1. Customer satisfaction: Achievement of customer satisfaction standards.

2. Achievement of digital service level standards: Departmental interactions completed through digital channels.

3. Achievement of digital service level standards: Availability of ICT services excluding scheduled maintenance periods that support 24/7 customer access.

4. Achievement of payment quality standards: Centrelink: Delivery of correct customer payments.

5. Achievement of face-to-face service level standards: Average wait time.

6. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer.

7. Achievement of processing service level standards: Claims processed within standard.

8. Internal reviews: Percentage of decision reviews requested by Centrelink customers finalised within standard.

9. Achievement of payment integrity standards: Centrelink: Debt under recovery.

1. Customer satisfaction: Achievement of customer satisfaction standards.

Customer Satisfaction of ≥85 out of 100. This is the level of satisfaction survey respondents have with their most recent interaction.

While we delivered a range of activities aimed at improving customer experience this financial year, the target for 2018–19 was not achieved.

It should be noted that an index score of 75 out of 100 indicates an average customer satisfaction rating of 4 out of 5 (Satisfied). This means that overall, Social Security and Welfare customers were satisfied with the service they received, and satisfaction has increased over the past 3 years.

Staff assisted channels

The department has simplified our telephony queues and used voice recognition software to better direct customer calls. These efforts improved the 'telephony time to receive service' and 'effort' satisfaction drivers. Delivery by external Service Delivery Partners increased to the equivalent of 2,750 operators.

However, telephony channel results remain 7.4 points lower than results for the face-to-face channel. This is driven by lower results in every driver of satisfaction except 'fair treatment', which is comparable. In particular, 'time to receive service' is 19.7 points lower and 'effort' is 10.6 points lower.

Digital channels

For digital channels, satisfaction results increased for multiple drivers across the year for both online and mobile applications. Projects designed to improve the digital service experience for customers have contributed to these increases.

The department continues to invest in improvement initiatives to enhance the digital experience, including:

· The Student Transformation and Job Seeker Transformation projects focused on improving the online claiming experience and increasing digital services for students, job seekers and other customer cohorts where applicable.

· The Job Seeker Engagement Transformation project will streamline processing by removing manual steps and eliminating unnecessary back-end administrative processing.

· The Digital Enablement project moved Jobseeker and Youth Allowance onto a new platform, allowing customers and their nominees to manage payments, enhancing the Digital Assistants and Centrelink Online Account and streamlining claiming.

The department is considering ways to develop more targeted initiatives to improve customer satisfaction and experience.

The historical results below provide context for performance, however, due to a change in how the measure is calculated, the results for 2018–19 are not directly comparable with previous years. Results for the individual drivers of satisfaction were:

Customer survey

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 22

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 32

Customer survey

(A + B + C + D) ÷ 4

A. Overall Index Score for the face-to-face channel.

B. Overall Index Score for the telephony channel.

C. Overall Index Score for the online channel.

D. Overall Index Score for the mobile apps channel.

Based on the responses provided to the drivers of satisfaction questions, an index score ranging from 0 to 100 is established for every single survey respondent.

The survey questions align with the six drivers, with questions tailored to the service channel. Personalised service and fair treatment relate to staff-service and are only applicable to the face-to-face and telephony channels. The remaining four drivers are applicable across all channels.

The drivers are measured as follows:

· perceived quality is a measure of the overall quality of service.

· personalised service is a measure of staff taking into account individual circumstances.

· communication is a measure of staff communication/clarity of online information.

· time to receive service is a measure of time taken to complete business.

· fair treatment is a measure of staff treating customers with respect.

· effort is measured by the customer’s assessment of the ease of handling their request.

All questions are measured on a 5-point scale, with 3 being neutral.

A number of changes were made to this performance measure for 2018–19:

· inclusion of online survey results from 1 July 2018.

· inclusion of mobile applications survey results from 1 October 2018.

· inclusion of our Service Delivery Partners telephony results from 1 January 2019 onwards.

· changed the measurement approach from a percentage based measure (≥85 per cent) to an index-based measure (≥85 out of 100). This change was adopted as an index-based approach provides a more accurate result, being more sensitive to changes in ratings.

· updated the survey questionnaire to improve response rates and enhance our understanding of both satisfaction and customer experience.

All results are derived from the customer survey and are the customer’s perception.

Due to a change in survey provider, 2017–18 results are for 1 September 2017 to 30 June 2018 only.

2. Achievement of digital service level standards: Departmental interactions completed through digital channels.

≥5 per cent increase in the total number of interactions conducted via digital channels compared with 2017–18.

There was an 11.4 per cent increase in Social Security and Welfare departmental interactions completed through digital channels compared to 2017–18, this increase was comprised of:

· 204.4 million online and mobile apps interactions, an increase of 25 million

· 56.6 million online letters, an increase of 2.6 million

· 51.4 million electronic data exchange transactions, an increase of 5 million

· 2.9 million phone self-service interactions, a decrease of 360 000.

The department increased the online options available to customers in accessing payments and services. During 2018–19, the department moved several types of claims to a new, more user-friendly online platform, including job seeker, age pension, concession card, carer payment/allowance and parenting payment. The shift from phone self-service transactions towards digital was supported by the department’s Digital Adoption Strategy, as well as improvements to the Express Plus app.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 22

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 32

Enterprise Data Warehouse, Business Activity Reporting and Analytics and the Outbound Correspondence Report.

(A – B) ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of departmental interactions by customers conducted through digital channels in 2018–19.

B. Total number of departmental interactions by customers conducted through digital channels in 2017–18.

Nil.

Departmental interactions include the following self-managed transactions and electronic interactions:

· online and mobile applications.

· phone self-service (Interactive Voice Response).

· online letters.

· electronic data interchange transactions.

3. Achievement of digital service level standards: Availability of ICT services excluding scheduled maintenance periods that support 24/7 customer access.

ICT systems that support 24/7 customer access are available ≥98 per cent of the time.

The department continued to meet digital service level standards relating to the availability of ICT services, with customers able to access ICT systems 99 per cent of the time.

