Explore Australia’s Call Centre Industry Trends
Australian Contact Centre Industry Performance Data
Welcome to ACXPA’s Call Centre Rankings – Australia’s only data-driven rankings updated monthly, based entirely on real customer interactions, not manufactured awards or self-reported surveys.
Since August 2023, our trained Australian mystery shoppers have placed live calls across a range of industries to capture genuine insights into service accessibility, agent quality and overall customer experience.
This page showcases national, year-on-year trends for the Australian contact centre industry as a whole – giving you a macro view of how performance has evolved across key customer experience metrics like Accessibility, Agent Mastery, Wait Times and more.
Who We Are
ACXPA is Australia’s independent Customer Experience Professionals Association, dedicated to raising the bar on customer experience and contact centre performance through data, education, and community.
Learn more about ACXPA >
Why It Matters
Whether you're benchmarking your own centre or learning from the leaders, these trends reveal where the industry is heading and how to stay ahead.
Explore Australia’s Call Centre Industry Trends
, You're Seeing the Public View — But You Have Access to More
This page shows the annual national trends that are publicly visible — helpful for tracking year-on-year changes in Contact Centre CX performance.
As a Subscriber, you also get access to monthly trend data across 15 key Contact Centre CX metrics — giving you a more current view of how the industry is moving.
See the exclusive monthly trends here: Explore Monthly Contact Centre Trends
Explore Australia’s Call Centre Industry Trends
, You're Seeing the Public View — But You Have Access to More
This page shows the annual national trends available to the general public — giving a year-on-year snapshot of how Contact Centre CX performance is evolving across Australia.
As an ACXPA Member, you also have access to monthly trends across 15 core Contact Centre CX metrics — including Agent Mastery, Accessibility, and Wait Times — providing a sharper view of real-time industry movement.
View your exclusive monthly insights here:
Explore Monthly Contact Centre Trends
About the Australian Contact Centre CX Standards
The Contact Centre CX Standards are Australia’s official framework for defining and measuring the customer experience delivered by contact centres. Developed by ACXPA, these standards underpin our national benchmarking programs and help organisations assess what good really looks like - both in human interactions and ease of access.
- Agent Mastery: The soft skills and behaviours that drive consistent, high-quality conversations.
- Accessibility: Clear, measurable benchmarks for how easy it is for customers to reach a human.
Used in our Call Centre Rankings and in all our Contact Centre Benchmarking Services, the standards help organisations identify gaps, improve outcomes, and deliver service that truly stands out.
Learn More About the Standards >
Best Practice is Clear — But Consistency is Lacking
At ACXPA, we consider best practice to be
100% for each CX metric – whether it's Accessibility, Agent Mastery, or any of the key measures that define great service.
While some centres get close on individual metrics, it’s rare to see consistency across the board — and that’s the gap these national trends bring into sharp focus.
As the independent industry body, we’re not here to gloss over the results. We’re here to lead — by highlighting where we’re falling short, recognising those who are doing well, and helping everyone move toward stronger, more sustainable performance.
See who’s performing strongly here, then let’s raise the bar together.
Overall CX
As Australia’s independent Contact Centre & CX industry body, ACXPA considers this the definitive national benchmark – capturing how easily customers reach a real person, and the quality of that interaction once connected.
It combines performance across the two core Contact Centre CX pillars of Accessibility and Agent Mastery, measured against the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards. This metric provides a reliable, year-on-year view of how the Australian contact centre industry is tracking when it comes to delivering great customer experiences.
The Overall CX Rankings gauge how effortlessly customers can connect with and communicate to a live customer service agent via the contact centre channel.
The final score is calculated using over 80 individual metrics drawn from across the customer journey. These include factors such as wait times, IVR usability, voice quality, agent soft skills and behaviours, and more.
Each metric is weighted according to its impact on the customer experience. For example, Agent Mastery is weighted more heavily than accessibility – because a flawless connection is meaningless if the agent delivers a poor experience.
To learn more about how these metrics align with our best-practice approach, view the Contact Centre CX Standards.
Accessibility
Our Accessibility metric assesses how easily customers can reach a live human agent through a contact centre — quickly, clearly, and without frustration.
