The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies - An Ethos CRS and VisibleThread
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An Ethos CRS
and VisibleThread
readability report
The 2021
readability
scorecard:
Australian
Government
agencies
© Ethos CRS 2021 All rights reserved.
CONTENTS Executive summary 1 Introduction 2 Methodology 3 Measuring readability 4 Findings 6 Issues 11 Sources and references 15 List of agencies 16 About us 17
Our aim in
The 2021 readability
scorecard: Australian
Government agencies
is to compare the readability
of documents produced by
agencies of the Australian
public service.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2021 readability scorecard:
Australian Government agencies
measures, for the first time, the
readability of documents and
reports produced by Australian
The agencies that produced
Government agencies.
Ethos CRS reveals that Australian
Government agencies use a form of
English with overlong sentences and
the most readable reports
excessive use of the passive voice. were: the Australian Securities
We assessed the readability of
documents using a language analysis
and Investments Commission;
platform developed by VisibleThread.
Defence Housing Australia;
and the Department of
This platform measures school grade
level, sentence length and percentage
of sentences that are active or passive.
Based on these metrics we calculated Infrastructure, Transport,
a readability index. The higher the
score on this index, the more readable
Regional Development and
the text. A score of 100 indicates that
a document meets recommended
Communications.
readability standards.
The top 3 agencies in our survey were: For grade level, Defence Housing Development and Communications
Australia had the best score, recording with 83.4% active sentences and the
» the Australian Securities and
an average of 13.0 across 4 documents. Australian Securities and Investments
Investments Commission, with
Services Australia was close behind Commission with 83.2%.
a readability score of 34.5
with 13.2, followed by the Australian
We analysed 136 documents from
» Defence Housing Australia, with Bureau of Statistics with 13.7.
35 agencies — those with 400 or more
a score of 34.3
On sentence length, Defence Housing staff. We also undertook 2 case studies of
» the Department of Infrastructure, Australia had the best score, with large agency websites: Services Australia
Transport, Regional Development an average of 21.9% long sentences. and the Australian Taxation Office.
and Communications, with a Next was the Australian Taxation
The website case studies showed the
score of 33.6. Office with 25.1%, closely followed
enormous dividends from investing in
by Services Australia with 25.2%.
clear writing. Services Australia was
The agency that used active voice the outstanding, with a readability score
most was the Department of Industry, of 119.3, higher than our benchmark
Science, Energy and Resources with of 100. This was far above the best
an average of 85.1% active voice document in our document survey,
sentences. Next were the Department which scored 50.8.
of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 1INTRODUCTION
The aim of The
2021 readability
scorecard: Australian
Government
agencies is to shine
a light on the quality
of writing in the
public service.
Government has a duty to be open
and clear with citizens about its
activities. Clear communication helps
government do its job better and
more efficiently.
Government in Australia scores
lower for competence and ethics
than media, business and
non-government organisations,
according to the Edelman Trust
Barometer (Edelman 2020).
Government can do better. The best All agencies face the challenge of Creating documents that are readable
way to improve trust is for government delivering complex information to a and clear is an important first step for
to be open, clear and transparent diverse range of audiences – including governments to take to address these
about what it’s doing and why. citizens whose literacy levels vary challenges. In The 2021 readability
widely. Readability, accessibility and scorecard, we:
clarity are important because people
» summarise key concepts of
who use government services should
readability
be able to understand their rights
and responsibilities. Only half of » detail our key findings
Australians have ‘adequate or better’ » outline the important issues
skills at reading documents, according that arise
to the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS 2013). » explain our research methodology.
2 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auMETHODOLOGY
Our aim The readability index We excluded agencies that did not
have at least 3 documents that met
Our aim in The 2021 readability The readability index is a weighted the selection criteria. The agencies
scorecard is to compare the quality average, inverted so that a higher we excluded were: Administrative
of writing across agencies of the value indicates a better result. This Appeals Tribunal, Australian
Australian public service. This value is calibrated against a document Government Solicitor, Australian
research is the first of its kind in that meets benchmark scores for the Signals Directorate, Federal Court,
Australia to measure and compare the 3 component factors. This document IP Australia, National Indigenous
readability of government agencies’ would score 100. Other documents Australians Agency, Office of the
documents. The metrics we use can then be compared with this Director of Public Prosecutions and
will help agencies to produce more benchmark. Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman.
readable documents in future.
