Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Centrelink's performance has become worse under Labor. Over the last fortnight at Senate estimates I have challenged the government about this, and I have been angered and disappointed at what I uncovered. These numbers are not just statistics. Every number reflects the lives of Australians who rely on our government to provide them with support they need. Many of these people have illnesses, injuries or disabilities that prevent them from working and they depend on income support payments to survive.

The social security system is meant to be their lifeline, their safety net. Instead of receiving timely and appropriate assistance, we continue to hear report after report of people being failed by Australia's social security system. The evidence is clear, and the stories are heart-wrenching. Have a listen to some recent experiences of people who have engaged with Centrelink. Last week Ariel shared on social media: 'I submitted a JobSeeker claim to Centrelink; two months later, still nothing. I was told I would find out by the end of September but no—radio silence. I tried to call, apparently all the lines are busy at 11 am and 7 pm. What is going on?' Jess shared: 'Niece was told she was eligible for Youth Allowance at the start of the year. Ten months later, 10 months into a course, 10 months into living away from home, she's been told that was wrong and she owes Centrelink $12,000. How can they do that? She is 18, living on her own in a state that is different to where her parents live and she now owes $12,000. Are Centrelink aware of what that does to the stress levels of an 18-year-old?' From Justin: 'After being cut off twice, I spent an hour and a half waiting on the phone just to be cut off again, all because they keep asking me to update parental income for my son, despite the fact it's already done. He applied 10 months ago—still waiting. The system is broken.' From Jackie at the end of October: 'Currently too sick to work thanks to long COVID. Been waiting for my JobSeeker claim to be properly processed since the end of August. I say properly because it's been wrongly rejected once already and I'm now waiting for it to be re-assessed.' From Scoot: 'I tried to get on to Austudy this semester. After months of no response to my claim, I get a request for more information. I could never get to Services Australia despite trying multiple times every day and my claim was rejected because I never contacted them.'

At estimates I challenged the government on the dismal and appalling state of Centrelink's call wait times. When we compare the last financial year with the previous one, the numbers paint a bleak picture. Calls answered dropped from 40 per cent to only 31 per cent, less than one in three, while the average wait time has increased from 14 minutes to a frustrating 22 minutes, way over their 15-minute target. Perhaps even more distressing is that calls that end with a congestion message—that is, we're too busy to take your call, so goodbye—have risen to a staggering 21 per cent of all calls. And the situation was worse in July and August this year, when only 23 per cent of calls were answered with an average wait of time of 32 minutes, and 35 per cent of calls ended with congestion messages.

Services Australia's explanation for this decline was that July and August are typically busy times and they have a surge of calls during these months. If this surge is predictable year after year, then why are we witnessing such abysmal numbers? Surely a proactive approach of employing more staff during this time should be able to avoid such appalling service quality.

Services Australia also claim that they're no longer blocking Centrelink customer calls; however, the reality is far from reassuring. Instead of blocking calls, they have implemented an interactive voice response service and congestion messaging. I asked a crucial question: what happens if an income support recipient needs, and is willing to wait, to speak to a human? The answer I received was deeply troubling. If they ring when the lines are particularly busy then, unless they know the magic words to speak to be put through to a person, a congestion message is played and the call is terminated. In the customer dares to call back the same day using the same phone and the system is still congested, the system autoblocks their number. They can't ring back until the congested time is over. How can we not see this as Centrelink effectively blocking customer calls? It's a grave injustice to people who are struggling and desperately in need of assistance. Not even being able to get onto Centrelink in a timely way adds to the frustration and hardship that so many already face.

Another of Services Australia's claims at estimates was that the drop in the number of calls answered was because they had redeployed people to the processing of claims. In fact, over the same period claim wait times blew out too. For example, people waiting for a claim for the disability support pension had to wait an extra six days on average, to 46 days in financial year 2022-23 and an astounding 80 days in July and August this year. JobSeeker for young people skyrocketed from 14 days in 2022-23 to 36 days in July and August. Throughout the entire year, Services Australia consistently failed to meet its targets. There is a severe lack of staffing, and the most vulnerable in our society are paying the price.

We welcomed the news this week that Centrelink call centres will get an additional 3,000 staff. But the reality is that these staff will just be replacing the thousands made redundant by both the previous government and this Labor government when they decided that the increased number of staff in place to cope with claims following the floods and fires were no longer needed. The staffing boost also won't fix the cultural issues festering in Services Australia. In spillover estimates yesterday we heard that around 2,000, or 10 per cent, of the Services Australia workforce leave every year, and that nearly 20 per cent say that they would like to leave in the next year. Even with this week's funding boost, our social security system is in complete decay under Labor.

In employment estimates, when I questioned the government about mutual obligations, the department made a startling admission. They revealed that over 70 per cent of people whose mutual obligations are managed through a private employment service provider have had their payments suspended. These people then need to put their lives on hold while they jump through bureaucratic hoops in an attempt to get their payments reinstated. It's shocking that private providers are given the power to suspend payments, and it raises serious concerns about the motivations and practices of these private providers, who are supposed to assist people in finding employment. How can you find employment on no income and with no food in your belly? Mutual obligations as they are currently structured are punitive and, more often than not, ineffective. Mutual obligations are a burden that exacerbates the hardships faced by individuals. While some individuals may benefit from specific requirements and support, many are unfairly burdened by a system that fails to consider their unique challenges and needs. When payments are suspended, vulnerable people are left without the support they desperately require.

It doesn't have to be this way. The people who depend on income support payments are often facing immense challenges. They rely on these payments to survive, and the government's duty is to ensure that they receive accurate and timely assistance. Our social security system should be a robust safety net providing financial aid to those who are unable to work, who find themselves suddenly without an income. It should be a system that offers support when it's needed most; however, what we see instead is a system that continues to disappoint. This is why I'm calling on the Labor government to take immediate action and raise the rate of all income support payments above the poverty line, to at least $88 a day. No Australian should be forced to live in poverty while struggling to make ends meet. And we must abolish mutual obligations and all punitive measures that have marred our social security system.

We cannot ignore the shadow of robodebt looming over us.

I urge the government to immediately suspend all social security debt recovery to ensure that the harm of robodebt is not repeated. The current state of our social security system is a reflection of the choices that are made by those in power. It's time for the Labor government to take a stand, make the necessary changes and ensure that our social security system fulfils its true purpose, to provide support to everyone who needs it and to ensure that no-one lives in poverty.