MEDIA RELEASE - SHORTEN USES CREATIVE ACCOUNTING TO SPIN SERVICES AUSTRALIA FIGURES

PAUL FLETCHER MP 

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy 

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts 

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday, 31 July 2024

When the Coalition left office, it took Services Australia on average 35 days to process an Age Pension claim.

Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten’s latest media release claimed it is great news that it now takes 60 days (over the first three weeks of July 2024) – nearly twice as long as under the Coalition.

It’s true that the performance is now not quite as spectacularly bad as for the full year of 2023-24, when it had blown out under Bill Shorten’s watch to 76 days.

But if Bill Shorten thinks it is worth celebrating, he is delusional.

The story is similar for the Disability Support Pension:

• Under the Coalition it took 40 days on average for a claim to be processed.

• In 2023-24, under Shorten, it took 93 days. 

• It now takes 81 days.

And call wait times are still far too long.

Mr Shorten is proudly trumpeting a six minute reduction in call wait times.

But we know that for most call types, it now takes around twice as long for a call to be answered as when the Coalition was in Government.

The table in the link below shows call waiting times most recently published, ranging between 45 minutes and 52 minutes. https://www.aph.gov.au/-/media/Estimates/ca/bud2425/Social_Services/12_AddInfo_ServicesAustralia_SupplementaryInformation.pdf?la=en&hash=A54CB3C763F09552AC5F9CDCA2A73DC009B7A972

This data also shows that a staggering 11 million Australians received a ‘congestion message’ when they called up Services Australia, and more than 3 million Australians terminated their call with the agency before they even spoke with someone.

Even an average six minute reduction will leave the call waiting times much longer than when the Coalition was in Government.

Only the credulous and naive would believe a word Bill Shorten says. Bill Shorten’s latest ludicrous claims about Services Australia’s performance are further evidence of why.