This left us with 136 documents from
Selection of documents 35 agencies. The agencies are listed
Our method We used the annual report and
at page 16. To find out more about the
results for your agency or to obtain
We identified agencies with more than corporate plan from each agency
a list of the documents we analysed,
400 staff and selected 3 or 4 documents because requirements for these are
contact Ethos CRS.
from each. In this report we use standard across government.
‘agencies’ to include departments.
To broaden the sample, we also
To ensure a reliable result, we selected, in most cases, 2 other Website case studies
converted each document to documents. For the other documents, For each website case study, we
unformatted text and removed all we looked for the most recent reports reviewed 10 webpages for a user
text except complete sentences. of 20 pages or more. We preferred undertaking a typical task. The
This meant removing headings, reports of 50 pages or more from Services Australia user was looking for
lists, captions and references. The 2020, if we could access them. We information about Jobseeker payments
VisibleThread platforms are designed used shorter reports back to 2015 if during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
to assess full sentences and are most required to meet our quota. There ATO user was a newcomer to the
accurate when sentence fragments, were 4 agencies with only one other workforce wanting to find out about
extraneous coding and graphic suitable document. For those agencies how to lodge tax returns.
elements are removed. we analysed 3 documents each.
The methodology for analysing the
text in the websites was the same as
for the documents in the main study.
We removed headings, bullet lists
and other material so as to measure
only complete sentences. Then we
calculated the readability score based
on the readability index.
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 3MEASURING READABILITY
To assess the The readability index The benchmark readability score
of 100 is most relevant for content
writing quality of The readability index is a measure designed to communicate with the
made up of multiple elements that
documents in our we combined to create a composite,
broader Australian public. Many
of the documents in this survey
survey, we used single score. have a more specialised readership,
VisibleThread’s A higher readability score in the and a benchmark of 100 would
VT Writer to score readability index indicates more not be appropriate. However, the
readable text. The benchmark for a readability score is still a useful tool
for grade level, document is a readability score of 100. for comparing the readability of any
percentage of We used benchmarks recommended type of document.
long sentences, by the Australian Government Style By way of comparison, The 2021
Manual and VisibleThread:
and percentage readability scorecard has a readability
» a grade level of 7 or lower score of 62.8, which is better than
of active and any of the 136 documents in the
» no more than 5% long sentences
passive voice document survey.
at least 96% active voice
sentences. Based
»
sentences.
on these 3 metrics,
we calculated a
readability index.
Readability index elements
• grade level
• long sentences
• active voice
4 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auReadability elements contribute to reading clarity
Elements of
reading clarity
Grade level
Other elements
The grade level metric uses the of clear writing
Flesch-Kincaid grade level test, an
Readability • format – images,
industry-standard formula. The index elements font, line spacing,
formula is based on sentence and • grade level headings, bullets
word length. It measures how easy or • long sentences • logic and structure
difficult a text is for someone to read.
• active voice • medium – such as
A lower grade level means a text is
digital or print
easier to read.
• context – where, when
The Style Manual recommends and why the user is
writing to a year 7 level or below. reading this text
Year level is called grade level in the
Flesch-Kincaid test. Grade level is an
American term. Writing at this level
ensures content can be understood by
most Australians. Some government
documents, such as many of those Active voice Other aspects of
we analysed in The 2021 readability
Writing is clearer when you use the clear writing
scorecard, are about complex topics
active voice. The Style Manual states:
that may require using longer words The metrics used in the readability
‘Use active rather than passive voice.
and sentences. For this kind of content index are a useful way to analyse and
Active voice helps users understand
a benchmark higher than year 7 is compare the readability of documents,
who is doing what. It can also help
appropriate. but they are only a partial guide.
people know exactly what their
responsibility is’ (DTA 2020). In In this report we use ‘readability’
Long sentences short, the active voice builds in to mean the scores created by the
accountability and transparency. readability index. These only measure
The Style Manual recommends you
some of the factors that make up
write sentences that average up to VisibleThread reports the percentage
clear writing.
15 words and are no longer than of sentences that are written in the
25 words. This is in line with advice active and the passive voice, and The scores measure what is easily
from VisibleThread, which identifies recommends that passive voice quantified – sentence length, word
sentences with 25 or more words as sentences make up fewer than 4% of length and active voice. They don’t
being long. It recommends keeping sentences. This means you should use take account of other aspects of
long sentences below 5% of the total. at least 96% active voice sentences. readability. There are many of these,
including:
As the Style Manual explains,
sentences that contain just one idea » logical flow and coherence of text
are easier to read. Longer, complex
» complexity of ideas
sentences are harder to read.
» structure
» structural formatting elements such
as line spacing, use of headings,
images and other visual aids
» the varying ways people read
digital and print content.
