Worst Call Centre Hold Times in Australia
Death, taxes, and being stuck on hold. For a lot of Australians, the third one feels just as certain as the first two.
Banks, telcos, utilities and government departments are the names people complain about most — but is the reputation deserved, or is it just noise from a frustrated minority?
This article uses ACXPA's own data to show what call centre wait times in Australia actually look like, why they happen, and what you can do about them — whether you run a contact centre or you're the one stuck in the queue.
What the data shows
The typical caller is answered inside a minute — but a long tail of poor performers drags the industry average well past two minutes, and some sectors are far worse.
Why you're really waiting
Long hold times aren't an accident.
They're the downstream result of a deliberate business decision about how much service to resource for.
What you can do
Consumers can cut their own wait with a few simple moves; businesses can fix it with better workforce planning, not just more staff.
The truth about call centre wait times
Before you judge a call centre by your own experience on hold, it helps to understand one piece of contact centre logic.
The metric that governs how long you wait is the Service Level — the percentage of calls answered within a set time.
A target written as "80/20" means the centre aims to answer 80% of calls within 20 seconds.
Here's the catch. If a centre hits an 80/20 target, 80% of callers get answered inside 20 seconds — but the other 20% wait longer, sometimes far longer.
As a customer, the only wait time you care about is your own. If you land in that 20%, your experience is nothing like the "average" the company reports.
Plain English
A good average hides a bad minority. Even a well-run centre that hits its target still leaves a slice of callers waiting much longer than everyone else.
When people say a company's hold times are terrible, they're usually the unlucky ones sitting in that tail.
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Look at the Call Distribution report below. It shows how a single day's calls spread across different wait times.
Most callers sit in the fast band on the left — but the red band on the right shows the callers who waited anywhere from 20 seconds to four minutes for the same service.
Even when a centre hits its target, a slice of callers — the red band — wait far longer than the majority.
The important part is what sits behind that chart.
Setting a Service Level is a conscious choice, made by senior executives, that directly shapes how long customers wait.
Aim high — say 80% of calls answered within 20 seconds — and you resource for short waits. Aim low — say 70% within 10 minutes — and you've decided long waits are acceptable.
There's a direct link between Service Level and cost. Centres model it with an Erlang staffing calculator, because every improvement in wait time means more people on the phones.
High Service Level
A deliberate investment in short waits: more agents rostered against forecast demand, higher cost, fewer frustrated callers in the tail.
Low Service Level
A deliberate decision to save cost by letting customers wait. The long hold time you experience isn't bad luck — it's the plan.
So when a company keeps you on hold for 15 minutes, someone, somewhere, decided that was acceptable.
Which raises the obvious question: how are Australian call centres actually performing? The live leaderboards below rank the best and worst individual call centres by their average wait over the last 12 months, from real mystery-shopping calls.
Data accurate as of June 2026
What the data really reveals
There are two ways to measure call centre wait times, and they tell different stories.
One is what centres report about themselves. The other is what customers actually experience when a real call is placed — which is exactly what the live leaderboards above capture.
Start with the self-reported picture. In ACXPA's 2026 Contact Centre Best Practice Report, the industry average speed of answer for voice calls was 149 seconds — but the median was just 55 seconds.
That gap between the average and the median is the whole story.
Most callers are answered inside a minute. A small number of very slow centres — with waits stretching to 21 minutes — pull the average up to nearly two and a half times the median.
It's the Call Distribution chart all over again: benchmark against the average alone and you'll badly misread what customers are living through.
Self-reported speed of answer by sector (seconds)
Here's how centres rate their own voice speed of answer, ranked by median.
| Sector | Median | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Not for Profit | 30s | 57s |
| Automotive | 30s | 64s |
| Transport & Logistics | 30s | 65s |
| Education | 31s | 58s |
| Travel | 38s | 67s |
| Public Sector | 48s | 108s |
| Retail & FMCG | 48s | 127s |
| Utilities (Gas, Electricity, Telco) | 52s | 227s |
| Healthcare | 65s | 150s |
| Insurance | 66s | 94s |
| Banking & Finance | 79s | 128s |
On paper it looks reasonable: most sectors report a median under a minute. Banking & Finance carries the highest median (79s) and Utilities the slowest average (227s).
The uncomfortable part: most centres miss their own target
An 80/30 Service Level — 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds — is widely treated as the industry baseline, not a stretch goal.
Yet across the centres that reported both a target and a result, roughly three-quarters fell short of their own Grade of Service goal. Of 14 centres targeting 80/30, only three actually hit it.
Setting a target is the starting point, not the outcome. The centres that consistently meet theirs tend to win on workforce planning discipline and forecasting accuracy — not simply by throwing more staff at the phones.
So even by their own targets, most centres fall short — and this is still the flattering, self-reported view. Hold that thought.
What mystery shopping actually finds
Now the other lens. ACXPA's mystery shopping places real, anonymous calls to Australian call centres and times the wait from the moment you enter the queue.
One important caveat before you read the numbers: to stay anonymous, we call new-business and sales lines, not general service queues.
