Frequently Asked Questions about the NSW Customer Survey Panel

The NSW Department of Customer Service (DCS) operates the NSW Customer Survey Panel. The NSW Customer Survey Panel is an important tool to help us deliver better government services and initiatives by engaging with the NSW community to understand what works best for them.  

We use the Qualtrics platform to manage the NSW Customer Survey Panel, including to send you online surveys. Qualtrics hosts your information on our behalf. We understand the importance of protecting your information and legally require Qualtrics to do so too. 

We collect your personal information when you: 

• join the Panel  
• choose to take part in a research activity  
• provide information for other Panel related purposes, such as contacting us with an enquiry, feedback or complaint.

We use your personal information so that: 

• you can join the Panel and take part in research activities   
• we can manage the Panel and respond to your enquiries, feedback and complaints
• we can create de-identified data sets (both aggregated and non-aggregated) for use by the NSW Department of Customer Service and others for research and analysis purposes.

To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please read our Privacy Collection Notice.  

Only designated staff in the NSW Department of Customer Service will have access to:

• your Panel member profile information
• responses to research activities from which your identity is apparent or could reasonably be ascertained
• any correspondence with you in relation to the Panel.

This is so they can manage the operations of the NSW Customer Survey Panel.  

If you provide information that makes us concerned about your safety or security, we may need to report our concerns, for example to police or other emergency services. 

Otherwise, we will not share your personal information with any other person or body unless you consent, or we have some other legal basis for doing so.  

To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please read our Privacy Collection Notice.  

We use this information (such as gender, year of birth, suburb or town, language used) to help us select participants and invite you to take part in research activities.  

This information also helps us make sure, as far as possible, that the NSW Customer Survey Panel represents the diverse NSW population.  

To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please read our Privacy Collection Notice.  

We ask for your email address as you will receive all our communications about the NSW Customer Survey Panel by email. 

When you sign up, we also validate your email address and mobile number, each via a one-time code. This is to help make sure, as far as possible, that people only have one membership for the NSW Customer Survey Panel at any one time.  

To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please read our Privacy Collection Notice.  

Yes, current NSW Government employees can join the NSW Customer Survey Panel.  

If you need to update any of your NSW Customer Survey Panel membership details, please contact us. 

It is important that you keep your NSW Customer Survey Panel membership details up to date. If you change your email address and do not let us know, we will not be able to contact you.  

To remain an active member, you will need to complete at least one research activity, if invited, every 12 months, or have joined the NSW Customer Survey Panel within the last 12 months.  

We will email you if your membership is inactive, to confirm if you want to remain a member. If we do not hear from you in the set timeframe, we will unsubscribe you from the Panel. 

We also expect members to behave respectfully and provide true information. Read more about what is expected of members in the Terms and Conditions. 

Yes, you can leave the NSW Customer Survey Panel at any time by clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link in emails you receive from us. If you experience any issues unsubscribing, please contact us. 

If you want to re-join the Panel after you have unsubscribed, please contact us.  

The online surveys will cover a range of current and emerging topics that relate to people living and working in NSW. For example, topics could include the arts, the environment, technology, the economy, and other areas.  

When you take part in an online survey, we may ask for details about you, such as demographic information, your views, and experiences, which we will use to help us deliver better government services and initiatives for the NSW community.  

We use your Panel member profile information to help us select participants and invite you, by email, to take part in online surveys. You may need to check your junk email folder and adjust your settings if you cannot find emails from us. 

Yes. If you receive an invitation, it is up to you to choose if you would like to take part. If you choose not to take part, it won’t affect you receiving future invitations.  

To remain an active member, you will need to complete at least one online survey, if invited, every 12 months, or have joined the NSW Customer Survey Panel within the last 12 months.  

The frequency of receiving invitations to take part in online surveys varies by member. We cannot guarantee that you will receive an invitation. It depends on the online survey we are running and whether you are selected. We may invite you to take part in an online survey at any point while you remain a member.  

No. Incentives are not paid for completing our online surveys.  

We will remove any information that identifies you, to create a de-identified data set for use by the NSW Department of Customer Service (DCS) and others for research and analysis purposes. 

By ‘de-identified’, we mean removing any identifying information, so that your identity is not apparent or reasonably ascertainable from the data set. Surveys are not anonymous though as designated staff in DCS will have access to your Panel member profile information and responses for Panel management purposes.  

We may publish or otherwise share research outputs and de-identified data from our online surveys with others.  

To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please read our Privacy Collection Notice.  

We will update this website with the latest about the NSW Customer Survey Panel and may also email you with updates.

We may publish de-identified findings from the online surveys on this website.