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 5FINDINGS
Finding 1
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission had the most
readable documents
The top agency for readable text Readability scores for the top 5 agencies
was the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission with a Rank Agency Readability
readability score of 34.5. Next were score
Defence Housing Australia with 34.3 1 Australian Securities and Investments Commission 34.5
and the Department of Infrastructure,
2 Defence Housing Australia 34.3
Transport, Regional Development and
Communications with 33.6. 3 Department of Infrasructure, Transport, Regional 33.6
Development and Communications
The best individual document, the
Defence Housing Australia corporate 4 Australian Taxation Office 33.5
plan, had a readability score of 50.8. 5 Services Australia 33.4
The average readability score across
all 35 agencies was 28.5. The lowest Average of all documents 28.5
agency score was 23.2. See Methodology for details of how scores are calculated
Readability scores for all agencies by decile and average
Average 28.5
Readability score
34.1 32.3 30.6 29.7 28.9 28.2 27.8 26.2 24.9 23.7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Decile
Deciles are a way of splitting a set of data into 10 approximately equal sections. In this chart, the decile
rank arranges the average of each section from highest to lowest. In some other charts, the ranking is
from lowest to highest.
6 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auFinding 2
Defence Housing Australia had the best grade level score
Defence Housing Australia had the Grade level for the top 5 agencies
best score for grade level, recording
an average of 13.0. Services Australia Rank Agency Grade
was close behind with 13.2, followed 1 Defence Housing Australia 13.0
by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
with 13.7. 2 Services Australia 13.2
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics 13.7
The average grade level for all
documents was 15.2, suitable for 4 Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 14.0
third-year university students.
5 Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission 14.0
The 2 best documents scored
Average of all documents 15.2
around 11. These were Defence
Housing Australia’s annual report See Methodology for details of how scores are calculated
and a Department of Health report
on students’ use of tobacco, alcohol
and drugs.
Grade level scores for all agencies by decile and average
Average 15.2
Grade level
13.3 14.1 14.5 14.7 15.1 15.3 15.6 16.0 16.4 16.8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Decile
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 7Finding 3
Defence Housing Australia had the best score for short sentence length
Defence Housing Australia had the best Long sentence scores for the top 5 agencies
score for sentence length, recording an
average of 21.9% long sentences. Next Rank Agency Percentage of
was the Australian Taxation Office with long sentences
25.1%, closely followed by Services 1 Defence Housing Australia 21.9
Australia with 25.2%.
2 Australian Taxation Office 25.1
The best individual document for
3 Services Australia 25.2
sentence length was Defence Housing
Australia’s corporate plan. It had 8.8% 4 Australian Securities and Investments Commission 25.7
long sentences. This compares with the
5 Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional 26.9
35.7% average for all 136 documents in Development and Communications
our survey.
Average of all documents 35.7
Next best was Defence Housing
Australia’s annual report, with See Methodology for details of how scores are calculated
12.4% long sentences.
Percentage of long sentences for all agencies by decile and average
Average 35.7
Long sentences %
24.1 28.2 32.3 34.1 34.8 36.0 37.5 39.8 42.8 45.7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Decile
8 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auFinding 4
The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources had the highest
use of the active voice
The agency that used active voice the Active voice scores for the top 5 agencies
most was the Department of Industry,
Science, Energy and Resources. It Rank Agency Percentage
had an average of 85.1% active voice of active
sentences. Next was the Department sentences
of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional 1 Department of Industry, Science, Energy 85.1
Development and Communications, and Resources
with 83.4%. Then came the
2 Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional 83.4
Australian Securities and Investments
Development and Communications
Commission with 83.2%.
3 Australian Securities and Investments Commission 83.2
The best individual document for active
voice was the Department of the Prime 4 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 81.2
Minister and Cabinet’s corporate plan, 5 Australian Financial Security Authority 81.1
with 87.9% active voice sentences.
Average of all documents 75.6
See Methodology for details of how scores are calculated
Percentage of active voice sentences for all agencies by decile and average
Average 75.6
Active sentences
83.9 80.8 79.3 77.7 76.4 74.9 74.0 73.1 70.9 66.4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Decile
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 9Finding 5
The websites in our case studies are more readable
As well as our document survey, For the website case studies we The readability score for ATO case
we undertook case studies of 2 large used the same metrics as for the study was 51.2 – also better than any of
agency websites: documents in the main study. Again, the 136 documents we assessed in the
we only tested complete sentences. document survey.
