Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am deeply concerned about the long periods many Australians are waiting even for simple Centrelink claims to be processed. We know people are waiting several weeks and even months for straightforward claims to be processed and routine Centrelink functions such as appeals, the lodgement of forms and the updating of information to be completed. In my electorate of Bass, there are a significant number of people who are in receipt of support from Centrelink in one form or another, whether that be the age pension, the Newstart allowance or the family tax benefit, or are holding a pensioner concession or healthcare card.

A considerable percentage of this cohort have dealings with Centrelink on a regular basis, and of this group there are cases that require processing by a specialist Centrelink officer known as a complex assessment officer. A CAO is expected to possess advanced knowledge of business structures and social security law in order to undertake the complex analytical work involved in determining a customers' entitlement. The role of a CAO involves assessing and processing complex customer cases, providing leadership within their offices, providing consultancy services to other Centrelink staff and training other Centrelink staff to identify, refer or assess complex entitlements. Technical assessment is the complex assessment officer's major role and accounts for about 75 per cent of their time. CAOs typically assess cases across social security programs rather than specialising in a particular payment or benefit, because the core assessment requirements are common across many programs.

A 2006-07 audit report by the ANAO into the administration of complex assessments found that as of October 2006 there were 166 complex assessment officers distributed throughout the Centrelink network nationwide. To put this in some context, in 2005 there were approximately 50,000 complex assessments related to the age pension alone that required processing by one of those 166 CAOs. As of 31 December 2016, the Department of Human Services had 126 complex assessment officers across all Centrelink locations. We know the number of Australians seeking support from Centrelink has increased and consequently so has the number of cases that require processing and analysis by a CAO. We are in the absurd situation of having 40 fewer complex assessment officers within Centrelink today than we had 10 years ago whilst the number of cases they are required to deal with across all programs continues to increase exponentially. Staff cuts and the increasing casualisation of the Department of Human Services workforce has exacerbated the issue of long processing times within Centrelink.

This lack of investment in Centrelink is indicative of the lack of respect with which this government treats those who are in receipt of any form of income support. In the 2017-18 budget, the Minister for Human Services cut almost 1,200 jobs from the department. Granted, 250 were redirected back into call centre positions, but this seems to have had little effect on reducing pressure on Centrelink staff or improving processing times for Centrelink customers. It is fair to say the majority of constituent inquiries to my electorate office are in regard to Centrelink, often relating to delays in claims processing of weeks or even months. I am thinking in particular of one elderly couple who have been left without any form of support for nine months now, the better part of a year, whilst their case awaits further processing by a complex review officer.

Labor continues to oppose such poor treatment of the more vulnerable people in our community, and this treatment goes beyond just processing delays. Think of the thousands of Australians unfairly and incorrectly lumped with Centrelink debts as a result of the government's flawed robo-debt campaign. Think of the intimidating tone of the letters, displaying the Australian Federal Police logo and outlining various penalties for submitting incorrect information to Centrelink, sent to discourage or victimise income support recipients. Labor will continue to advocate for higher standards and more transparent reporting procedures and for a reduction in the length of time individuals are waiting to access outcomes regarding their payments and assessments of entitlements. At a time of rising inequality and job insecurity, Labor believes that Australians should have access to income support if and when they need it. It should not be the work of an electorate office to do the work of Centrelink—Centrelink needs to be funded and staffed appropriately.