Question - City Services

1. In relation to the Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) staff satisfaction survey, what surveys have been undertaken since 2020 and can the Minister provide a copy of each survey.
2. Do City Services staff undertake the same survey as Transport Canberra staff; if not, can the Minister provide a copy of each survey.
3. What contractors were commissioned to undertake each survey, and at what cost (by year if applicable).
4. How were staff surveyed.
5. When did the agency receive results for the survey.
6. Did TCCS staff have access to results as they were submitted, or only at the conclusion of the survey period.
7. Were anonymous responses identified by user name, IP address, MAC address, or any other identifier; if so, were any anonymous responses identified.
8. When were staff first informed of the results of surveys.

(1)TCCS have undertaken three employee engagement surveys since 2020, these include:

(a) 2020 TCCS Employee Engagement Survey – survey copy at Attachment A

(b) 2022 Pulse Survey – survey copy at Attachment B

(c) 2023 ACTPS WhoG Survey - Attachment C

(2) Yes, however it should be noted the bus operations branch did not participate in the 2023 ACTPS survey due to the challenges presented with the electronic mode of delivery. 

(3) TCCS procured the services of Best Practice Analytics to deliver its 2020 and 2022 surveys as follows:

(a) 2020 - $66,456.90.

(b) 2022 - $32,900.00.

ORIMA Research Pty Ltd was commissioned by CMTEDD to design, develop and deliver the biennial 
Whole-of-Government, 2023 ACTPS Employee Survey. The total contract price was $240,349.00.

(a) 2023 – $33,900.00 – TCCS contribution.

(4) Both the 2020 and the 2022 survey enabled either electronic or paper-based submissions. The 2023 ACTPS survey was available through electronic submission.

(5) (a) 2020 - results were received on 3 November 2020.

(5) (b) 2022 - results were received on 21 July 2022.

(5) (c) 2023 - results were received by TCCS on 15 May 2023.

(6) Results were available at the conclusion of the survey period as noted in question 5 above.

(7) The surveys delivered in 2020 and 2022, under contract with Best Practice Analytics adhered to the Territory Privacy Principles as well as observation of Best Practice Analytics Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.

The ACTPS Employee Survey set out the conditions on how the survey data would be handled in a privacy notice and data handling protocol. This privacy notice was accessible by staff through the online survey tool, in communications about the survey and on a publicly available webpage to ensure that all staff could access the notice.

To deliver the 2023 ACTPS Employee Survey, ORIMA Research (the contracted Survey provider) held information provided by Directorates in a database under strict management protocols, including password protection. This information was made up of staff names and email addresses.

ORIMA Research used two survey databases for the survey:

• A users database included:
  • a listing of user IDs (issued randomly by ORIMA to use for matching against the contact list to assist with helpdesk enquiries about the survey);
  • a password (alphanumeric issued by ORIMA for staff to use in accessing the survey); and
  • staff email addresses (for staff to use the forgotten password feature in gaining access to the survey).

• An answers database included user IDs and the survey answers for each respondent.

ORIMA Research use encryption to protect all passwords, email addresses and free-text responses held in their online survey system. A log file was also managed by ORIMA Research to collect actions undertaken in the online survey, timestamps and IP addresses (for assisting in helpdesk enquires). MAC addresses were not collected.

Under the privacy provisions, ORIMA Research was the only entity to have access to all of the above databases. Sharing of data with Strategy and Transformation Office, Office of Industrial Relations and Workforce Strategy and Directorates was in accordance with the stated data handling protocols. Usernames, IP addresses and other identifiers mentioned above were not shared outside ORIMA.

Strategy and Transformation Office, Office of Industrial Relations and Workforce Strategy is provided with a unit record dataset that included the survey responses and user IDs.  There is no link to individual identifying information in this dataset. 

Directorates were provided access to aggregated (grouped) quantitative data through an online interactive dashboard system developed by ORIMA Research. The database for this system does not include results if there are fewer than 10 responses. The system also provides directorates with free-text comments collected through the survey from respondents from their specific directorate. No other data is attached to the free-text comments.

Note that comments were provided verbatim, as specified in the data handling protocols.

TCCS included a tailored question providing staff with the option to provide a message to their Director-General. Division information was attached to these comments and provided directly to the Director-General, as notified to respondents in the question wording.

All other reporting was provided at an aggregate level, and limited information to only report on results where there were at least 10 responses.

(8) (a) 2020 - The results were shared in November and December 2020. 

(8) (b) 2022 - The results were presented to the Executive Board on 21 July 2022 and shared across the Directorate following this date.

(8) (c) 2023 ACTPS WhoG Survey - The TCCS Director-General received the results on 30 May 2023 and shared these across the Directorates from 2 June 2023 onwards.