Survey-based metrics

Survey-based metrics S1 - S9

Metric	Description	Measure
S1	Community Confidence factor - Easy	1.1
S2	Community Confidence factor - Helpful	1.2
S3	Community Confidence factor - Timely	2.2
S4	Community Confidence factor - Effective	2.3
S5	Client survey – In the past 12 months, the ATO appears to be integrating its services better with other government departments	4.1
S6	Perceptions of fairness in disputes	5.4
S7	Community confidence in the ATO	5.2
S8	Community Confidence factor - Fair	5.2
S9	Working together - Partner perceptions of how the ATO is working together with them to administer the tax and superannuation system	6.1

Results – Survey based metrics

Results - metrics S1 - S4

Metric	Result
	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Metric S1 - Community Confidence factor - Easy	n/a	n/a	65/100
Metric S2- Community Confidence factor - Helpful	n/a	n/a	68/100
Metric S3 - Community Confidence factor - Timely	n/a	n/a	63/100
Metric S4 - Community Confidence factor - Effective	n/a	n/a	63/100

n/a – metric not reported

Results - metric S5

Metric	Result
	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
In the past 12 months, the ATO appears to be integrating its services better with other government departments	55% individuals 58% business	54% individuals;   53% business	61/100 individuals (48% net agree) 61/100 business (46% net agree)

Results - metric S6

Metric	Result
	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Perceptions of fairness in disputes process was fair   final decision was fair	56%   62%	54%(12)   65%	57/100 (49% net agree) 67/100 (57% net agree)

Results - metric S7

Metric	Result
	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Community confidence in the ATO	n/a	n/a	65/100

Results - metric S8

Metric	Result
	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Community Confidence factor - Fair	n/a	n/a	61/100

Results - metric S9

Metric	Result
	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19
Working together - Partner perceptions of how the ATO is working together with them to administer the tax and superannuation system	n/a	63/100 (61% net agree)	64/100(13) (63% net agree)

n/a – metric not reported
Note 11: Performance target for all survey-based measures is: improved or broadly stable compared to the previous year result.
Note 12: Survey methodology changes were implemented in 2017–18. As a result, caution should be exercised in comparing trends across years.
Note 13: The methodology was refined in 2018–19 and results are not comparable to the Empowerment – partner perceptions of how the ATO empowers and includes them result published in the 2017–18 annual report.

There are several factors which present us with challenges in assessing our performance this year.

Measurement of community confidence in the ATO commenced in 2018–19. Therefore for the five community confidence factor metrics and the overall community confidence metric, comparison with previous years is not possible.

Also in 2018–19, reporting on survey-based metrics changed from a focus where only positive responses determine a ‘net agree’ percentage, to an approach of converting responses to an index score out of 100. This allows for a more granular assessment; for example it reflects the difference in response between a neutral response and a strongly negative response, which can have a significant impact on results for some survey questions.

This change in approach increases the difficulty of comparing of 2018–19 results with previous years. However, where available, the ‘net agree’ percentage has also been included in the above table to provide an indication of trends.

Where comparisons of 2018–19 results with previous years can be made, we saw declines in results for a number community perceptions. Some of this decline is consistent with external trends in recent years of reduced trust in large institutions identified through data such as the Edelman Trust Barometer. However, we also know that there is a very close correlation between perceptions of fairness and our timeliness. Actions we are taking to address timeliness, particularly with respect to disputes, are discussed further in the KPI 5 performance summary.

Whilst client’s perceptions of fairness is important, their perceptions of unfairness is equally if not more important. The proportion of clients who perceived that the process was unfair remained broadly stable. For clients in disputes, only 35% perceived that the process was unfair in both 2017-18 and 2018-19. Some clients provide a neutral response to this question, rather than stating that they felt the process was fair or unfair.