Australian Councils Q1 2026 Call Centre Rankings
These results show how effectively Australian local councils handle resident and community service enquiries — based on real mystery shopping calls from people seeking information, reporting issues, or requesting assistance with local services.
Each call is evaluated across more than 80 CX metrics aligned with the Australian Contact Centre CX Standards . This provides a consistent, independent, and data-driven assessment of how well councils manage enquiries, communicate clearly, and deliver on their community service responsibilities.
For councils, these results matter. Every missed call, long wait, or unclear interaction can mean reduced community trust, delayed service outcomes, and lower satisfaction.
Our benchmarking pinpoints where friction occurs — and highlights how leading councils turn contact into confidence. Through ACXPA's Council Benchmarking Services, local governments can identify service gaps, improve responsiveness, and strengthen resident experience across every contact channel.
Executive Summary – Australian Councils Q1 2026
Customer experience performance across Australian council contact centres improved in Q1 2026, with overall CX averaging 57.8%, up from Q4 2025's record low of 56.2%. Councils ranked 2nd of 7 sectors nationally for the quarter.
Accessibility (the ease of connecting to a live agent) improved to 66.4%, representing the first improvement in six quarters, with councils ranking 4th of 7 sectors nationally. However, a sharp decline emerged in calls answered within the benchmark timeframe, dropping to 71.4% — the lowest result since benchmarking began and marking the first quarter where the majority of councils failed to answer all calls within 15 minutes.
Agent Mastery (the quality of agent soft skills and live interactions) improved to 55.5%, with councils ranking 2nd of 7 sectors nationally. Councils achieved their highest-ever rating for Impact at 90.1%, ranking 1st of 7 sectors. However, Engage dropped to 14.7%, ranking last across all sectors and continuing to be the most significant soft skills gap for the sector.
Year-on-year performance shows mixed results, with overall CX declining by 0.4% and accessibility declining by 3.9%, while Agent Mastery improved by 0.4%.
This report presents customer experience outcomes as measured through mystery shopping and does not attribute performance to specific operational decisions, resource constraints, or internal factors.
🏆 Top Performers
City of Onkaparinga won overall CX with 64.3%, ranking 9th nationally. This combines both the ease of connecting with an agent and the quality of the live conversation.
City of Onkaparinga won for ease of connecting to a live agent with 86.3%, ranking 5th nationally. This includes wait times, IVR navigation, and calls answered within the benchmark timeframe.
City of Launceston won Agent Mastery (the quality of agent soft skills and live interactions) with 60.6%, the top-ranked council and 10th nationally across all contact centres. This assesses how effectively agents build rapport, identify needs, explain clearly, conclude conversations, and create positive lasting impressions.
City of Onkaparinga achieved the fastest average wait time at just 11 seconds, ranking equal 4th nationally across all sectors. This represents exceptional performance in connecting customers with live agents quickly.
⭐ Key Wins
📈 Sector average improves from record low
Overall CX improved to 57.8%, up from Q4 2025's record low of 56.2%.
🚀 City of Launceston achieves significant accessibility improvement
City of Launceston improved significantly by 24.3% from 34.4% to 58.7% in connecting customers with live agents, though still well short of the sector leaders.
⬆️ City of Stirling delivers largest Agent Mastery improvement
City of Stirling improved by 7.1% from 51.5% to 58.6%, achieving the largest improvement in Agent Mastery for Q1 2026.
🌟 Impact competency reaches historic high
Councils ranked 1st of 7 sectors with 90.1% for Impact (creating positive lasting impressions through empathy and communication quality), the highest result recorded for councils since benchmarking began. This represents an 8.0% improvement from Q4 2025's 82.1%.
📚 Educate competency leads all sectors
Councils ranked 1st of 7 sectors with 72.8% for Educate (providing clear, confident explanations and information to customers).
⏱️ IVR efficiency improvements
Menu navigation time decreased from 00:23 in Q4 2025 to 00:19 in Q1 2026, and total time spent in menus decreased from 00:52 to 00:48, making it easier for customers to navigate IVR systems.
✅ Access deductions reach lowest level in five quarters
The percentage of calls with access deductions dropped to 19.0%, down from 29.4% in Q4 2025, the lowest result since Q4 2024.
⚠️ Overall CX Challenges
📉 Calls answered within benchmark reaches historic low
The percentage of calls answered within 15 minutes dropped to 71.4%, down from 95.2% in Q4 2025, the lowest result since benchmarking began. This 23.8% decline is the largest quarterly drop in this metric. Q1 2026 marks the first quarter where the majority of councils failed to answer all calls within the 15-minute benchmark, with only Brisbane City maintaining their perfect 100% record.
Average wait time only increased by 3 seconds (from 2:01 to 2:04), suggesting councils may be struggling to cope during high-demand periods when call volumes spike.