The department continued to develop and implement programming to improve communication between Centrelink’s mobile and web channels. This has improved the customer experience through increasing choice in how customers interact with us. Express Plus Centrelink continued to simplify the user interface of available services to make it more modern and user friendly.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 22

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 33

Internal data sources including incident records, problem records, and scheduled maintenance periods are utilised to calculate the availability result.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Service uptime (availability window subtracting outage time).

B. Availability window (total service hours subtracting scheduled maintenance periods).

The performance measure includes the following services in its calculation:

· Centrelink online accounts.

· Centrelink mobile applications.

· The title was updated in 2018–19 to clearly articulate that scheduled maintenance periods are excluded from the calculation of this performance measure. The calculation formula for this performance measure has not changed

· Outage time means a confirmed disruption to Centrelink online accounts or Centrelink mobile applications.

4. Achievement of payment quality standards: Centrelink: Delivery of correct customer payments.

≥95 per cent of Centrelink customer payments delivered correctly.

Performance in 2018–19 is consistent with previous annual results. The department continued to expand self-service options and automated actions, which helped reduce the opportunity for staff errors.

To improve the accuracy of payments, the department also undertakes a range of activities and strategies to educate and assist people in meeting their obligations. This includes sending letters and text messages (SMS) to prompt people to update their circumstances to make sure they receive the correct rate of payment.

Maintaining strong performance is supported by the modernisation of systems, appropriate staff training, and movements towards our vision for integrity of 'the right payment, to the right person, at the right time, without their active involvement (unless required by policy)'.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 22

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 33

Extracts from the Random Review Results and Integrated Review Systems.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Number of completed Random Sample Survey (RSS) reviews for customers which did not have an administrative error with a dollar impact.

B. Number of completed RSS reviews for all customers.

Reviews with administrative error with a dollar impact are classified into staff error, system error, and legislative error.

A correct payment is where the RSS has found no rate variation or debt has been caused by administrative error.

The performance measure result represents the errors detected in a given year and may relate to prior year payments.

RSS reviews are a point in time analysis of customer circumstances, designed to establish whether the customer is being paid correctly.

The RSS Program covers a subset of Social Security and Welfare payments, and includes the following payments:

· ABSTUDY

· Age Pension

· Austudy

· Carer Payment

· Carer Allowance

· Disability Support Pension

· Family Tax Benefit

· Newstart Allowance

· Parenting Payment

· Partner Allowance

· Sickness Allowance

· Special Benefit

· Widows Allowance

· Youth Allowance

5. Achievement of face-to-face service level standards: Average wait time.

The average length of time a customer waits to access social security and welfare face-to-face services in our service centres is ≤15 minutes.

In 2018–19 to reduce wait times for face-to-face services, the Front of House application was used to identify customers who could be provided with a service over the phone from another service centre if the location they were in was experiencing longer wait times.

The department will continue exploring other opportunities to manage demand across locations, including balancing resourcing between competing priorities and improved technology (for example, customer video conferencing ICT capability).

During 2018–19, the reporting of annual performance has been affected by customers who complete multiple transactions in a single visit to a Service Centre:

· Currently, our reporting records customers as receiving a Social Security and Welfare or Health service rather than being able to record that they received both services in the same interaction.

· Customers attending in relation to a Social Security and Welfare enquiry may also complete a Health enquiry at the same time.

The underlying methodology for this performance measure does not reflect this current situation where many staff are now skilled to complete both Social Security and Welfare and Health services during the same visit, and this affects reporting. For example, 17 per cent (over 2.8 million) of Health contacts are not represented in the data for 2018–19. To provide a more accurate and integrated view of face-to-face customer interactions we are working towards aligning performance measure methodology with the current service offer.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 23

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 33

Enterprise Data Warehouse/SAS Enterprise Guide.

A ÷ B

A. Total wait time of customers serviced in the face-to-face channel.

B. Total number of customers serviced in the face-to-face channel.

· Data is captured in the SAPUI5 Front of House application. It includes Virtual Waiting Room (VWR) and resolved enquiry data.

· Abandoned contacts are not included as the time that the customer elects to leave the premises cannot be recorded.

· Wait times attributed to reassigned contacts are not included in the result as the wait time measures the initial wait time of a customer only.

· A zero wait time is recorded for small sites where customer enquiries are resolved at first contact with a Customer Liaison Officer.

· Customers serviced via outreach arrangements or by agents are not included in this calculation. These contacts are not recorded in the queue management system.

· Customers who attend a site to use self-service facilities that are not recorded by a ticketing machine or Customer Liaison Officer are not included in this calculation. These contacts are not recorded in the queue management system.

· SAPUI5 Front of House application is a single browser based application that operates on both desktop and mobile devices to manage Front of House customer contacts.

· VWR refers to all contacts that have a status of waiting, assigned and presented.

· Abandoned contacts refers to the count of customers booked into the VWR that left the service centre before being served.

· Reassigned contacts are a count of walk-ins reassigned to the wait room. If a person has entered the service centre to discuss matters in more than one program, for example Centrelink and Medicare, they will be put into a wait room for one program and once those transactions have been completed they will be returned to the wait room before doing transactions for the other program. The second wait time is the reassigning of contacts.

6. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer.

The average length of time a social security and welfare customer waits to have a call answered through our telephony services is ≤16 minutes.

During 2018–19, the department answered more than 16.2 million Social Security and Welfare calls. This target was met due to a better ability to handle customer demand with additional Smart Centre operators from Service Delivery Partners, who handled a third of the overall call volume. Service Delivery Partners handled calls in main business lines (Disabilities, Sickness and Carers, Families and Parenting, Employment Services, Older Australians and Youth and Students), Earnings, MyGov, Online Services Support and Income Management (including BasicsCard).

The department has simplified our telephony queues and used voice recognition software to better direct customer calls and improve access to self-service telephony applications.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 23

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 34

Telstra Computer Telephony Interface files.

A ÷ B

A. Total time customers waited for their call to be answered.

B. Total number of calls answered by service officers.

· Average speed of answer is measured from the time a customer enters the queue to the time their call is answered by a service officer.

· Place in queue calls are not included in the calculation.

· Calls transferred internally between queues are counted as separate calls with separate wait times and are included in the calculation.