Those sales lines are usually a company's best-resourced phones — so if anything, the waits below flatter the everyday service experience rather than exaggerate it.
| Sector | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged Care | – | 1:20 | 1:38 | 2:17 |
| Banks | 4:22 | 3:26 | 3:48 | 4:46 |
| Car Insurance | 0:58 | 1:57 | 1:15 | 1:35 |
| Councils | 3:49 | 2:28 | 1:47 | 2:08 |
| Education | 2:12 | 1:14 | 1:22 | 1:40 |
| Energy | 1:23 | 1:26 | 1:12 | 1:49 |
| Internet | 1:54 | 0:56 | 0:45 | 1:53 |
| Industry average | 2:32 | 1:57 | 1:49 | 2:26 |
*2026 figures are year-to-date to April 2026.
Even on their best-resourced lines, banks are the standout offenders — the slowest sector in every year measured, and back up to 4:46 in 2026 after a couple of years of improvement.
The industry line is a warning against declaring victory. The average wait improved three years running, from 2:32 in 2023 to 1:49 in 2025 — then jumped straight back to 2:26 across the first four months of 2026.
Individual sectors tell the same story. Internet providers cut waits to a best-in-class 0:45 in 2025 before slipping back to 1:53, while aged care has drifted steadily slower each year.
How many callers wait more than 10 minutes?
Averages only tell you so much. The sharper question is how many people are left waiting a really long time — so we also track the share of calls answered within 10 minutes of entering the queue.
Read that again: across 2025, roughly one in four people calling a bank — including the home-loan enquiries banks actively want — weren't answered within ten minutes of joining the queue.
Best-in-class sectors prove it's achievable: internet providers answered 98.6% of calls within 10 minutes, councils 96.8% and energy 96.3%.
The disconnect worth noting
Put the two lenses side by side. Centres tell the survey that the typical caller is answered in under a minute.
Yet when we actually call — and remember, we call the priority sales lines — waits run to several minutes, and around a quarter of bank callers wait more than ten.
The sales-line caveat only sharpens the point: those queues usually get priority, so the everyday service experience is likely worse still. Different methods, same conclusion — and banks look poor through every lens.
That's exactly why the live leaderboards above are worth a look — they rank individual call centres on a rolling 12-month average, so you can see who's actually answering the phone lately rather than in a fixed calendar year.
Centrelink: the wait time everyone knows
No conversation about Australian hold times is complete without Centrelink.
Services Australia has been the poster child for long call centre waits for more than a decade — and the numbers show why.
In 2024–25 — the most recent full year — Services Australia served 58.6% of customers within 15 minutes across all channels. That's still short of its 70% target, though up from 55.2% the year before.
On the phone it's tougher. Just 39.5% of social-security calls were answered within 15 minutes — so roughly six in ten callers on those lines still waited longer than a quarter of an hour.
It's the Service Level point writ large. Even the target itself — 70% answered within 15 minutes — treats a 15-minute wait as acceptable.
At its worst, the average Centrelink wait hit almost 32 minutes back in the year to March 2024. Credit where it's due: social-security callers waited more than 8 minutes less in 2024–25 than the year before, helped by cutting "congestion" messages — the "we're busy, call back" recording — by 85.5%.
The turnaround
The gains followed 3,000 extra permanent staff and a $1.8 billion service-delivery investment in the 2024–25 Budget.
A Place in Queue call-back service also scaled up — 1.6 million callbacks offered in 2024–25, with 58% of customers taking the option rather than holding.
The direction is right. But with 44.3 million calls a year and its own 15-minute target still unmet, Centrelink remains a long way from "good".
What actually drives customer satisfaction
Wait time is only part of the story. When something goes wrong, what customers remember most is how the rest of the experience felt.
The fundamentals haven't changed in years — yet plenty of companies still struggle to execute them.
Knowledgeable, empathetic staff
A helpful agent who can convey genuine empathy keeps customers satisfied even when things go wrong. That takes the right tools — knowledge bases, CRM — plus proper training in service and complaints handling.
Make the process easy
Invest in a genuinely useful FAQ and self-service. When customers still need a human, make it easy to reach one — and offer call-backs at peak times instead of leaving people stuck on hold.
Act on feedback
Most companies collect customer feedback. Very few act on it. Close the loop: review it, make changes, and tell customers what changed — that's where feedback turns into loyalty.
Resolve it first time
Nothing drives satisfaction like not having to call back. Give agents the authority and information to finish the job in one interaction — a fast answer followed by three follow-up calls still leaves a customer frustrated.
How to get through faster
You can't fix a company's staffing decisions — but a few simple moves can cut your own wait and get you a better outcome.
Check the support page first
Businesses increasingly push customers to self-serve with FAQs, guides and how-to videos. A two-minute look at the support page can save you the call entirely.
Pick the most specific menu option
The "press 1 for this" menu is annoying, but choosing the option that best matches your issue routes you to the right team — so you're less likely to be transferred or have to start over.
