Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Marshall for the question and indicate to the Senate that many senators raised this issue with me when I first came into the portfolio in March. When the problem peaked in July, the average waiting time exceeded 16 minutes. I made it very clear then that this was unacceptable and that I believed it could be fixed, and today I can report that our actions are succeeding. We have cut the average waiting time to six minutes and 15 seconds. We deployed additional staff to answer the telephones, we have been able to use new technology to lift the level of service and we have been able to adopt new techniques to ensure that we are able to provide clearer and sharper access for people who are trying to use the services provided by Centrelink.

This month I will announce the extension of the call back service to every caller; some mobile phone users already have access to this option so they can go about their business while not losing their place in the queue. This service is now available for landline callers—for families' and for seniors' numbers—and it will be open for all landline calls from Christmas this year. We will be able to ensure that people are able to get through because, under the previous government, there was a practice in place at the Centrelink of having a permanent 'do not disturb' signal put on the lines. That is how they kept their statistics down—you actually could not get through. A permanent 'do not disturb' signal was placed on the lines to make sure the statistics looked good but it meant massive inconvenience to the citizens of this country.

We are in the business of improving services. We are in the business of ensuring that every Australian gets the rights and the entitlements that they have a right to expect and this government is committed to ensuring that we are able to lift the level of service for the people of this country.