· Calls that are abandoned after entering a queue are not included in the calculation as the calculation measures how long calls have waited to be answered only.

· From 1 January 2019 onwards, the results handled by our Service Delivery Partners were included in the calculation for this performance measure.

· Place in queue calls are made by dialling the caller back after accepting an offer of a call back. The initial time a caller waited is included in this calculation. When the call back is made, it is an outbound call made where the department waits for the caller to answer and therefore not included in the calculation.

7. Achievement of processing service level standards: Claims processed within standard.

≥82 per cent of claims processed within standard.

More than 3.5 million Social Security and Welfare claims were processed in
2018–19, compared to over 3.4 million claims in 2017–18.

The reduction in the department's performance against this measure during
2018–19 reflects the priority given to reducing the number of claims on hand, in particular older claims.

In addition, a number of other factors influenced performance throughout
2018–19:

· The diversion of resources to support emergency responses to natural disasters affected Social Security and Welfare claims processing capacity.

· The expansion of the blended workforce with the use of Service Delivery Partners required a large upfront resource commitment by the department to train and support these staff to reach proficiency. This reduced the number of departmental staff available to process claims in the short term.

· The department's Service Delivery Partners onboarded during the year and the additional capacity they provide to Social Security and Welfare calls allows more departmental staff to process claims.

The performance measure calculation also continues to include time outside the department’s control, such as requesting documentation or medical assessments. The ability to influence customer behaviour and have information returned in a timely manner remains a challenge for the department despite a number of innovations in this area, including SMS reminders.

The department is committed to transforming the delivery of Social Security and Welfare payments and making it easier for people to claim online and is continuing to invest in:

· Ongoing transformation of the processing system with more payments and services moving from legacy systems to new platforms.

· Enhancements to the customer experience in the digital channel through improved online claiming and reduced touch points for customers.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 23

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 34

Enterprise data Warehouse/SAS Enterprise Guide.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of claims processed within standard.

B. Total number of claims processed.

· Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance (Full Time Student), Youth Allowance (Other) and Family Tax Benefit claim results have the highest influence on this performance measure.

· A processed claim equals ‘A new claim lodged for a social security payment or a concession card that has been assessed by a service officer, resulting in the claim being either granted or rejected. This does not include claims that are cancelled, deleted or withdrawn’.

≥90% within 2 days

Crisis Payment

≥90% within 21 days

Parenting payment Single

≥85% within 14 days

Child Care Benefit (Approved Care) excluding Lump Sum claims; Child Care Benefit (Registered Care)

≥85% within 21 days

Child Care Benefit (Approved Care) Lump Sum claims only; Dad and Partner Pay; Paid Parental leave

≥85% within 42 days

Austudy; Mobility Allowance

≥85% within 49 days

Carer Allowance (excluding claims older than 84 days)

≥70% within 21 days

ABSTUDY; ABSTUDY PES; Pensioner Education Supplement; Youth Allowance (Other)

≥80% within 16 days

Newstart Allowance

≥80% within 21 days

Assistance for Isolated Children; Bereavement Allowance; Special benefit; Stillborn Baby Payment

≥80% within 28 days

Low Income Card; Parenting Payment Partnered; Seniors Health Care Card

≥80% within 42 days

Youth Allowance (Full time student)

≥80% within 49 days

Age Pension; Carer Payment (excluding claims older than 84 days)

≥80% within 56 days

Double Orphan Pension

≥75% within 16 days

Widow Allowance

≥70% within 33 days

Family Tax Benefit

≥70% within 35 days

Sickness Allowance

≥70% within 49 days

Disability Support Pension (excluding claims older than 84 days)

8. Internal reviews: Percentage of decision reviews requested by Centrelink customers finalised within standard.

≥70 per cent of internal reviews are finalised within the 49-day standard.

In 2018–19, the department received 66,083 applications for formal internal review, compared to 61,347 in 2017–18. Although the performance against this measure was lower than that in 2017–18, the department continued to achieve against its target.

Strategies to help manage processing of reviews included:

· a workload allocation model, which ensures timely progression of reviews

· a review of staff skills to ensure there is sufficient capability to undertake the various review types, and upskilling staff where required to address identified skill shortages

· initiatives to improve the efficiency of the review process.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 24

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 34

Key date values in the appeals system, as captured in SAS dataset.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of internal reviews finalised within 49 days.

B. Total number of internal reviews finalised.

· ‘A’ is dependent on the number of reviews finalised where the calculation of days elapsed from ‘Date Review Requested’ to ‘Date Review Finalised’ is less than or equal to 49 days, and ‘Date Review Finalised’ falls into the reportable financial year.

· ‘B’ is determined by the number of reviews where ‘Date Review Finalised’ falls into the reportable financial year.

· For both variables, a review is one that has been finalised at the Authorised Review Officer (ARO) level under the Improved Review Process introduced on 12 November 2016, or at the DHS Review Officer level for Enhanced Internal Reviews prior to 12 November 2016.

Reviews finalised refers to formal reviews finalised via the internal review process within the 2018–19 reporting period.

The steps in the internal review process are:

· a customer or their nominee requests a review of a decision.

· a subject matter expert undertakes a quality check of the decision, and where appropriate, the original decision can be altered.

· if the customer remains dissatisfied with the decision, a formal internal review of the decision is completed by an ARO.

The title of the performance measure was updated in 2018–19 to clearly articulate that decision reviews are requested by customers.

9. Achievement of payment integrity standards: Centrelink: Debt under recovery.

≥60 per cent of Centrelink debt has a current debt recovery arrangement in place.

Legislation requires the department to manage and pursue the recovery of debts and negotiate suitable payment arrangements for customers based on their capacity to repay their debt.

The department continued to progress strategies to assist in increasing the recovery of outstanding debt to the Commonwealth, including:

· the promotion of and subsequent increase in uptake by customers of the online payment facility (Money You Owe), enabling former recipients to make debt repayment arrangements online

· offering a range of repayment methods including withholdings from social welfare payments, direct debit, BPAY, telephone or internet banking, Australia Post's Billpay service, and the Money You Owe online service.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 24

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 34

Enterprise Data Warehouse - Debt Under Arrangement report.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Value of debt under arrangement as at end of reporting period.

