The Tribunal's client satisfaction review 2005

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Background

As part of the corporate governance and performance management carried out by all Australian Government agencies, the National Native Title Tribunal is required to identify clients' needs and monitor its performance in delivering services.

Client satisfaction is one of the accountability measures attached to the Tribunal's outputs, required under the Federal Government's reporting requirements.

The Tribunal's first client satisfaction research was undertaken in late 2002 and early 2003 to provide client feedback on its services including registration, notification, mediation, future act processes, indigenous land use agreements and assistance with research, maps, or other information about native title.

The purpose of the latest research in 2005 was to assist the Tribunal check that its services were meeting the needs of clients.

The 2005 results provide a base for comparisons and will help the Tribunal measure the effectiveness of the changes it made.

Survey sample and methodology

A sample of 150 people, who had received a service from the Tribunal in 2004, were randomly selected by an independent research consultant to participate in the 2005 telephone survey.

Participants covered a range of people including:

Indigenous applicants
Representative bodies
Peak bodies
Government agencies
Legal practitioners
Industry and business groups

Overall satisfaction

The overall satisfaction in 2005 was generally higher than in 2003, in all areas of NNTT operations.

The survey found that client satisfaction is on the rise and that only six per cent of people interviewed were dissatisfied with the Tribunal's services.

This figure compares favourably with a dissatisfaction level of 16 per cent in the survey conducted two years earlier in 2003.

The main likes were information, interested staff, professional or knowledgeable staff, responsiveness of staff, speed and staff friendliness.

Drivers of satisfaction

The research asked the participants to rate how well the Tribunal delivered a range of different services and to comment on the effectiveness of its members and staff.

In most cases, the level of satisfaction with staff assistance was high.

Clients were especially positive about the Tribunal's helpfulness, friendliness, responsiveness, sensitivity, ease of contact and great speed of service.

Coming out highest in the rating was the Tribunal's provision of maps, information and research.

Some stakeholders said the Tribunal needed to better manage expectations of clients and the review has since recommended that the Tribunal clearly set out what the claims processes are, the likely (not definite) time frame, and clients' rights and obligations.

When asked what people thought the role of the Tribunal should be, most saw the Tribunal as a mediator, facilitator of outcomes, information source and community educator.

Drivers of dissatisfaction

Clients provided many diverse reasons for dissatisfaction with the Tribunal's services.

The area which attracted the most negative reaction was that of claims, with evidence of frustration due to the amount of time required to participate in the native title process.

The dislikes cited by stakeholder respondents were:

Slowness - a lack of progress with claims
Poor communication - between Tribunal staff and external stakeholders
Engagement - a feeling of not having a say or being engaged in the process

It is worth noting that the level of dissatisfaction with each of these indicators has declined since the 2003 findings. Finally, Indigenous persons were less positive than other respondents.

Areas for improvement

Clients suggested improvements in several areas such as:

Speed - in relation to claims, notification, staff response, advice
Interaction - in relation to engagement and having a say
Practical help - including resources, better and fuller information, responsiveness to their needs, more advice and better relationships
Simple, efficient processes - with an emphasis here on understanding these processes
Innovative and proactive - approaches to resolution of claims

The Tribunal is now looking at ways it can maintain its high level of satisfaction and improve these five key areas.

Summary

The Tribunal's 2005 client satisfaction survey shows that client satisfaction is on the rise and that only six per cent of people interviewed were dissatisfied with the Tribunal's services.

The research also provides useful information to help the Tribunal provide better services to meet client needs.

I would like to thank the clients who took part in the survey for their time and for providing us with this valuable feedback on our performance.

The research results are being used as part of the Tribunal's continuous improvement program, which will create measurable standards for applying to the Tribunal's output and outcome framework for 2005-06.