Media release · Melbourne · 27 October 2026
Australian contact centres post their best quarter on record, but the opening of the call still lets customers down
ENGIE is named Australia’s top contact centre in the Q3 2026 Australian Call Centre Rankings, as every sector improves and conversations are the warmest ACXPA has measured.
The Australian Customer Experience Professionals Association (ACXPA) today released the Q3 2026 Australian Call Centre Rankings.
ACXPA mystery shops contact centres across seven industries as new customers making a sales enquiry, and councils as residents with a general enquiry. Every call is scored against 48+ CX metrics aligned to the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards.
What the Q3 results show
- Best quarter on record. The all-industry Overall CX average rose 4.0 points to 59.0%, the highest since the rankings began in Q3 2023.
- Every sector improved. All seven sectors lifted their Overall CX on Q2, the first time that has happened since the rankings began in Q3 2023.
- Easier to get through. 94.6% of assessed calls were answered, up from 89.5%. The average wait fell from 1:53 to 1:21.
- The warmest conversations yet. Impact, which measures how the call feels to the caller, reached a record 80.4%.
- The opening is still the weak spot. Engage, the opening of the call, fell to 30.7% and is the lowest of the five conversation competencies.
- Internet leads again. Internet providers are the top sector for a seventh consecutive quarter, at 67.2%.
What a caller experienced this quarter
All-industry averages, with the best and lowest sector on each measure.
| Measure | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Change | Best sector | Lowest sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall CX | 55.0% | 59.0% | ▲ 4.0 pts | Internet 67.2% | Banks 52.3% |
| Accessibility | 66.1% | 68.8% | ▲ 2.7 pts | Internet 86.5% | Banks 52.1% |
| Agent Mastery | 54.1% | 56.7% | ▲ 2.6 pts | Car Insurance 59.7% | Education 51.0% |
| Calls answered | 89.5% | 94.6% | ▲ 5.1 pts | Internet 100.0% | Banks 83.8% |
| Navigating the phone menu | 0:30 | 0:29 | ▼ 0:01 | Education 0:14 | Banks 0:53 |
| Listening to recorded messages | 0:43 | 0:43 | – no change | Internet 0:18 | Car Insurance 1:17 |
| Waiting for an agent | 1:53 | 1:21 | ▼ 0:32 | Internet 0:22 | Aged Care 2:05 |
| Total time to reach a person | 3:05 | 2:32 | ▼ 0:33 | Internet 1:03 | Banks 3:53 |
| Phone menu layers | 2.1 | 2.0 | ▼ 0.1 | Councils 1.1 | Car Insurance 3.2 |
Calls are counted as answered when a person answers within ten minutes, or fifteen for councils. Time to reach a person counts answered calls only. Its three parts are averaged separately, so they can differ from the total by a second.
Who is leading Australia’s contact centres?
ENGIE recorded the highest Overall CX of any organisation at 84.1%, leading energy for a seventh consecutive quarter. It also set the best Agent Mastery score in the country.
iiNet (73.8%) and Hume Bank (73.5%) completed the top three, each leading their own sector.
The organisation with the highest Overall CX in each sector:
| Sector | Sector leader | Overall CX |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | ENGIE | 84.1% |
| Internet | iiNet | 73.8% |
| Banks | Hume Bank | 73.5% |
| Car Insurance | Youi | 71.7% |
| Councils | Whitehorse City | 68.8% |
| Aged Care | Uniting NSW.ACT | 67.4% |
| Education | TAFE SA | 65.2% |
Most improved: Bendigo Bank (up 35.0 points), ING (up 34.9 points) and RACV (up 22.9 points) posted the largest gains on Q2.
Where contact centres are still losing customers
The opening of the call is where agents fall short. Engage, which scores how an agent opens the call, averaged 30.7%, the lowest of the five conversation competencies.
Asking for and using the caller’s name, the simplest way to make a call feel personal, scored just 28.6%. Clearly outlining how the agent would help, so the caller knows what happens next, scored 6.8%.
Banks are leaving home loan shoppers on hold. Banking improved more than any other sector, up 8.4 points. Yet 16.2% of assessed calls to banks still weren’t answered within ten minutes, the lowest answer rate of the seven sectors.
With four interest rate rises this year, many of those callers are shopping around for a better home loan. Every unanswered call is a customer who can simply ring the next bank.
“This is the best quarter we have recorded, and every sector improved. That is a real credit to the teams answering these calls.”
“But the opening of the call is still where most agents fall short. As more service moves to bots and online channels, the reason a customer still picks up the phone is to talk to a person. That human connection is what the industry most needs to get right.”
Justin Tippett, Founder and CEO, ACXPA“With four interest rate rises this year and the cost of living biting, more Australians are shopping around for a better deal. A customer ready to move their home loan is exactly the caller a bank can’t afford to leave waiting, yet banking had the lowest answer rate of any sector.”
Justin Tippett, Founder and CEO, ACXPA“Cost of living pressure is being felt in every sector, and it is making customer conversations more complex. That should be no surprise to anyone running a contact centre, and neither should the busy season, which arrives at the same time every year.”
“Every contact centre should know when its peaks are coming and plan for more calls and longer calls. They are reasons to plan, not excuses for leaving customers on hold.”
Justin Tippett, Founder and CEO, ACXPARead the full Q3 2026 results
Organisations that want to see how their own contact centre would score can be benchmarked the same way: ACXPA Benchmarking.
About the rankings
Calls are made by trained assessors and nobody is told when ACXPA is calling. Overall CX combines Accessibility (30%), how easily a caller reaches a person, and Agent Mastery (70%), how well the conversation is handled. Calls are counted as answered when a person answers within ten minutes, or fifteen for councils. The all-industry average gives every organisation equal weight.
About ACXPA
ACXPA is the independent professional association for customer experience and contact centre professionals. It sets the ACXPA Contact Centre CX Standards, publishes the Australian Call Centre Rankings, and provides benchmarking, training, research and a professional community. Learn more about ACXPA.
Media contact
Justin Tippett, Founder and CEO, ACXPA
media@acxpa.com.au · 0418 396 691
Media resources (logos and images): acxpa.com.au/media-kit
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