We created the Australian Call Centre Rankings to give the industry what it’s been missing: independent, transparent insight into what customers are really experiencing.
Most of the “research” in our industry is commissioned by vendors as part of lead generation campaigns. We’re not here to sell software or inflate marketing stats — we’re here to recognise those doing well and help the rest improve, using real data from real customers.
Every interaction is scored against our Contact Centre CX Standards — a national framework built on decades of frontline experience. Our Agent Mastery assessment focuses on soft skills and behaviours that apply to all contact centres, while our Accessibility measures reflect what customers value most: reaching a live agent quickly, with minimal friction and maximum respect for their time.
We selected a cross-section of councils to reflect the range of interactions community members have when contacting local government — from bin collection and pet registration to rates, planning permits and local events. These councils weren’t included because they paid us (they didn’t), but because meaningful benchmarking requires real-world data from recognisable organisations.
We don’t use large sample sizes — and that’s intentional. Customers form lasting impressions from a single call, not a statistical average. And after years of assessing calls, we’ve found the same trends appear whether we review 5 or 50. Big patterns don’t need big data — they just need the right lens.
That approach also allows us to absorb the cost of this program — keeping the data clean, credible, and free from commercial agendas, so the insights remain focused on improving customer outcomes, not selling products.
To keep the program independent and growing, we offer a low-cost benchmarking service that gives each participating council detailed insights into their own performance, objective comparisons with chosen peers, and access to deeper data trends. At the same time, every participant helps expand the national dataset — improving the accuracy, relevance, and value of the insights for the entire sector.
We also believe it’s time the industry took greater ownership of poor performance. Contact centres have been around for decades — and there’s no excuse for inconsistent service or failing the basics. Despite the many great call centres out there, public perception remains that most call centres are frustrating or ineffective. These rankings are a way to spotlight the top performers, but also to uncover where and why others are struggling — so we can help fix it, together.
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