Centrelink online is fucked from "chronic IT underfunding" - union

No shit Sherlock.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has blamed the ongoing and worsening performance of the Centrelink online services fairly and squarely at chronic under-funding. 

No surprises there for me. It's been going on for decades.

Like I said the other day, you get these Canberra fuckwits dreaming up all this shit about making people go to the internet. Then they think they can lay off staff because the internet. And the phone line and the Centrelink line will be hardly any delay because the internet. Then they don't get any funding to make it all happen at the internet, leaving the whole thing really really fucked up.

Computer malfunctions and other issues at the Department of Human Services are due to “chronic and prolonged underfunding” according to the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU). 

Some of the most vulnerable people in Australia are among those who have been hit by computer malfunctions at Centrelink over recent months, the union said. 

In the latest case, around 73,000 customers were incorrectly advised they owed Centrelink money, while late last year computer issues were linked to missed payments. The Department of Human Services has since said the issues have been fixed. 

The CPSU said that problems causing the Bureau of Meteorology’s website to crash also suggest insufficient funding in an agency that is heavily reliant on technology. “These computer malfunctions at Centrelink could not come at a worse time of year, given the extra financial pressure many families are under over the Christmas period,” said CPSU National President Alistair Waters in a statement. 

“Workers care deeply about their clients, and our members are sick of governments failing to provide the tools and staff numbers needed to deliver the excellent service the community deserves,” Waters added. 

With the government refusing to invest in IT systems while cutting staff numbers and turning to greater numbers of casual workers, it is not surprising that customer service standards have eroded in recent years, he said. 

Waters called for the government to provide the DHS with “adequate resources” for computer systems and an “engaged and well trained” workforce. Delimiter