Innovation, News

Australian consumers want human connection as businesses focus on faster service

Adrianne Saplagio
August 21, 2026

New ContactBabel research shows Australian organisations and customers have differing views on what defines good customer service.

The research draws on responses from managers and directors at 112 ANZ contact centre operations, alongside surveys of 1,000 Australian and 500 New Zealand consumers. Businesses and customers were asked to rank the same customer experience factors, revealing several significant gaps.

Businesses concentrate heavily on speed and resolution, with 86% believing first-time resolution sits among their customers’ top three priorities and 71% saying the same of short wait times. Customers also value resolution and speed, but place considerably more weight on the human side of service: they want polite and friendly staff (44%), Australia-based employees (41%) and a choice of channels, including self-service (41%).

The sharpest gap is around local staff. While 41% of Australian customers rank Australia-based employees among their top three CX factors, only 17% of businesses believe their customers care.

The perception gap isn’t the only story in the data:

Australians wait nearly twice as long as Kiwis. The average speed to answer in Australia is 97 seconds (median 55), compared with 55 seconds (median 28) in New Zealand. Australian operations also handle a substantially higher proportion of their inbound volume through live phone calls: 64.3%, compared with 53% in New Zealand. For urgent enquiries, Australians still prefer the phone overall, while New Zealanders now prefer web self-service, at 35%, ahead of the phone at 32%.
Routine calls are expensive. An inbound phone call costs Australian operations an average of $15.29, compared with $7.75 for a web chat. Yet, phone self-service handles just 2.4% of all inbound contact.
The first generation of chatbots is being reconsidered. Around 40% of Australian chatbot users plan to replace or upgrade their solution, alongside 38% of SMS users and 37% of speech analytics users, suggesting that a wave of first-generation digital deployments is now being re-evaluated. Even so, chatbots top 12-month investment intentions at 36%. The figures suggest Australia is re-buying, not retreating.
Strategy and investment are the handbrakes. Two-thirds of Australian operations (66%) say a lack of investment in systems and processes is holding them back, and concerns about a lack of strategic vision have risen from 38% to 45% since 2023, against the global trend. Increased self-service is rated the most important strategic priority, with 62% calling it very important.
The workforce has changed shape. Hybrid working now covers 57% of Australian agents. Agent attrition averages 19%, rising to 44% among outsourcers, while short-term absence runs at 8.1%.

“Australian businesses have spent years optimising for speed, but customers are telling them they also want people — polite, capable, local people — especially when an issue is complex or emotional,” says Nigel Lindsay-Smith, Managing Director ANZ at NiCE.

“That’s not an argument against AI. It’s the case for getting the balance right. When AI absorbs the routine work, queues clear for the conversations that genuinely need a human, and keeping service local becomes more affordable. The businesses already replacing or upgrading their first-generation bots understand this. Round two will be won by those who use AI to make their people better, not to keep customers away from them.”