Centrelink just keeps you hanging on the telephone
Riverine Herad
January 31, 2018
PEOPLE in the twin towns are spending more time listening to the dreaded hold music when calling Centrelink.
In its annual report the welfare agency reported people spent an average of 15 minutes and 44 seconds waiting to speak to someone.
While still within the organisations target of 16 minutes, the new figures represented a 35 second increase in wait times on the previous year.
The wait time is the longest recorded since Centrelink’s parent agency, the Department of Human Services (DHS), overhauled its reporting regime in 2014.
Echuca’s Centrelink Service Centre fared better, with an average wait time of 15 minutes for the 50,000 customer contacts it received in the last financial year.
An Echuca mother said she spends an infuriating amount of time on the phone reporting her income to receive a single parent pension.
“Sometimes I’m not able to report online so I have to call Centrelink and wait a really long time,” she said.
“It’s extremely frustrating because I don’t have a choice. I need the payments to pay my bills and care for my daughters.
“Something needs to be done to bring the wait times down and make it easier for people in my situation.
“It would be much easier if I could always take care of everything online. That way I could get it done quicker and free up the phone lines for someone with more complex issues.”
Federal Member for Murray Damian Drum said there was “no quick fix” for the increasing wait times.
“The Government is increasing the number of staff that answer calls and is improving the phone system technology which should reduce wait times. Last year Centrelink handled more than 50 million calls,” he said.
“Centrelink is adopting new technologies to cut wait times for clients, this includes digital assistance to help with simple questions, regular updates to the website and the ability for clients to track their claims.
“If anyone is having ongoing difficulties with their Centrelink claims please contact my office.”
Shadow Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Australia Lisa Chesters said the Department of Human Services has seen a “revolving door of incompetent Ministers.”
“We have some of the most at-risk individuals in regional Victoria who require urgent assistance and these wait times are just unacceptable,” she said.
“I have constituents constantly calling my office frustrated with Centrelink wait times because they have been on hold for hours at a time without any real outcomes.
“Centrelink needs permanent, full-time staff, who are properly trained and familiar with the complex issues facing Australians who rely on our social security system.
“These wait times are hurting families, hurting students and hurting the unemployed. Centrelink is in crisis under Malcolm Turnbull and he must fix this mess immediately.
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