B. Value of total outstanding debt as at end of reporting period.

Both A and B:

· include debts with external collection agents

· exclude debts with a status of temporary write off or held/parked, as they are not recoverable debts and cannot be subject to an arrangement. Debt under arrangement does not include debts temporarily written off (debt recovery suspended).

The definition for a current debt recovery arrangement is that:

· the debt has been determined and the customer owes the department the current outstanding amount

· the customer has a current, pending, future or broken (recent) arrangement in place at the reporting date.

A broken arrangement is where a customer has a current payment arrangement in place, however has missed their regular agreed ongoing payment. The system allows a period of time where the payment is overdue before it is no longer considered an agreed payment arrangement and it is cancelled. When this happens, the debt is no longer considered to be under arrangement.

The performance measure was updated in October 2018 to include debts referred to external collection agents for debt recovery. The historical results provide context for performance, however, the result for 2018–19 is not directly comparable with previous years.

1. Satisfaction with Medicare provider service delivery: Practitioners, pharmacists and practice managers.

2. Customer satisfaction: Achievement of customer satisfaction standards.

3. Achievement of digital service level standards: Medicare Benefits Schedule digital claiming rate.

4. Achievement of digital service level standards: Departmental interactions completed via digital channels.

5. Achievement of digital service level standards: Availability of ICT services excluding scheduled maintenance periods that support 24/7 customer access.

6. Achievement of payment quality standards: Medicare: Delivery of accurate medical benefits and services.

7. Achievement of face-to-face service level standards: Average wait time.

8. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer: Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Authorities and My Health Record Providers.

9. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer: Providers.

10. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer: Customers.

11. Achievement of processing service level standards: Claims processed within standard.

1. Satisfaction with Medicare provider service delivery: Practitioners, pharmacists and practice managers.

≥70 per cent of practitioners, pharmacists and practice managers are satisfied with or neutral towards the service provided.

Overall, practitioners, pharmacists, and practice managers were most satisfied with:

· how the department respects people’s rights including privacy (97.8 per cent, 100 per cent and 100 per cent respectively)

· the department’s customer service (96.8 per cent, 97 per cent and 90.8 per cent)

· the accuracy of claims and payments (95.2 per cent, 97.8 per cent and 90.1 per cent)

· how easy it is to understand the information the department gives (94.8 per cent, 95 per cent and 85 per cent).

Practitioners, pharmacists and practice managers continue to prefer to contact the department via phone:

· 73 per cent of practitioners contacted the department via phone in the last 12 months, compared to 46 per cent via email, 43 per cent via the department’s website/online and 8 per cent via post.

· 93 per cent of pharmacists contacted the department via phone in the last 12 months, compared to 84 per cent through online claiming, 78 per cent via the department’s website and 31 per cent via email.

· 93.1 per cent of practice managers contacted the department via phone in the last few months, compared to 53.5 per cent via email, 59.4 per cent via the department's website/online and 33.7 per cent via post.

· 91.7 per cent of practitioners, 94.6 per cent of pharmacists and 85.1 per cent of practice managers who contacted the department via phone were satisfied with their interactions.

The table below includes historical results for the individual provider segments:

Survey.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 25

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 35

The title of this performance measure has been updated from 'General practitioners' to 'Practitioners' to accurately reflect that a broader cohort of Medicare and ancillary providers are surveyed.

Survey.

A ÷ B × 100

A. The weighted number of respondents who provide a rating of 3 or above to the overall satisfaction question.

B. The total weighted number of respondents who respond to the overall satisfaction question.

· Respondents who respond ‘don’t know’, ‘not applicable’ or refuse to answer the question are excluded from the calculation.

· All questions are measured on a 5-point scale, with 3 being neutral.

Based on an external review, the three Medicare provider performance measures from
2017–18 were consolidated into a single performance measure for 2018–19 and beyond. Because of this change, results are not directly comparable to those of previous years.

2. Customer satisfaction: Achievement of customer satisfaction standards.

Customer Satisfaction of ≥85 out of 100. This is the level of satisfaction survey respondents have with their most recent interaction.

The annual result reflects the department's increased focus on customer-centric service design and delivery. The department continued to adapt its service delivery to meet customer expectations for convenient servicing, alongside the one-on-one support provided to customers in service centres.

The top performing drivers of satisfaction in 2018–19 were the staff-related drivers of 'fair treatment' (94.5) and 'communication' (92.6).

The lowest performing drivers of satisfaction in 2018–19 were 'time to receive service' (71.0) and 'effort' (83.2).

The historical results below provide context for performance, however, the results for 2018–19 are not directly comparable with previous years due to a change in how the measure is calculated. Results for the individual drivers of satisfaction were:

Customer survey

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 25

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 35

Customer survey

A

A. Overall Index Score for the face-to-face channel.

Note, additional services channels will be added to the calculation when available, including the overall Index Scores for the telephony, online and mobile apps channels.

Based on the responses provided to the drivers of satisfaction questions, an index score ranging from 0 to 100 is established for every single survey respondent.

The survey questions align with the six drivers, with questions tailored to the service channel. Personalised service and fair treatment relate to staff-service and are only applicable to the face-to-face and telephony channels. The remaining four drivers are applicable across all channels.

The drivers are measured as follows:

· perceived quality is a measure of the overall quality of service.

· personalised service is a measure of staff taking into account individual circumstances.

· communication is a measure of staff communication/clarity of online information.

· time to receive service is a measure of time taken to complete business.

· fair treatment is a measure of staff treating customers with respect.

· effort is measured by the customer’s assessment of the ease of handling their request.

All questions are measured on a 5-point scale, with 3 being neutral.

A number of changes were made to this performance measure for 2018–19:

· changed the measurement approach from a percentage based measure (≥85 per cent) to an index-based measure (≥85 out of 100). This change was adopted as an index-based approach provides a more accurate result, being more sensitive to changes in ratings.

· updated the survey questionnaire to improve response rates and enhance our understanding of both satisfaction and customer experience.

All results are derived from the customer survey and are the customer’s perception.

