John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Maribyrnong for bringing forward this important and apolitical debate today. At the end of any year, it's normal to look back and reflect on what has happened, but of course 2020 was no normal year. From drought to bushfires and, of course, the pandemic, this year has been like no other. But underscoring all these things has been one common thread: hardship. Millions of Australians have had their lives turned upside down this year. People have lost work, families have struggled to put food on the table and people have been at their wits' end.

When people are facing times like these, they turn to the government. Thankfully, the government has been here to help. As at 13 November 2020, over $8.9 billion has been paid in economic support payments across both rounds, as well as $16 billion paid in coronavirus supplement. Since 16 March 2020, more than 1.8 million JobSeeker claims have been finalised. Additionally, pandemic leave, disaster payments, childcare changes, pauses in debt recovery and one-off pension payments have all helped Australians through these tough times.

But none of these reforms would have made any difference without the incredible staff at Services Australia to help those who need it most. Staff from Services Australia have been working to deliver new and improved income support measures and fast-track the Australian government's coronavirus financial support. While people were staying at home to stay safe, Services Australia stayed open to ensure that everyone who needed help could access them, even if they didn't have access to a phone or the internet. Throughout the pandemic 80 per cent of Services Australia's workers remained in their offices, and the sheer numbers of those who are working is incredible. At the peak of demand, April 2020, almost 12,000 staff were assisting the agency to manage its response to COVID-19. This comprised of 3,414 redeployed Services Australia employees; over 1,700 redeployed employees from at least 37 different APS departments and agencies; 6,774 new employees, including 1,546 non-ongoing and casual employees; 3,125 labour hire employees; and 2,103 employees through our services delivery partners.

In 2019-20, the agency processed almost five million social security and welfare claims—that's over 1.4 million more claims than would normally have been processed and equates to around 10 claims processed every minute. This financial year, as of 6 November 2020, the agency has processed almost 1.9 million social security claims, almost 70 per cent more claims processed when compared with the same period last financial year. The agency also answered over 1.1 million more social security and welfare calls than in the previous financial year. As of 6 November 2020, the agency is processing the majority of social security and welfare claims in less than a week, and the average speed of answer for social security and welfare calls is 86 seconds. This is incredible not just for the processing times but more importantly for the comfort and certainty that this sort of efficiency brings to people who are having their worlds turned upside down.

Services Australia have also invested heavily in their digital capacity through the myGov system. It now has capacity to support 300,000 concurrent users, up from approximately 90,000 concurrent users, which has been essential this year. From average daily sign-ins of 503,000 in the financial year, myGov has rapidly increased to average daily sign-ins of 741,000, primarily due to COVID-19. The busiest day saw over four million sign-ins into myGov accounts compared to the previous record of 1.8 million logins during the July tax time peak last year.

I would like to end by thanking everyone who has been working tirelessly at Services Australia across the country, particularly in Bennelong. Nathan and his team at Ryde do incredible work to ensure that everyone in Bennelong has access to the government services they need, and we cannot thank them enough. (Time expired)

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