Customer experience research

We are pleased to share with you the results of the first Australian study to measure customer experience, health and social outcomes across workers compensation and compulsory third-party motor vehicle insurance. The work was commissioned by SIRA and undertaken by the Social Research Centre.

This is SIRA’s first report and represents the start of a long-term research program that will help us to improve outcomes for around 110,000 people that are injured at work or on the road in New South Wales each year. We are hoping that, over time, the work may also be useful to other jurisdictions and organisations with a role in supporting people to recover from an acquired injury.

The initial report is a baseline for a longitudinal study that will continue to measure trust, experience, and outcomes within the same schemes. The data is new and rich. We are working through what it means for the schemes SIRA regulates and combining it with other information to identify areas of focus across both CTP and workers compensation. Over time, it will help us to understand what elements of scheme design and insurer service contribute to better outcomes for injured people.

Different injuries have different recovery trajectories. The value of this research program is to see how a claimant’s recovery plays out over time. It will also allow us to better understand the impact on customers of changes to scheme design, new approaches by insurers and factors external to compensation schemes such as COVID 19.

While monitoring insurer compliance with the law is central to SIRA’s role, we know that good outcomes for injured people depend on much more. The research was designed to understand the quality of the experience CTP and workers compensation customers have with different insurers. Important factors that can influence recovery such as customer experience and ease of access to medical treatment were therefore measured as part of the baseline study to inform SIRA’s supervision focus and provide insights for insurers.

Over the coming months we will start to share insights from the study through a series of short articles published via this Bulletin and on the SIRA website. If you would like to know more about the work, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Theresa Fairman
Executive Director, Strategy and Governance & Chief Customer Officer

Petrina Casey
Director, Health Policy, Prevention & Supervision
Acting, Executive Director, Motor Accidents Insurance Regulation

Further information

• Read the  Summary of the SIRA Customer Experience and Health Outcomes study
• A copy of the full report is now available SIRA regulatory measurement of customer experience and outcomes