The historical results provide context for performance, however, the result for 2018–19 is not directly comparable with previous years.

Due to a change in survey provider, 2017–18 results are for 1 September 2017 to 30 June 2018 only.

Teradata issues associated with extraction of the Medicare sample resulted in a limited sample being used for March 2019 (only 9 days of transactions) and no sample being used for April or May 2019. This reduces the confidence level for the overall Medicare result.

3. Achievement of digital service level standards: Medicare Benefits Schedule digital claiming rate.

≥97 per cent of Medicare claimed services are lodged electronically across all digital Medicare service channels.

In 2018–19, the department processed 429.6 million Medicare services, and paid $24.4 billion in benefits. In comparison, the department processed 419.9 million Medicare services and paid $23.5 billion in benefits in 2017–18, and processed 399.4 million Medicare services and paid $22.4 billion in benefits in 2016–17.

The annual result reflects the department's commitment to increasing digital claiming, by providing a convenient option for customers that results in fast processing of claims.

This is seen by a 0.2 per cent increase in digital Bulk Bill claiming over the 12 month period (99.3 per cent digital claiming), a 4.2 per cent increase in digital patient claims (93.8 per cent digital claiming), and a 0.1 per cent increase in digital Simplified Billing claiming (99.7 per cent digital claiming).

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 25

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 35

Data extract.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Digitally lodged Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Services.

B. Total lodged MBS services.

Total lodged MBS services = digital + non-digital lodgement.

MBS service types include:

· Bulk Billing, Patient Claiming and Simplified Billing.

Bulk Bill claiming is where the patient assigns their right to the Medicare benefit to the health professional. There are no out of pocket costs for the patient as the health professional claims the Medicare benefit for the service directly from Medicare.

Digital claiming is where a Medicare benefit is claimed electronically from Medicare – this can either be the claimant submitting the claim electronically or the health professional submitting the claim electronically on the claimant’s behalf.

Simplified Billing allows for claims to be submitted for unpaid in-patient services where a patient has been admitted as a private patient of a public or private hospital. Simplified Billing enables a patient to assign their right to benefit to the private health insurer or billing agent.

MBS lodgement channels include:

· digital lodgement: Medicare Online, Medicare Easyclaim, Health Provider Online Services, Electronic Claim Lodgement and Information Processing Service Environment, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, Claiming Medicare Benefits Online via MyGov, Express Plus Medicare App.

· non-digital lodgement: Manual.

4. Achievement of digital service level standards: Departmental interactions completed via digital channels.

≥5 per cent increase in the total number of interactions conducted via digital channels compared with 2017–18.

Patient verifications undertaken online continue to be a convenient method for providers to verify patient details for billing purposes. This verification contributes the majority of transactions to this performance measure each year. Work with the software vendors, and ongoing work to upgrade our digital interaction options continues to see steady increases in self-service transactions each year.

There was a 5.7 per cent increase in Medicare interactions completed through digital channels compared to 2017–18. This increase comprises:

· 26.9 million Online Concessional Entitlement Verifications and Online Patient Verifications, an increase of 3.1 million

· 4.3 million Health Provider Online Services transactions, an increase of 0.9 million

· 1.3 million Medicare Online Account transactions, an increase of 0.2 million.

Method

Data mining.

Rationale

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

Reference

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 26

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 35

Data source

Enterprise Data Warehouse.

Calculation formula

(A - B) ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of departmental interactions by customers, providers and third parties conducted via digital channels in 2018–19.

B. Total number of departmental interactions by customers, providers and third parties conducted via digital channels in 2017–18.

Departmental interactions include the following self-service transactions and electronic interactions:

· Health Professional Online Services.

· Medicare Online Accounts – via MyGov and Express Plus Medicare App.

· Online Concessional Entitlement Verification and Online Patient Verification.

Patient verification volumes have been adjusted to exclude transactions caused by an external software vendor experiencing a technical issue that resulted in multiple searches for the same transaction initially being recorded in the system. A review of the previous transaction history for this vendor shows an average transaction volume of 1.3 million per month. This averaged volume has been used to re-calculate the result for the impacted period.

Medicare Benefits Schedule service claim transactions are captured under the ‘Achievement of digital service level standards: Medicare Benefits Schedule digital claiming rate’ performance measure.

5. Achievement of digital service level standards: Availability of ICT services excluding scheduled maintenance periods that support 24/7 customer access.

ICT systems that support 24/7 customer access are available ≥98 per cent of the time.

The department continued to meet digital service level standards relating to the availability of ICT services, with customers able to access ICT systems 99.4 per cent of the time.

To improve customer experience and security, a number of system changes were made during 2018–19 to reduce maintenance periods. The department also moved to a new configuration management platform to improve the stability and availability of digital services, including Express Plus Medicare and Medicare online accounts.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 26

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 35

Internal data sources including incident records, problem records, and scheduled maintenance periods are utilised to calculate the availability result.

(A ÷ B) × 100

A. Service uptime (availability window subtracting outage time).

B. Availability window (total service hours subtracting scheduled maintenance periods).

The services supporting 24/7 customer access included in this calculation are:

· Medicare online accounts.

· Express Plus Medicare mobile applications.

· The title was updated in 2018–19 to clearly articulate that scheduled maintenance periods are excluded from the calculation of this performance measure. The calculation formula for this performance measure has not changed

· Outage time means a disruption to Medicare online accounts or Express Plus Medicare mobile applications.

6. Achievement of payment quality standards: Medicare: Delivery of accurate medical benefits and services.

≥98 per cent of medical benefits and services are delivered accurately.

In 2018–19, the department processed 429.6 million Medicare services, and paid $24.4 billion in benefits. In comparison, the department processed 419.9 million Medicare services and paid $23.5 billion in benefits in 2017–18, and processed 399.4 million Medicare services and paid $22.4 billion in benefits in 2016–17.

The department continues to invest in its people to ensure they have the necessary skills to meet this performance measure. While staff are developing their capability to process medical benefits and services they have all work quality checked until they are able to process medical benefits and services with reduced supervision.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 26

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 35

Enterprise Data Warehouse.

