Final Evaluation Report

4.2 1800RESPECT

Overview

1800RESPECT is a support service that is managed by Medibank Health Solutions to provide 24/7 online or telephone counselling, information and referrals to women across Australia.⁶⁴ The program offers services primarily to women but is available to anyone experiencing, or who has experienced, sexual assault or domestic and family violence. In addition, family and friends or colleagues of those experiencing domestic and family violence or sexual assault are able to access the service to gain information on the best way to provide support. The program also runs Daisy, an application, which provides information on recognising domestic and where to go for support.

In addition to counselling and information, 1800RESPECT also provides:

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  a Frontline Workers Toolkit to support frontline workers to identify and respond to sexual assault, domestic and family violence;
  
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  webinars hosted by subject matter experts to support frontline workers;
  
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  resources, videos and content translated into 28 community languages; and
  
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  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific resources to support frontline workers.
  

In August 2016, in response to increased demand on the service, 1800RESPECT introduced a first response triage model. This model means calls are answered by qualified, professional counsellors and callers are provided with information, support and/or referrals to appropriate support services, including to trauma specialist counselling.

Effectiveness – Performance indicators

114.Evaluation Criteria

A range of performance indicators have been introduced to assist with assessing the effectiveness of 1800RESPECT. A number of evaluations have also been undertaken including the Department of Social Services’ program evaluation which was completed in April 2013. This evaluation focused on an assessment of:

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  whether objectives of the activity are being met;
  
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  alignment with Australian Government priorities; and
  
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  program performance, including value for money.
  

A review of the 1800RESPECT service model was completed by KPMG in February 2016 and assessed a first response triage model as the most effective and value for money approach to respond to the increased wait times and call abandonment rates.

A follow up evaluation is due to be completed in April 2017 which will evaluate 1800RESPECT before and after the introduction of the first response triage model.

115.Evaluation Findings

The 2013 evaluation concluded that 1800RESPECT was satisfying its two key performance indicators (KPIs) which are: to make 20,000 contacts per annum; and have 70 per cent of calls answered within 30 seconds.⁶⁵ The Department of Social Services evaluation found that in 2012-13 1800RESPECT made 28,224 contacts which exceeded the performance target by 40 per cent.⁶⁶

116.Total Contacts Handled

1800RESPECT provided data on the number of contacts handled which continues to surpass the target number of contacts, as outlined in Figure 4.2 below.

Figure 4.2: Total contacts handled by 1800RESPECT by quarter 2011-2016

Source: 1800RESPECT 2016

Between 2013 and 2016, 1800RESPECT was expected to respond to 35,000 contacts annually. In 2015-16, the actual number of contacts handled was recorded as 59,315.⁶⁷ This rise in activity signals significantly increasing demand for services. The Annual Report noted that demand continues to grow due to increased service promotion and the need for additional support for those testifying in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. There has also recently been an increase in the reporting of elder or sibling abuse.⁶⁸

Figure 4.2 shows that outbound calls to respond to calls to people contacting 1800RESPECT took up a significant amount of staff time and workload. In 2015, outbound calls constituted a larger proportion of workload than inbound calls. This was largely due to callers deciding to leave voicemail messages, rather than holding on the line for extended periods of time due to the increased wait times. Staff would call back people who left messages, as well as people referred to 1800RESPECT from other organisations and service providers.

117.Call Answer Time

The high demand placed increasing pressure on the call answer time. There has been a steady increase in call answer times since 2012, as shown in Figure 4.3. Call waiting times have subsequently dropped significantly following the introduction of the new first response triage model in August 2016.

Figure 4.3: 1800RESPECT average speed to answer calls

Source: 1800RESPECT, 2016

In response to the increasing call answer time and the consequence that the KPI for having 70 per cent of calls answered within 30 seconds had not been consistently met, 1800RESPECT initially developed a risk assessment process to try to prioritise women during peak periods. However, this risk assessment process had a limited impact on call answer times because counsellors were required to call long-waiting clients back for a short assessment-like conversation but approximately 50 per cent of calls ending up being a full counselling session.

In May 2015, 1800RESPECT was funded an additional $4 million to increase staffing levels. While this had some impact on wait times and abandonment rates towards the end of 2015-16, they still remained unacceptably high. The busiest periods are usually between midday and 4pm on weekdays.