It measures the design, flow, and usability of the entire access journey — from finding the phone number to navigating the IVR, all the way through to queueing and wait times. Great CX starts with being easy to reach, and this metric shows how the Australian contact centre industry is tracking over time.
The Accessibility Rankings assess how simple and seamless it is for customers to connect with a live agent when contacting an organisation by phone.
The metric evaluates 48 distinct accessibility factors across five key categories: Search, Design, Ease, Audio, and Timing — covering everything from how easily customers can find a phone number, to how fast they navigate your IVR and reach a queue.
Each factor is scored and weighted to reflect its impact on customer effort. A well-designed, intuitive access journey can significantly reduce frustration and improve CX outcomes.
To learn more about how these metrics align with our best-practice approach, view the Contact Centre CX Standards.
Agent Mastery
Our Agent Mastery metric captures what automation can’t – the human connection. It measures the quality of communication, confidence and care delivered by your frontline team across 18 individual metrics.
From the moment an agent greets a customer to how they close the call, this metric reveals who’s building trust, creating clarity, and delivering real value in every interaction. It’s not about scripts – it’s about skill, empathy and execution.
Agent Mastery is where great customer experiences are made or lost – and this metric shows how the industry is tracking against the Australian Contact Centre CX Standards.
The Agent Mastery Rankings assess the quality of human interaction delivered by customer service agents in contact centres.
This includes performance across five core behaviour categories: Engage, Discover, Educate, Close and Impact. These behaviours reflect how effectively the agent connects with the customer, uncovers needs, provides helpful information, wraps up the interaction, and leaves a lasting impression.
Each behaviour is scored independently and then combined to provide an overall Agent Mastery score. Strong performance here is critical – even fast, efficient systems can be undone by poor communication or a lack of empathy.
These measures are assessed using the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards, ensuring alignment with best-practice service delivery benchmarks.
Agent Mastery – Competency Breakdown
To provide deeper insight into Agent Mastery performance, we break it down across five core competencies that shape the quality of every customer interaction.
These competencies – Engage, Discover, Educate, Close and Impact – represent the key capabilities agents need to create positive, effective, and professional conversations.
Each competency is assessed through a series of observable behaviours – 18 in total – which are mapped directly to the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards.
By scoring each competency independently, organisations gain a more detailed and actionable understanding of agent strengths and opportunities.
Engage (Agent Mastery Competency)
This competency measures how well the agent opens the conversation – building trust and setting the tone with confidence, clarity and warmth.
It’s the customer’s first impression of the brand. Strong agents take ownership, personalise the interaction, and clearly outline how they’ll help from the outset.
The Engage competency is assessed by evaluating how the agent greets the customer, demonstrates confidence and ownership, and sets expectations for the interaction.
This includes delivering a natural, professional introduction, using the customer’s name where appropriate, and outlining intent with clarity. When done well, it builds immediate trust and frames the conversation for success.
Scoring is based on observable behaviours defined in the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards, providing a consistent framework for measuring first impressions and agent presence.
Discover (Agent Mastery Competency)
This competency measures how effectively the agent uncovers the customer’s true needs by guiding open conversation and listening with intent.
Great discovery goes beyond the surface – it’s about staying curious, identifying goals, and validating what matters most to the customer.
The Discover competency is assessed by how well the agent engages in open dialogue, listens actively, and confirms the customer's key needs and objectives.
It reflects the agent’s ability to uncover valuable context – not just process a question or request. Strong scores here lead to better outcomes, fewer repeat contacts, and more relevant service or sales recommendations.
Scoring is based on behaviours defined in the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards, ensuring consistency across industries and contact types.
Educate (Agent Mastery Competency)
This competency measures how effectively the agent shares information to build understanding and support confident decision-making.
Clear, relevant explanations remove confusion and empower the customer to take the next step. Great agents don’t just deliver answers – they deliver clarity.
The Educate competency is assessed by observing how clearly and confidently the agent delivers information tailored to the customer’s needs.
This includes presenting relevant details, checking for understanding, and confirming that the customer is ready to proceed or has what they need to resolve their enquiry.
Scores reflect not just what is said, but how well it’s delivered – using plain language, appropriate pacing, and confident tone – all aligned with the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards.
Close (Agent Mastery Competency)
This competency measures how well the agent wraps up the call – checking for any final questions, showing appreciation, and ending with a confident farewell.
