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

At the recent estimates hearings, Services Australia had to—shockingly—admit that there are more than 1.1 million outstanding income support payment claims. They also admitted that it is still painfully difficult to contact Centrelink. Only 50 per cent of calls made to Centrelink in the last six months were answered. One in six calls were met with congestion messaging, which means that people didn't even get a chance to talk to someone, and almost a quarter of people had to wait longer than an hour to get through to someone.

Despite Labor's commitment to leave no-one behind, since Labor has been in government Services Australia's performance has got worse. These are not just statistics. Each number reflects the lives of Australians who rely on the government to provide them with the support they need. Those 1.1 million claims mean that around a million people are waiting for crucial assistance. Many of these people have illnesses, injuries or disabilities that prevent them from working, and they depend upon income support to survive. The social security system is meant to be their lifeline—their safety net.

In response to these appalling statistics, all Services Australia officials could do was apologise and, while an apology is long overdue and appreciated, it is, frankly, not good enough. Services Australia needs urgent and significantly increased resourcing. Their staff are doing the best they can in the circumstances, but there aren't enough of them. Labor must properly fund the agency to ensure people can access the support they need, and they must also immediately increase the rate of all income support payments to above the poverty line and abolish all punitive measures in our social security system. Poverty is a political choice, and Labor is choosing to keep people in poverty and to keep our income support system broken.