Call at off-peak times, and ask about call-backs
Mondays, lunchtimes and just after opening are the busiest windows. Mid-week and mid-morning are usually quieter. If a call-back option is offered, take it — you keep your place in the queue without the hold music.
Be respectful to the agent
Nine times out of ten the wait isn't the agent's fault — it's a resourcing decision made well above them. A calm, friendly tone makes them far more likely to go the extra mile for you.
Escalate if you're getting nowhere
Most Australian industries have an ombudsman or regulator you can raise concerns with. And if a company simply doesn't value your experience, you're always free to take your business elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Details
What is the average call centre hold time in Australia?
It depends on the measure. In ACXPA's 2026 Contact Centre Best Practice Report, the industry average speed of answer for voice calls was 149 seconds, but the median was just 55 seconds.
In other words, most callers are answered inside a minute, while a long tail of slow performers drags the average up. For the best and worst performers over the last 12 months, see the live leaderboards above.
Details
Which industries have the worst call centre wait times?
In ACXPA's mystery shopping, banks are the standout — the slowest sector every year measured, averaging 4:46 in 2026 (year-to-date to April). Note this tests anonymous new-business/sales lines, which are usually a company's best-resourced phones.
On self-reported speed of answer in the 2026 Best Practice Report, Utilities was slowest (227-second average) and Banking & Finance carried the highest median at 79 seconds. The latest 12-month rankings are in the leaderboards above.
Details
Why are Centrelink call wait times so long?
Volume and resourcing. Services Australia handles tens of millions of calls a year, and its long-standing target has been to answer 70% of calls within 15 minutes — so even on target, a long wait is built in.
In 2024–25, 58.6% of customers were served within 15 minutes — still short of the 70% target, and on the phone just 39.5% of social-security calls made it inside 15 minutes. Average waits had peaked near 32 minutes in 2023–24 before 3,000 extra staff, a $1.8 billion investment and a call-back service helped turn it around.
Details
Why do I wait so long when the company says its wait times are low?
Because an average hides the spread. A centre hitting an 80/20 Service Level still leaves 20% of callers waiting longer than 20 seconds — sometimes several minutes.
If you land in that minority, your experience is nothing like the "average" figure the company reports.
Details
What is a good Service Level for a call centre?
An 80/30 Service Level — 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds — is widely treated as the industry baseline.
Even so, about three-quarters of centres in the 2026 report missed their own Grade of Service target. A stated target is a starting point, not a guarantee.
Details
Are call centre wait times getting better or worse?
In ACXPA's mystery shopping, the industry average wait improved three years running — from 2:32 in 2023 to 1:49 in 2025 — before jumping back to 2:26 across the first four months of 2026.
So the recent trend is worse, not better. Performance also varies sharply by sector and season, so the live leaderboards above are the best guide to the current picture.
Details
How can I get through to a call centre faster?
Check the support or FAQ page first, choose the most specific menu option, call at off-peak times, and take a call-back if it's offered.
Be respectful to the agent, and if you can't get a resolution, escalate to the relevant ombudsman or industry body.
Where to next
Australian Call Centre Rankings
The live scoreboard behind the leaderboards above — real calls to Australian call centres, ranked on wait times and more over a rolling 12 months.
View the RankingsCall Centre Benchmarking
See how your own contact centre compares against the industry on wait times, quality and accessibility — independent and vendor-agnostic.
Explore BenchmarkingCall Centre Hub
Frameworks, standards and tools for running a contact centre — including the CX Standards that sit behind the leaderboard colour ratings.
Go to the Call Centre HubFree Erlang Calculator
Model the direct trade-off between staffing and wait times yourself with the free Erlang staffing calculator in the WFM Hub.
Open the CalculatorRelated articles
Summary
The level of service a company delivers on the phone is rarely an accident. It's a deliberate choice about how much to invest in staff, training and technology.
The data backs that up. Most Australian callers are answered inside a minute, but a long tail of poorly resourced centres drags the industry average past two minutes — and some sectors, like utilities and banking, are consistently slower.
Worse, roughly three-quarters of centres miss their own Service Level target, which tells you the problem is usually planning and prioritisation, not bad luck.
No one gets it right 100% of the time. But consistently poor hold times are a signal of where a business has chosen to spend — and where it hasn't.
Who have you found to be the worst offenders? The live leaderboards above track a rolling 12-month average — check back to see who's improving and who isn't.
- About the Author
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After more than 30 years in contact centres and CX, I’ve built, run, outsourced and transformed just about every kind of customer operation there is — and I’m still as fascinated by getting it right as I was on day one. That’s what I love about this profession: there’s always more to learn.
As founder and CEO of ACXPA, I’m on a mission to raise the standard of customer experience as a profession — Australian-founded, and increasingly on the global stage. Through ACXPA and our specialist training arm, CX Skills, we help businesses and their frontline teams deliver customer experiences that actually work — on the phone, digital and in person — with the skills, standards and insight to back it up.
Great article, Justin. Will we ever live in a world where the phones is answered when we need it? 🙂
Thanks Daniel, I’d like to think so!