A strong close reinforces trust and professionalism, leaving the customer with clarity and a positive impression of the interaction.
The Close competency is assessed by evaluating how clearly and professionally the agent concludes the interaction — including whether they check for any final needs, express appreciation, and finish with a warm, structured farewell.
It’s not just about saying goodbye — it’s about ensuring there are no loose ends and that the customer leaves feeling acknowledged and confident in what comes next.
Scoring is based on the observable behaviours defined in the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards, allowing for consistent benchmarking across agents and organisations.
Impact (Agent Mastery Competency)
This competency reflects how the agent made the customer feel by the end of the call – including their tone, empathy, ownership, and overall presence.
It’s the emotional takeaway from the interaction. Great agents leave customers feeling valued, confident and genuinely supported – not just served.
The Impact competency is assessed by evaluating the overall impression the agent leaves – did the interaction feel effortless, respectful, human?
This includes the agent’s ability to maintain control while using clear language, appropriate tone and genuine empathy. Even when outcomes aren’t ideal, a strong Impact score reflects an experience the customer would happily repeat.
Scoring is based on observable behaviours aligned to the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards, helping to quantify emotional quality in a structured and consistent way.
Time-Based Metrics
These metrics provide a clearer picture of the end-to-end customer experience by measuring how long it actually takes to get help, complete a call, and highlight performance extremes.
While average wait time remains a familiar CX measure, these additional time-based metrics offer deeper insight into what customers are really experiencing – from the moment they start seeking help to the point their issue is resolved.
Calls Answered Percentage
This metric measures the percentage of incoming calls that are successfully answered by a live agent within our defined thresholds, giving a clear indicator of accessibility and demand management.
High answer rates show a centre is well-staffed and responsive to customer needs. Lower scores, on the other hand, may reflect high call volumes, understaffing, or poor queue management – all of which can leave customers feeling ignored and frustrated, which can be particularly damaging for new business enquiries. This benchmark shines a light on the industry to see whether we're prompt in picking up or leaving customers hanging.
The Calls Answered metric measures the percentage of incoming calls answered within a 10-minute (Sales) or 15-minute (Service) queue threshold.
It excludes time spent navigating menus or hearing prompts, and only begins timing once the caller is in the queue. Calls not answered within the timeframe are considered missed.
To learn more about how these metrics align with our best-practice approach, view the Contact Centre CX Standards.
Average Wait Times
This metric tracks how long customers are kept on hold before reaching a live agent – providing clear visibility into how well contact centres are resourced and how seriously they take customer accessibility.
Long wait times are a major driver of customer frustration, often leading to abandoned calls, negative sentiment and poor service perceptions. This benchmark highlights how Australian contact centres are performing in delivering a fast, responsive service.
The Average Wait Times metric measures how long customers are kept on hold before being connected to a live agent. It provides a clear lens into how well contact centres are resourced and how seriously they take accessibility.
Extended wait times are one of the most common causes of customer frustration, often resulting in abandoned calls, negative sentiment, and lasting damage to brand perception. This benchmark highlights which contact centres are delivering responsive service – and which ones are making customers wait.
These national figures are sourced from mystery shopping calls across a range of industries, with a focus on general enquiries and sales scenarios. For a more detailed breakdown by industry, visit our Sector Comparisons page.
All results are evaluated using the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards to ensure consistent and meaningful comparisons.
Total Time to Reach a Live Person
This metric captures the full time it takes for a customer to reach a real person — from the moment they dial the number to when a live agent answers the call.
It reflects the combined impact of the IVR complexity, queueing, and operational readiness. It’s the real “cost of contact” for the customer, and it tells a very different story than wait time alone.
The Total Time to Reach a Live Person includes all time spent from the start of the customer’s contact journey — including navigating menus, listening to messages, and waiting in queue — until a live agent answers.
This metric goes beyond call centre wait time to reflect the entire accessibility experience. Even if queue times are low, a poorly designed IVR or buried phone number can drag this number up — and customer patience down.
All timings are collected via independent mystery shopping and mapped to the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards to ensure consistency and comparability across different industries and service models.