» Services Australia
This means we did not take account
With a grade level of 7.6, the Services
» the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). of other features that would improve
Australia website pages met the
The public engage with these agencies readability, such as use of bulleted
Style Manual benchmark. Their
through their websites. The websites lists and headings.
result of only 0.3% long sentences
are a core part of the agencies’ The readability scores for the was outstanding, better than the
business, so agencies have invested websites were substantially better benchmark of 5%. Active voice
time and resources to make them as than for any of the documents in our sentences at 98.0% were better than
easy as possible for users. document survey. the benchmark of 96%.
Services Australia’s readability score The ATO website pages had a grade
was 119.3, higher than our benchmark level of 8.9. There were 17.4% long
of 100. This was far above the score sentences and 86.0% active voice
of 50.8 for the best document we sentences.
surveyed.
These exceptional results show
what is possible, even with complex
information.
Readability scores of website case studies, compared with agencies in
the document survey
120
Services Australia
119.3
100
80
Readability score
60
Australian Taxation Office
51.2
40
20
0
Website case studies Document survey
10 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auISSUES
The 2021 readability
scorecard shows that
when agencies invest
in clear writing the
readability of their
text improves greatly.
Improving readability makes
organisations more effective and
saves them and their users time
and resources.
All 136 documents in our document
survey fell below our benchmarks for
good readability, to varying degrees.
But our case studies of the websites
of Services Australia and the ATO
showed how readability can be Effect of the size and This raises the question: If it’s not the
type of work an agency does or its size
improved. The lifeblood of these two type of an agency on
agencies is providing services. When that determines its readability scores,
readability scores what is it?
it really mattered, these 2 agencies
produced text with vastly better There was no significant correlation Why do readability scores vary across
readability than the documents in our between the size of an agency and its agencies regardless of agency size
document survey. readability scores in our document and type?
survey. There were smaller agencies
in the higher and lower deciles and Most likely, this reflects differences in
larger agencies in the higher and agencies’ cultures and the investment
lower deciles. they have made in developing the
writing skills of their staff.
In the same way, there was no
significant correlation between A well-written, highly readable
readability scores and the type of document is the product of many
agency. There were central agencies things, for example:
with readability scores in the second » the standards writers work to
decile and the eighth decile. There
» the resources devoted to clear
were regulatory agencies in the first,
writing
fourth, fifth and tenth deciles. Line
agencies ranged across the field. » the agencies’ systems and
processes.
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 11Benefits of high Users and organisations Productivity benefits of
producing readable documents
readability scores In 2019–20, users viewed pages on the
more efficiently
Services Australia website 324 million
The work of producing clear, For the Australian public service as a
times (Services Australia 2020). It
readable documents requires a whole, we can calculate the benefits of
had 9.3 million Centrelink customers
sustained investment, but generates efficiently producing clear documents
during the year. It’s no wonder Services
a huge social and financial pay-off. in 2 ways.
Australia makes a huge effort making
This pay-off comes in 2 ways.
its website clear and easy to read and First, the Australian Bureau of
The first is the benefit to users and understand. The better the website Statistics estimates public sector
organisations themselves. and its other documents explain its cash wages and salaries in 2018–19 as
services, the better the agency can do totalling $167 billion (ABS 2019). Let’s
The second benefit is about
its job. say that public sector employees spend
productivity within organisations.
Readable documents imply a skilled The ATO also has a huge task. Its clients at least 20% of their time writing or
workforce and a clear writing culture, include 11.5 million individuals and reviewing documents. The annual cost
which allows for more efficient 4.2 million small businesses (ATO 2020). of this time is $33.4 billion.
production of documents. If an organisation reduces the time
There are big savings for both agencies
and users. It’s hard to put a cost on spent researching and drafting
users’ time, but let’s say an agency and reviewing documents by just
servicing a million users saves each of 1%, productivity benefits would
them, on average, an hour per year. If total $334 million each year.
their time is valued at $50 per hour, the Second, think about the costs and
savings total $50 million per year. benefits of investing in clear writing
Services Australia and the ATO make for a team of 10 staff. Imagine an
huge cost savings by encouraging APS manager invests $25,000 over
people to use digital service channels. 5 years to build the writing skills of
Users will be less likely to use more their team. Say the team comprises
expensive face-to-face and telephone APS and EL officers and to produce
service channels if they can easily documents of the required standard
use digital channels. That means they work 99 hours instead of 100 –
information on these channels has to that is, they are 1% more efficient.
be written clearly. Using a cost–benefit framework,
Other agencies are not as large as Ethos CRS estimated that the
Services Australia and the ATO, but returns on such an investment
their fundamental task remains the would be considerable. Such a
same – communicating effectively to program would generate a return
get the job done. on investment of 113%. That is,
an investment of $100 generates
productivity benefits of $213.