(A - B) ÷ A × 100

A. Total of manually and automatically processed and paid services.

B. Weighted number of errors for manually and automatically processed and paid services.

There are two components to this calculation: The first component relates to the quality of manual data entry associated with payment of a service. The second component relates to the number of payment errors for automatically processed and paid services that do not require any manual intervention.

Manually processed and paid services:

· Medicare Manual and those submitted digitally requiring operator intervention.

· Medicare Eligibility Enrolments.

· Medicare Safety Net Registrations.

Automatically processed and paid services:

· Bulk Bill, Patient Claim and Simplified Billing Services submitted digitally.

7. Achievement of face-to-face service level standards: Average wait time.

The average length of time a customer waits to access face-to-face services in our service centres is ≤15 minutes.

The target was met through effective demand management, including by using the Front of House application to identify customers who could be serviced virtually over the phone by staff in other locations when wait times were longer.

The face-to-face channel serviced approximately 2.9 million Health contacts during 2018–19, a 2.7 per cent decrease compared to 2017–18. The reduced demand is in part due to increased uptake of digital channels.

In 2018–19, the reporting of annual performance has been affected by customers who complete multiple transactions in a single visit to a Service Centre:

· Currently, our reporting records customers as receiving a Social Security and Welfare or Health service rather than being able to record that they received both services in the same interaction.

· Customers attending in relation to a Social Security and Welfare enquiry may also complete a Health enquiry at the same time.

The underlying methodology for this performance measure does not reflect this current situation where many staff are now skilled to complete both Social Security and Welfare and Health services during the same visit, and this affects reporting. For example, 17 per cent (over 2.8 million) of Health contacts are not represented in the data for 2018–19. To provide a more accurate and integrated view of face-to-face customer interactions we are working towards aligning performance measure methodology with the current service offer.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 27

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 36

Enterprise Data Warehouse/SAS Enterprise Guide.

A ÷ B

A. Total wait time of customers serviced in the face-to-face channel.

B. Total number of customers serviced in the face-to-face channel.

· Data is initially captured in the SAPUI5 Front of House application. It includes Virtual Waiting Room (VWR) and resolved enquiry data.

· Abandoned contacts are not included in the result.

· Wait times attributed to reassigned contacts are not included in the result.

· A zero wait time is recorded for small sites where customer enquiries are resolved at first contact with a Customer Liaison Officer.

· Customers serviced via outreach arrangements or by agents are not included in this calculation. These contacts are not recorded in the queue management system.

· Customers who attend a site to use self-service facilities that are not recorded by a ticketing machine or Customer Liaison Officer are not included in this calculation. These contacts are not recorded in the queue management system.

· SAPUI5 Front of House application is a single browser based application that operates on both desktop and mobile devices to manage Front of House customer contacts.

· VWR refers to all contacts that have a status of waiting, assigned and presented.

· Abandoned contacts refers to the count of customers booked into the VWR that left the service centre before being served.

· Reassigned contacts are a count of walk-ins reassigned to the wait room. If a person has entered the service centre to discuss matters in more than one program, for example Centrelink and Medicare, they will be put into a wait room for one program and once those transactions have been completed they will be returned to the wait room before doing transactions for the other program. The second wait time is the reassigning of contacts.

8. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer: Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Authorities and My Health Record Providers.

The average length of time a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Authority or My Health Record provider waits to have a call answered through our telephony services is ≤30 seconds.

In 2018–19, the department shifted to an ‘opt-out’ participation model for the My Health Record system.

In comparison to 2017–18, there was a 4.3 per cent increase in the number of calls from Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Authorities and My Health Record Providers answered by the department.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 27

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 36

Telstra Computer Telephony Interface files

A ÷ B

A. Total time providers waited for their call to be answered.

B. Total number of calls answered by service officers.

· Average speed of answer is measured from the time a provider enters the queue to the time their call is answered by a service officer.

· Calls transferred internally between queues are counted as separate calls with separate wait times and are included in this calculation.

· Calls that are abandoned after entering a queue are not included in the calculation as the calculation measures how long calls have waited to be answered only.

Nil.

9. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer: Providers.

The average length of time a provider waits to have a call answered through our telephony services is ≤2 minutes.

In comparison to 2017–18, there was a 12 per cent decrease in the number of calls from providers answered by the department.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 27

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 36

Telstra Computer Telephony Interface files

A ÷ B

A. Total time providers waited for their call to be answered.

B. Total number of calls answered by Service Officers.

· Average speed of answer is measured from the time a provider enters the queue to the time their call is answered by a Service Officer.

· Calls transferred internally between queues are counted as separate calls with separate wait times and are included in this calculation.

· Calls that are abandoned after entering a queue are not included in the calculation as the calculation measures how long calls have waited to be answered only.

Providers includes all types of health practitioners, practice managers and pharmacists who contact the 13 21 50 Provider Enquiry telephone line.

10. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer: Customers.

The average length of time a customer waits to have a call answered through our telephony services is ≤7 minutes.

In comparison to 2017–18, there was a 3.6 per cent decrease in the number of calls from customers answered by the department.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 28

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 36

Telstra Computer Telephony Interface files.

A ÷ B

A. Total time customers waited for their call to be answered.

B. Total number of calls answered by service officers.

· Average speed of answer is measured from the time a customer enters the queue to the time their call is answered by a service officer.

· Calls transferred internally between queues are counted as separate calls with separate wait times and are included in this calculation.

· Calls that are abandoned after entering a queue are not included in the calculation as the calculation measures how long calls have waited to be answered only.

Health customer refers to a member of the public only, not businesses or health practitioners.

11. Achievement of processing service level standards: Claims processed within standard.

≥82 per cent of claims processed within standard.

During 2018–19, 388 million of 430 million Medicare services claims were processed within standard. The department carefully monitored staff scheduling to ensure that the performance measure target was met this year.

While peaks and troughs are expected for some work types (e.g. provider registration has an annual cycle), unexpected spikes in incoming work can affect the achievement of performance measure targets.

During 2018–19, an increased number of services were processed and a greater value of benefits paid, and the average period from lodgement to processing decreased significantly:

Bulk billing

Patient claiming

Simplified billing

Total services processed

Bulk billing

Patient claiming

Simplified billing

Total benefits paid

Average benefit per service

Average period (date of lodgement to processing)

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 28

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 36

Enterprise Data Warehouse.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) services processed within standard.

