyone. The IVR was a nightmare – l said CRN, it didn’t know what l meant and then just hung up on
me. The same happened when l called a second time and tried saying Child Care Rebate. To be stuck
in IVR hell and then it disconnects your call is a dreadful customer experience.
My second experience was that l used the online tools to set up our online account and had us linked
to Medicare, the ATO and Family Assistance/Centrelink. I spent at least an hour doing this for myself
and again for my husband.
My husband forgot his password, so it had to be reset and when this happened all of the previous
linked information was gone. Very frustrating and time consuming.
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