12 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auImproving readability Short sentences are easier to read
Simple changes to the way you write This is a long sentence from a document in our survey. We have rewritten it with
can have a big impact on readability. shorter sentences it to make it more readable.
These changes are easy to list, but
harder to achieve: ORIGINAL COPY SUGGESTED COPY
» Write shorter sentences.
While all of the above These approaches will help
» Use shorter words. approaches will attract motivated young people who
» Use the active voice. motivated young people who are already involved with, for
are likely already engaged in example, voluntary organisations.
Here is an example. voluntary organisations or other However, to support marginalised
forms of civic engagement, young people, we must build
feedback from consultations on existing networks and
on models that work to relationships. Service providers
support marginalised young and youth workers therefore
people identified the need provide essential support.
to use existing networks and Marginalised young people also
relationships (whether that be need safe places to meet.
service providers, with youth
workers, or through advocacy/ Now we have 4 sentences,
peak bodies and their affiliates) averaging 12 words, and a
and meeting in trusted grade level of 12.2.
environments.
This sentence has 66 words,
and a grade level of 33.
Simple changes to the
way you write can really
improve readability.
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 13CAVEATS
The 2021 readability scorecard
readability metrics are very useful,
but they have limitations.
First, the readability metrics don’t Third, the variation in purposes means
capture all the aspects of clear writing. the benchmarks aren’t always right
They are useful, but they don’t measure for all documents. We used single
the overall structure, logical flow and benchmarks for each metric to make it
coherence. They also don’t include easy to compare documents. Agencies
formatting elements. may want to adjust their benchmarks
according to their purpose.
Second, not all documents are
equal. The biggest difference in our The benchmarks we have used here,
readability scores was between reports and those defined in the Style Manual,
and websites. There was also big may be too ambitious for some sorts of
variation among the reports. government writing. Instead of aiming
for a score of 100 on our readability
One reason for variation among the
index, 50 may be a more appropriate
reports is that their purposes were
score for some documents. Achieving
different. They had varying goals
that score would still represent a big
and audiences. The other reason they
improvement.
varied is that the quality of writing
ranged widely, even among documents
with similar goals and audiences. For
any type of document, readability can
be improved.
14 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auSOURCES AND REFERENCES
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) APSC FAQ: The APS, What is the
(2013) Programme for the International Australian Public Service, APSC
Assessment of Adult Competencies, website, accessed 28 October 2020.
Australia.
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (2020)
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Annual report 2019–20.
(2017) Census of Population and
Digital Transformation Agency
Housing: Reflecting Australia – Stories
Australian Government Style Manual,
from the Census, 2016, Catalogue
DTA website, accessed 28 October 2020.
number 2071.0.
Edelman (2020) Trust in Australia:
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Edelman Trust Barometer 2020.
(2019) Employment and earnings, public
sector, Australia, 2018–19. Services Australia (2020) Annual report
2019–20.
Australian Business Register (2020)
Federal agencies, ABR website, Tableau Public APS employees
accessed 28 October 2020. details by Agency, June 2001–2020,
Tableau Public website, accessed
Australian Public Service Commission
28 October 2020.
(APSC) (2019) APS agency listing –
agencies covered by the Public Service
Act 1999, APSC website, accessed
28 October 2020.
The 2021 readability scorecard: Australian Government agencies 15LIST OF AGENCIES
In our document survey we analysed documents from these 35 agencies.
Aboriginal Hostels Ltd Department of Education, Skills and Employment
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Department of Finance
Attorney-General’s Department Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australian Bureau of Statistics Department of Health
Australian Communications and Media Authority Department of Home Affairs
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional
Australian Electoral Commission Development and Communications
Australian Federal Police Department of Parliamentary Services (Parliament
of Australia)
Australian Financial Security Authority
Department of Social Services
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Australian Taxation Office
Geoscience Australia
Australian Trade and Investment Commission
National Disability Insurance Agency
Bureau of Meteorology
Services Australia
Comcare
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Defence Housing Australia
Treasury
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
Department of Defence
16 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auABOUT US
Clear writing.
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writing and clear English for government and business.
Our expertise Writing compelling
To find out more about how we
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18 www.ethoscrs.com.au | service@ethoscrs.com.auImproving readability makes organisations more effective and saves them time and resources.
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