In August 2016, in response to the ongoing increased demand, the operational model of 1800RESPECT was reformed. An independent report by KPMG recommended the introduction of a first response triage model as the best mechanism to respond to increased call wait times and abandonment rates. This function involves qualified, professional counsellors answering all calls, then providing referrals to appropriate support services, including trauma specialist counselling by Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia where necessary. The new model was introduced in August 2016 and, as at September 30, had significantly improved the 1800RESPECT service level.

In the first six weeks following the introduction of the triage model, the abandonment rate dropped from an average of 44 per cent of calls being abandoned in 2015-16 to 5 per cent being abandoned. Similarly, average call wait times dropped from an average of 10.3 minutes in 2015-16 to an average of 35 seconds. The new model is also meeting the service level of 80% of calls being answered in 20 seconds.

118.Key Concerns

The availability of multiple state based telephone crisis lines particularly in NSW, Victoria and QLD and the duplication this creates with 1800RESPECT was a key concern raised by stakeholders during KPMG’s consultations for the evaluation of the Second Action Plan. For example, QLD has a state wide service under DVConnect that takes 18,000 calls each quarter.

Anecdotal evidence from 1800RESPECT and state government stakeholders suggests that women are calling various telephone hotlines only to be referred to a range of other telephone hotlines without gaining access to a service they require. This is not only inefficient but indicative of the lack of effectiveness of services in responding to the needs of women and children. Overlap and duplication of services is a risk for all governments because vulnerable women may decide that it is too hard or too dangerous for them to continue calling if they are unable to access support services quickly and without multiple referrals.

The potential inefficiencies created through having multiple telephone hotlines is further compounded by the fact that 1800RESPECT is responding to an increasing number of calls (refer Figure 4.5 and Figure 4.6) as are most of the state based services.

On face value, the increasing number of calls could indicate that despite the duplication of effort in delivering telephone crisis line services, there is a high community need for telephone counselling and advice.

Effectiveness - Stakeholder views

Stakeholder perceptions of the service were generally positive. Both government and non-government stakeholders indicated that the service is appropriate and meeting the needs of the clients. However, at the time consultations were undertaken (prior to the introduction of the new triaging arrangements), stakeholders noted how overwhelmed 1800RESPECT was due to the high number of calls and significant number of referrals provided. Many stakeholders noted that the increasing level of demand for 1800RESPECT indicated a need for more funding for the service to reduce wait times for clients. Given the high service demand, stakeholders considered the service more effective as a counselling service than crisis hotline.

Wait times now appear to have been addressed through the first response triage function, which both provided additional funding and changed the model to better respond to increased demand. In December 2015, 1800RESPECT received 5,742 calls but only 17 per cent or 1,043 calls were answered. In December 2016, 6,818 calls were received and 92 per cent or 6,253 calls were answered. Almost 80 per cent of calls are being answered in 20 seconds. Call abandonment rates have dropped from an average of 44 per cent in 2015-16 to approximately 6.6 per cent as at December 2016, and call wait times have dropped from over 10 minutes to an average of 45 seconds.

More generally, stakeholders, particularly those in smaller states such as TAS and the Northern Territory, raised issues about whether the service had been sufficiently advertised and whether information was reaching all potential victims. Consequently, they expected the service demand to significantly increase if the $30 million national awareness campaign was extended. Similar concerns were raised about the lack of awareness of the Daisy App with most stakeholders unaware of any advertising and indicated that generally most of their clients were largely unaware of the service. However, they indicated that it was a very positive and useful app.

Concerns were also raised in jurisdictions with high numbers of remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women that the service was not always accessible or culturally appropriate for this group. For instance, an Aboriginal woman in a remote community may not have access to a telephone to make the call and may not be willing to discuss the issues of violence she faces with someone outside of her cultural community or via the phone when face to face counselling is generally preferred. However, they recognised the benefit it provided to other community members. Consequently, stakeholders in the Northern Territory indicated that while they were likely to refer non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to 1800RESPECT they were unlikely to refer Aboriginals and/or Torres Strait Islanders to the service. Stakeholders in these regions suggested that there should be alternatives to telephone counselling that are more culturally appropriate.