B. Total number of MBS services processed.

The measure only includes MBS processed service items.

The data includes both manually and digitally lodged MBS services.

The data measures the timeframe from the date of lodgement to the date that processing is complete.

MBS service include:

· Bulk Billing, Patient Claiming and Simplified Billing.

MBS lodgement channels and standards are as follows:

· standard of 2 days:

Digital lodgement: Medicare Online, Medicare Easyclaim, Health Provider Online Services, Electronic Claim Lodgement and Information Processing Service Environment.

· standard of 7 days:

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, Claiming Medicare Benefits Online via MyGov, Express Plus Medicare App.

· standard of 21 days:

Non-digital lodgement: Post, Face to face, Teleclaims, Two-way (via health funds).

Nil.

1. Customer satisfaction: Achievement of customer satisfaction standards.

2. Achievement of digital service level standards: Departmental interactions completed via digital channels.

3. Achievement of digital service level standards: Availability of ICT services excluding scheduled maintenance periods that support 24/7 customer access.

4. Child Support collection: Percentage of domestic active paying parents with less than one month Child Support collect liability.

5. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer.

6. Achievement of processing service level standards: New registrations completed within standard.

7. Achievement of payment quality standards: Child Support: Debt under arrangement.

1. Customer satisfaction: Achievement of customer satisfaction standards.

Customer Satisfaction of ≥85 out of 100. This is the level of satisfaction survey respondents have with their most recent interaction.

While we delivered a range of activities aimed at improving customer experience this financial year, the target for 2018–19 was not achieved.

It should be noted that an index score of 75 out of 100 indicates an average customer satisfaction rating of 4 out of 5 (Satisfied). This means that overall, Child Support customers were satisfied with the service they received.

The top performing drivers of satisfaction in 2018–19 were the staff-related drivers of 'fair treatment' (85.6) and 'communication' (83.1).

The lowest performing drivers of satisfaction in 2018–19 were 'time to receive service' (56.3) and 'effort' (70.3), however, both results improved during 2018–19.

The historical results below provide context for performance, however, the results for 2018–19 are not directly comparable with previous years due to a change in how the measure is calculated. Results for the individual drivers of satisfaction were:

Customer survey.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 29

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 37

Customer survey.

A. Overall Index Score for the telephony channel.

Note, additional service channels will be added to the calculation when available, including the overall Index Scores for the online and mobile apps channels.

Based on the responses provided to the drivers of satisfaction questions, an index score ranging from 0 to 100 is established for every single survey respondent.

The survey questions align with the six drivers, with questions tailored to the service channel. Personalised service and fair treatment relate to staff-service and are only applicable to the telephony channel for Child Support. The remaining four drivers are applicable across all channels.

The drivers are measured as follows:

· perceived quality is a measure of the overall quality of service.

· personalised service is a measure of staff taking into account individual circumstances.

· communication is a measure of staff communication/clarity of online information.

· time to receive service is a measure of time taken to complete business.

· fair treatment is a measure of staff treating customers with respect.

· effort is measured by the customer’s assessment of the ease of handling their request.

All questions are measured on a 5-point scale, with 3 being neutral.

A number of changes were made to this performance measure for 2018–19:

· changed the measurement approach from a percentage based measure (≥85 per cent) to an index-based measure (≥85 out of 100). This change was adopted as an index-based approach provides a more accurate result, being more sensitive to changes in ratings.

· updated the survey questionnaire to improve response rates and enhance our understanding of both satisfaction and customer experience.

All results are derived from the customer survey and are the customer’s perception.

The historical results provide context for performance, however, the result for 2018–19 is not directly comparable with previous years.

2. Achievement of digital service level standards: Departmental interactions completed via digital channels.

≥5 per cent increase in the total number of interactions conducted via digital channels compared with 2017–18.

In 2018–19 the number of Child Support interactions completed through digital channels increased by 8.3 per cent. This increase was comprised of:

· 4.8 million online letters, an increase of almost 700,000

· 48,0000 Child Support online account interactions, an increase of 128,000

· 296 000 phone self-service interactions, a reduction of 75,000

· 71,000 online registrations, a reduction of approximately 2,400

· 4.6 million electronic payments, a reduction of 41,000.

The department continues to improve its 24/7 online services to support customers to manage their affairs at a time to suit them. The department's continued investment in digital servicing will assist in driving strong performance against this performance measure in 2019–20.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery and modernisation.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 29

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 37

Online IMS Reporting, COGNOS, Infoserve Reporting, SAP Outbound Correspondence, Pluto Online Services, Excel workbooks for electronic payments, and Child Support Adams System.

(A - B) ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of departmental interactions by customers conducted through digital channels in 2018–19.

B. Total number of departmental interactions by customers conducted through digital channels in 2017–18.

Departmental interactions include the following self-managed transactions and electronic interactions:

· online letters.

· customer online services.

· phone self-services.

· electronic payment transactions.

· online registrations.

The list of digital interactions included are:

· electronic letters.

· Child Support online account (all transactions from CUBA and PLUTO).

· phone self-services.

· online registrations (CUBA and PLUTO).

· Centrelink deductions.

· Gateway results.

· electronic payments – (Billpay, EFT, Bpay and Credit Card).

CUBA and PLUTO are the online services that Child Support customers use to update their Child Support online and Child Support mobile app.

3. Achievement of digital service level standards: Availability of ICT services excluding scheduled maintenance periods that support 24/7 customer access.

ICT systems that support 24/7 customer access are available ≥98 per cent of the time.

The department continued to meet digital service level standards relating to the availability of ICT services, with customers able to access ICT systems 99.6 per cent of the time.

A continued focus on customer experience has resulted in changes to internal processes that have improved the overall experience and security of digital services throughout 2018–19.

Data mining of internal metrics and records to inform calculation of results.

This performance measure supports the strategic themes of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 29

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 37

Internal data sources including incident records, problem records, and scheduled maintenance periods are utilised to calculate the availability result.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Service uptime (availability window subtracting outage time).