⬇️ Discover competency continues four-quarter decline
Discover (identifying customer needs through active listening and targeted questioning) declined to 41.0%, down from 52.4% in Q4 2025, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. Councils ranked 6th of 7 sectors.
❌ Engage competency ranks last across all sectors
Councils ranked 7th of 7 sectors with 14.7% for Engage (building rapport and establishing positive connections at the start of interactions), the lowest of all sectors and down from 16.5% in Q4 2025. This continues to be the Achilles' heel for councils. With Agent Mastery at only 55.5%, far short of best practice, improving Engage represents a significant opportunity to enhance customer experience as this competency sets up the entire call.
🔄 City of Casey remains significantly below sector average
City of Casey ranked last in overall CX with 35.8%, marking their 11th consecutive quarter in last place. Despite a 3.1% improvement from 32.7%, they remain significantly below the sector average of 57.8%.
📊 Monash City drops from accessibility top position
Monash City dropped from 92.2% to 82.6% in accessibility, ending their six-quarter winning streak. However, they ranked last in Agent Mastery with 48.8%, their 11th consecutive quarter in last place for this metric. While customers can typically reach Monash City agents quickly, the quality of the interaction once connected remains the lowest across all councils.
⏳ Year-on-year decline in connecting to live agents
Compared to the same period last year, accessibility declined by 3.9% from 70.3% in Q1 2025 to 66.4% in Q1 2026, indicating it has become harder for customers to connect quickly with live agents.
🔍 Pressure evident but causes sit outside rankings
The data shows clear pressure points across access and interaction quality, but it does not explain why they are occurring. Broader increases in service demand and complexity may be contributing to these outcomes; however, ACXPA reports results from mystery shopping and does not attribute performance to specific operational decisions or constraints.
For councils seeking to understand and improve their performance, Public Sector Benchmarking Services provides deeper insights, and Public Sector Customer Service Training can help develop the skills needed to enhance customer experience outcomes.
Recognising Call Centre Excellence for Australian Councils
Congratulations to the top-performing Australian Councils delivering standout customer experiences via their call centre in Q1 2026.
These results are based on independent mystery shopping assessments, using real customer enquiries to evaluate how well contact centres are meeting the expectations of Australian ratepayers.
While industry averages provide important benchmarks, it's the ability to respond quickly, reduce friction, and convert interest into action that separates the best from the rest.
64.3%
63.5%
61.9%
35.8%Quarterly Trend
Overall CX
Australian Councils
The Overall CX Score is the most important metric in our benchmarking program – a single, weighted score that reflects how easy it is for customers to reach a contact centre and the quality of the experience once connected.
As the defining measure of customer experience, the Overall CX Score blends Accessibility (30%) and Agent Mastery (70%) to reflect both access and impact – with a greater emphasis on the agent's role in shaping outcomes. Penalties are applied for major breakdowns to ensure a true picture of performance from the customer's perspective.
Key Metrics Trend – Australian Councils (12-Month View)
The chart below highlights a 12-month trend across three core CX performance metrics for Australian Councils:
- Overall CX – A weighted composite score reflecting the end-to-end customer experience, factoring in accessibility, agent quality, and call handling efficiency.
- Accessibility – The ease of reaching a human agent measured across over 40 metrics, including ease of menu navigation, wait times, recorded messaging lengths and more.
- Agent Mastery – The quality and effectiveness of agent conversations delivered through soft skills and behaviours, measured across five core competencies and over 18 individual metrics.
Overall CX
This is the headline metric – representing the total customer experience across every stage of the call journey. It's calculated using a weighted combination of the Accessibility and Agent Mastery scores, providing a holistic view of how well Australian councils are delivering end-to-end service during key public interactions.
Accessibility
This measures how easily and quickly community members can reach a real person. It includes navigating phone menus, clarity of options, queue times, and whether callers successfully speak with a representative. Higher scores reflect smoother, more ratepayer-friendly access experiences.
Agent Mastery
This evaluates the quality and professionalism of frontline service. It includes how well council contact centre agents greet, listen, and respond to public enquiries – from rates and rubbish to local events – with empathy, clarity, and accuracy. It's a direct measure of agent capability during important service conversations.
Learn more about the Australian Contact Centre CX Standards that power these assessments.
Call Centre CX Quadrant – Australian Councils Q1 2026
This Call Centre CX Quadrant illustrates how well a selection of Australian Councils compare in Accessibility (ease of reaching a live agent) and Agent Mastery (the soft skills of the agents to deliver quality customer interactions).
Striking the right balance is no easy feat – some councils offer fast and easy access but fall short in agent skill or engagement, which can undermine the overall experience.
Others may deliver strong agent interactions but frustrate customers with long wait times or difficult menu navigation before help is even reached.
The top-right quadrant represents CX best practice – councils that make it both easy to get help and deliver high-quality conversations once the conversation begins. ⚡️