Recorded Message Time
This metric measures the average duration customers spend listening to mandatory pre-queue recordings — legal disclaimers, promotional plugs, “Welcome to Country” acknowledgements, and the like — before they reach a live agent.
Excessively long or repetitive messages can feel like a bad podcast episode on loop, increasing perceived wait times and driving higher abandonment rates. This benchmark shines a light on how well contact centres balance compliance and brand messaging with keeping customers patient and happy.
The Average Message Time metric measures the mean duration customers spend listening to mandatory pre-queue recordings — legal disclaimers, promotional spots, “Welcome to Country” acknowledgements and the like — before reaching a live agent.
Overlong or repetitive messages can inflate perceived wait times, heighten frustration and drive higher abandonment rates. This benchmark highlights how well contact centres balance compliance and brand messaging with respecting customers’ time.
By optimising message length and relevance, you can reduce early drop-offs and kick off every call with a better customer experience, even before the agent says hello.
To see how this fits into our broader best-practice framework, view the Contact Centre CX Standards.
Talk Time
This metric shows the national average duration of live agent conversations across the Australian contact centre industry – offering insight into service efficiency, enquiry complexity, and agent communication styles.
While shorter talk times can signal speed and confidence, they may also reflect pressure to hit call targets. Conversely, longer conversations might suggest either thorough service or inefficiencies – context is key.
The Talk Time metric shows the national average duration of conversations once a live agent is connected, based on thousands of independently assessed calls across the Australian contact centre industry.
Shorter talk times may reflect fast resolution, AI assistance, or time-focused KPIs – but can also indicate rushed service. Longer talk times might result from complex queries or, in some cases, inefficient call handling. Context matters, and Talk Time is best interpreted alongside other metrics like Agent Mastery and Accessibility.
While this chart shows national-level data only, members can explore detailed performance trends for different industries via our Sector Comparisons page.
All data is assessed using the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards to ensure consistent, best-practice measurement across all evaluations.
Total Experience Time
This metric tracks the full duration of the customer’s call centre experience – from the time they dial in, to the moment they hang up.
It includes everything: time spent navigating menus, sitting in queue, and talking to an agent. It’s the customer’s real “total time investment” – and often reveals inefficiencies that individual metrics can’t capture in isolation.
The Total Experience Time measures the complete span of a contact centre call, from connection to conclusion – including all recorded time in the IVR, queue, and live conversation.
This metric provides insight into how long the overall interaction actually takes. It's particularly useful for spotting operational bottlenecks, inefficient call handling, or systems/processes that extend time unnecessarily.
All measurements are collected via real-world mystery shopping and aligned with the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards to support consistent benchmarking and improvement across service environments.
Seen the Trends? There’s Much More to Uncover.
You’ve just explored a slice of the national performance story – but that’s only the public view. The most powerful insights sit behind the curtain.
ACXPA Subscribers and Members unlock exclusive access to deeper annual trends, live monthly trend tracking, and advanced time-based CX metrics like Average Wait Time, Talk Time, and Message Duration.
Plus, you'll gain access to sector-specific benchmarking data, downloadable reports, performance leaderboards, and exclusive member tools and videos to help you improve your own centre's results.
Don’t just observe the industry – lead it. Join today and unlock the full ACXPA benchmarking experience.
, ready to go beyond national trends?
You’ve just seen key performance metrics across the industry – but there’s more waiting. Members get deeper access to sector-level data, monthly trends, and exclusive insights that go beyond what’s public.
Upgrade today to unlock the full CX intelligence toolkit. Become a Member.
, use this data to sharpen your CX strategy
You’ve seen the national trends – now dig into exclusive sector information, monitor monthly changes, and turn benchmarking into action. As a Member, you’re already ahead.
Want to see how your own contact centre stacks up? Check out our Contact Centre CX PLUS Benchmarking Service.
, want to see how your centre compares?
You’ve already seen how the industry is tracking – now take the next step. As a Business Member, you receive an exclusive discount on our Benchmarking Trial.
Compare your results against real competitors, access 80+ metrics, and start identifying tangible performance improvements.
, want to explore more data?
You’ve just seen how the top-performing centres are tracking – and there’s more where that came from. As a Vendor Member, you can stay close to the trends that matter most to your clients.
Visit the full Call Centre Rankings to explore more national insights.