B. Availability window (total service hours subtracting scheduled maintenance periods).

The services supporting 24/7 customer access included in this calculation are:

· Child Support online accounts.

· Express Plus Child Support.

· The title was updated in 2018–19 to clearly articulate that scheduled maintenance periods are excluded from the calculation of this performance measure. The calculation formula for this performance measure has not changed.

· Outage time means a confirmed disruption to Child Support online accounts or Express Plus Child Support services.

4. Child Support collection: Percentage of domestic active paying parents with less than one month Child Support collect liability.

≥63 per cent of domestic active paying parents in child support collect cases have less than one month liability outstanding.

Parents and non-parent carers who are unable to arrange child support payments directly may ask the department to collect and transfer payments on their behalf. In providing this service, we use a customer-centric approach, offering a range of payment options to customers. The department has a number of business processes that contributed to the positive performance, including:

· setting up employer withholdings to ensure regular and timely payments

· early intervention follow-up where paying parents go into debt for the first time, to get them back on track early

· a debt repayment methodology that explores payment in full in every customer interaction to get payments back on track as quickly as possible.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 30

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 37

Enterprise Data Warehouse.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Number of domestic active paying parents in collect cases without debt or where debt is less than or equal to one month liability.

B. Number of domestic active paying parents in collect cases.

The calculation for this measure is a point in time result as at 30 June each year.

Domestic active paying parents in collect cases are:

· paying parents, with both parents residing in Australia

· involved in at least one active case (the case has not ended and at least one child is under 18 years of age)

· a Child Support collect case (i.e. not a private collect case).

5. Achievement of telephony service level standards: Average speed of answer.

The average length of time a customer waits to have a call answered through our telephony services is ≤3 minutes.

In 2018–19, the department answered more than 1.7 million Child Support calls and made over 1.6 million outbound calls to separated or separating parents. This compares with nearly 1.9 million answered calls and more than 1.5 million outbound calls in 2017–18.

The department continues to balance its resources to achieve customer outcomes across all performance measures. Despite all available resources contributing to the management of inbound telephony demand, the department's existing workforce capacity was insufficient to achieve the Child Support average speed of answer target.

The reduction in the 2018–19 performance continues to be impacted by the transition of Child Support legacy technology to a new platform.

The Child Support program is also unable to utilise the department's Service Delivery Partners to help create additional telephony capacity due to legislative restraints which require the department to use only Australian Public Service staff for Child Support business.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 30

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 37

Telstra computer telephony interface files.

A ÷ B

A. Total time customers waited for their call to be answered.

B. Total number of calls answered by service officers.

· Telephony lines used to calculate this measure include all Child Support inbound queues.

· Average speed of answer is measured from the time a customer enters the queue to the time their call is answered by a service officer.

· Calls transferred internally between queues are counted as separate calls with separate wait times and are included in this calculation.

· Calls that are abandoned after entering a queue are not included in the calculation as the calculation measures how long calls have waited to be answered only.

Nil.

6. Achievement of processing service level standards: New registrations completed within standard.

≥82 per cent of new registrations processed within standard.

Although the department did not meet the target in 2018–19, the annual result for the processing of new registrations did improve by 4.5 per cent. This was despite a reduction in the number of staff processing new registrations as the department continued to balance resources to meet demand.

The 2018–19 improvement is attributed to better work management practices including providing staff with dedicated processing time, tailored system usage for managing registrations, and targeted staff training.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 30

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 37

Child Support Enterprise Data Warehouse.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Total number of registrations processed within the 28 day standard.

B. Total number of registrations.

This performance measure counts the percentage of registrations that are finalised within 28 days.

Registrations include:

· New registrations: A new registration refers to the process of an application for a child support assessment that has been received from a customer who is claiming child support for a child/ren that they have not previously claimed for.

· Restarts: A restart refers to cases that have been previously registered but the assessment was not accepted (invalid), withdrawn (customer decided not to proceed with the application) or ended and the customer makes an application to have the case restarted.

Finalised is defined as when the case status changed from recorded or pending to any other status other than cancelled.

7. Achievement of payment quality standards: Child Support: Debt under arrangement.

≥39 per cent of child support debt is under arrangement.

This is the first time this performance measure has been reported on.

The department has a number of business processes in place that contribute to this measure, including:

· setting up employer withholdings to ensure regular and timely payments

· early intervention follow up where paying parents go into debt for the first time to get them back on track early

· a debt repayment methodology that explores payment in full in every customer interaction to get payments back on track as quickly as possible

· working with the Australian Taxation Office to apply available tax refunds to Child Support debts.

In 2018–19, the department introduced a number of new initiatives including the ‘nudge letter’ program. The wording of these letters is based on our behavioural analytics research, which helps us understand how to motivate positive customer responses. The department issued 68,314 ‘nudge’ letters to customers who had missed payments, which resulted in $77.9 million being paid in full, and a further $66.2 million captured under payment arrangements.The department also applies a customer management approach, which ensures that debt is discussed and followed up as part of every customer interaction.

Data mining.

This performance measure supports the strategic theme of customer-centric service delivery.

2018–19 Corporate Plan, page 30

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements, page 38

Enterprise Data Warehouse.

A ÷ B × 100

A. Child Support debt under payment arrangement.

B. Total Child Support debt.

Total Child Support debt

Equals the sum of all Child Support Program (CSP) maintenance arrears.

Child Support debt under payment arrangement

CSP maintenance debt under agreement for repayment that includes repayment methods:

· customers with manual payment arrangements.

· customers with employer withholding of arrears.

· customers with Centrelink deductions.

CSP Customer

A parent or carer that has or had a CSP case registered.

Child Support Debt

CSP maintenance arrears that excludes cost, fines, or penalties that is a result of the unpaid liabilities raised for the payment of child support that is collectable by the CSP.

Payment arrangement

· manual payment arrangement – where a customer makes a payment to CSP.

· employer withholding arrears – where an employer garnishes a customer’s wage or salary.

· Centrelink deductions – where Centrelink pays a portion of some Centrelink payments to CSP on behalf of a customer.

This performance measure commenced in 2018–19.