Revenue NSW picked up the Excellence in Public Sector Award at Ashton Media CX Awards, which celebrate initiatives and strategies which put the customer at the centre.
Deputy Secretary Scott Johnston said Revenue NSW was incredibly proud of the work being delivered to introduce revolutionary reform to legacy processes resulting in significant savings for both the NSW Government and customers.
“Our team at Revenue NSW worked hard to rethink our purpose and processes to redesign the experience customers have with us,” Mr Johnston said.
“We know no one likes receiving a fine but changing our goal to focus on behaviour change, while trying to alleviate some of the financial stress on some of the State’s most vulnerable citizens has proven to have positive outcomes for everyone.”
Mr Johnston said the customer centric improvements made the fines system easier and fairer for the most vulnerable.
“In removing firm timeframes to act Revenue NSW has saved more than 160,000 customers almost $10 million in fees, 291 demerit points have been reassigned to the correct drivers and more than 1500 customers had their fine converted to a caution,” Mr Johnston said.
The State’s most vulnerable residents can also seek a fine reduction which recognises the disproportionate impact fines can have on those experiencing economic hardship.
“The judges said our changes demonstrated an innovative approach to move from rigid and authoritarian processes to a customer service approach which was both bold and brave, yielding positive results for all.”
Extensive collaboration was carried out with customers, advocate groups, business partners and stakeholders to identify problematic processes, governed by legislation, as well as opportunities to support rather than further punish the most vulnerable in the community.
The customer experience was viewed not as a journey through the stages of legislation, but reimagined to consider public safety, behaviour change and the personal circumstances of the individual.
The changes established a social reform but also catapulted an internal cultural shift from a punitive perspective to a customer service focus.
The Fines Amendment Act 2019 empowered Revenue NSW to view customers as individuals, rather than just the recipients of three million fines annually.
Almost 85 per cent of advocates and business partners surveyed said Revenue NSW’s service for vulnerable people had improved and 79 per cent said options to finalise fines were now fairer.
The positive finalisation rate of customers’ fines has also increased from 69.7 percent from June 2019 to May 2020, to 77.8 percent the following year, proving that good outcomes for customers and Revenue are not mutually exclusive.
