Centrelink’s workforce is struggling to keep up with demand, with millions of Australians grappling with the cost-of-living crisis stuck waiting longer on the phone for help, new figures have revealed.
Figures obtained by the opposition show the average wait time across all social security and welfare calls to Centrelink has “skyrocketed” from 14 minutes and 14 seconds during the 2021-22 financial year to 20 minutes and 22 seconds this financial year.
Although the figures only reveal the telephone reports up until the end of March 2023, compared to the full financial year prior, the opposition says the staggering extra minutes Australians are spending waiting for a Centrelink employee to help them shows the grim state the system is in.
Lower post pandemic-era staffing levels and a decreased budget is part of the problem, coupled with millions of Australians still opting to call Centrelink instead of using digital means.
More than six million parenting and families related calls to Centrelink between last July and March were waiting an average of 31 minutes and 24 seconds, up almost seven minutes from 24 minutes and 45 seconds the year prior.
In comparison, during the Covid pandemic when the workforce was ramped up significantly, those same people waited just eight minutes for their call to be answered.
Those needing assistance with disabilities, sickness and carers waited 20 minutes and 59 seconds on average during 2021-22, but in the nine months between July 2022 and May 2023 that has blown out to 28 minutes and 23 seconds.
Wait times for some other Services Australia programs, like Medicare and Child Support have also increased, while wait times for health provider queries are, on average, down.
The figures come just weeks after Services Australia chose not to renew its $343 million contract with welfare agency Serco, impacting 600 jobs.
The opposition’s spokesman for government services, Paul Fletcher, has demanded Labor carry out a root and branch review of Services Australia’s operations, to determine the reasons for the “worrying pattern” happening at Centrelink.
“This new data confirms that call wait times have skyrocketed under Labor. This is amid a cost of living crisis when Australians need government services and payments more than ever for support,” Mr Fletcher said.
“The government demonstrably doesn’t want to listen to our most vulnerable Australians – they would rather put them on hold. Numbers don’t lie and these ones paint a grim picture of an agency that isn’t performing.
“Government Services Minister Bill Shorten needs to put processes in place to ensure customers are no longer adversely impacted.”
A spokesman for Mr Shorten said recent budget papers showed Services Australia’s staffing was returning to more regular levels now that pandemic era work and its associated extra resourcing was finished.
“However, the agency has bolstered their emergency response capability with 850 staff directly supporting frontline service delivery to provide the best possible support for customers,” the spokesman said.
“Services Australia is agile and has adjusted resources to maximise frontline staffing levels to ensure we can support people. This includes drawing from their emergency response capabilities and bringing staff back in house.”
Before Covid-19 struck in March 2020, Services Australia had shed thousands of jobs in late 2019. During the early days of the pandemic, Centrelink hired thousands of staff – as both public servants and via labour hire contracts – to help process the rapid increase in the number of welfare recipients.
The former government suspended mutual obligation requirements, which freed up valuable minutes to help the millions of Australians who were made redundant or lost hours almost overnight.
Services Australia has since sough to re-normalise its staffing numbers, but last June, unions warned of longer wait times for people calling Centrelink when Services Australia slashed the amount of work it outsourced to labour hire firms by 30 per cent.
Services Australia said at the time it would be employing its causal staff “in house” to address any shortfall, and it’s understood around 3500 contractors and labour hires have transitioned to APS positions since the end of 2020.
As at the end of May, Services Australia employed about 34,700 staff across the board.
The opposition said the recent decision to not renew a contract with Serco amid the blowout of wait times demanded an answer from the government.
“Mr Shorten needs to be honest with the public and explain how many of those 600 plus jobs have transitioned into employment within the Australian Public Service, what this has cost and how he plans to address the blow out in call wait times with a staffing shortfall,” Mr Fletcher said.
A spokesperson for Mr Shorten said the Albanese government was “committed to strengthening the agency, so it can deliver Australia’s safety net for those who need it”.