Executive Summary

Increased customer satisfaction with public services brings many benefits.  It can contribute to better outcomes for customers, increased staff morale and service quality, innovation in service delivery within and between departments, potential savings by ending elements of a service that do not contribute to customer satisfaction and community outcomes, and an increase in public confidence in public services.

Improving customer satisfaction with public services is also a NSW 2021 priority for all New South Wales Government departments. The target is for all departments to measure, report and improve customer satisfaction with their services. The lead Minister for this priority is the Premier, and all CEOs are reporting on their customer service improvement initiatives as part of the annual Performance Agreement assessment.

The Customer Service Baseline Report describes the customer service improvement systems and practices that existed in the NSW public sector in 2006-2007 prior to the commencement of the NSW 2021 customer service improvement initiative. The report is based on information provided by 78 departments in February, 2008.  The information provided by departments is organised around the four NSW customer service improvement principles:

• Develop customer insight (research customer expectations and experience).
• Design services around customers (incorporate the customer voice in how services operate).
• Respond to individual user needs within available resources.
• Support employees to provide excellent customer service.