Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have a few other questions in terms of the relationship that's occurring between our offices. In particular, I have the experience of my own office. Minister, in the past, my office was able to make inquiries on behalf of constituents by ringing Centrelink team leaders, and, in most cases, the situation was finalised there and then. Why is it that my office has now been advised that they are not permitted to ring directly but, rather, must send an email? Can you explain why it can take, in some cases, a week for the email sent by my office to Centrelink to even be acknowledged? Can the minister tell us how that's impacting on these processing delays? In recent weeks, it has become apparent that, in response to these emails, Centrelink have taken appropriate action, like accessing processing of claims. However, they are not telling my office what the outcome is. Does the minister think it's reasonable that constituents need to ring my office to say, 'Thank you for the work,' after they hear from Centrelink because we're being ignored. (Time expired)

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