Centrelink phones fail - sacked 1,200 from call centres Sept 2013

Yet again another report out that Centrelink is performing terribly on answering it's bloody phones. Four million more calls than last year gone un-answered. 

More than 22 million phone calls to Centrelink went unanswered in the past financial year, with the welfare agency blaming emergencies and a complex payment system for its worsening performance.

Only 40 million of the 62 million attempts to contact Centrelink by phone in 2014-15 were successful, meaning the agency answered 4 million fewer calls than it managed the previous year.

The proportion of calls being answered has plummeted from 75 per cent in 2013-14 to 64 per cent in 2014-15. The Age

No shit Sherlock. This is Centrelink run by the Lieberals.

So what's their reply? Use the online site. But they don't mention that half the time it's fucked. Glitches, problems, even being down for a day or two. I've found it logs me out for no reason unexpectedly, then you have to log back in. Or it come up "error" with a blank screen. Things like that. 

This is the Centrelink spiel though:

The department also says it has gone on a recruitment drive for hundreds more public servants to answer its phones.

DHS continues to put its faith in online service delivery, pointing to consistent and strong growth in the take-up of its apps and the use of its websites by clients to conduct their business. 

"New technologies and practices are delivering genuine improvements in service delivery," the department wrote to the senators. 

"This is consistent with the aim to allow people to do their business at a time that suits them and in a way that is consistent with how they use other services in the community." The Age

I would say the reason for the big take up in online services is because you can't get through on the bloody phone. Then you have to deal with the online site that staggers through the day hardly working. 

Note that Centrelink now appears to be on a recruitment drive for hundreds more public servants for their call centres to answer the phones. Very interesting that, given that just as the Abbott Lieberals came to power in September 2013, Centrelink axed 1,200 call centre staff. Seriously:

Up to a quarter of the nation's Centrelink call centre workers are set to lose their jobs before the end of the year. 

Pensioners, the disabled and families will feel the pain of drastically reduced customer service as 1100 to 1200 customer service workers are shown the door by the Department of Human Services, according to the public service union. 

Many of the temporary workers were hired just months ago in an effort to tackle an escalating crisis in waiting times. 

More than 800 of the operators will leave on September 27, according to the Community and Public Sector Union, when their contracts with the department run out, and 400 more will leave at the end of December. 

The losses will be felt at government call centres nationwide, including in Victoria at Wendouree, Geelong, Bendigo and Moreland. 

The department disagrees with the union's figures, saying 1100 casuals will go. 

The job losses come on top of the 12,000 public service jobs facing the axe under the incoming Coalition government. Sydney Morning Herald Sept 2013

Clearly this is an issue of Lieberal gov funding, pure and simple. All it would take is for Canberra to cough up the money to provide the necessary services that people rely on daily.

What an exciting time  to be alive.....