2024 Customer Centricity Report
ReadyTech is the provider of Ready Community, an integrated end-to-end customer-centric ERP software solution designed specifically for Local and State Governments to help them better serve and connect with their communities 24/7.
We spoke to both local governments across Australia and the community members they serve, to explore how well councils are meeting the needs of their communities.
The report findings outlined the need for councils to prioritise their digital future:
- 80% of councils still reply on expensive and hard-to-maintain legacy systems
- 38% of councils are quite or very dissatisfied with their legacy software solutions
- 32% of customers don't have a digital transformation vision, strategy or plan
Who we surveyed
Antenna Strategic Insights interviewed 1,000+ ratepayers and renters across Australia, of which 48% were ratepayers (52% renting)
120+ LGA executives and managers across 100 councils were surveyed, spread across executive roles (34%), IT (13%) with the remainder spanning different departments
The sample of community and council members was well-represented across Australia by gender, generation, State or Territory, and region
Key findings
The four most important online services council provides, according to community survey respondents, are property rates payment (80%); council payment processing (72%); an online portal for all interactions (70%); and a customer personal page or portal for bills, payments, properties and registrations (69%).
The most valued functionalities as reported by Local Government Authority (LGA) respondents are property rates payments and information management; payroll management; payment processing; and financial reporting. The least valued is customers own personal page/portal.
Only 40% of the LGA respondents said their council has a digital transformation vision and strategy or plan, while 32% said their council doesn’t have such a strategy or plan. A further 28% of the LGA respondents don’t know if their council has such a strategy or plan, which indicates that if their council does have such a plan, it is not yet effectively embedded in their organisation.
The biggest challenges faced in terms of LGA digital delivery of effective community service and engagement are lack of financial and/or human resources (47% net); limitations and age of software systems/ICT (31% net); and lack of staff skills or expertise (26% net).
56% of community respondents are quite or very satisfied with their council’s services overall, 32% are neutral, and 12% are quite or very dissatisfied.
A disconnect between councils and their communities
Property Rates Payment is the most important digital council service to both communities and councils
Online customer page or portal is rated by councils as the least valued functionality (8%)
Online customer page or portal almost as important to communities (70%)
Councils need to start valuing the systems that enable community engagement as highly as their revenue generating functions