The Daily Telegraph - Demand to dial up the service at Centrelink

Almost two million Australians were left on hold to Centrelink for more than 60 minutes last year for specific services, with the federal Opposition blasting the new figures.

The latest numbers show 1,932,468 social security and welfare customers were put on hold for longer than 60 minutes during the 2023-24 financial year, which equates to more than 20 per cent of total callers to Centrelink.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said major reform of the sector was under way, with 3000 staff recruited in November last year and $2.8bn pumped into Services Australia under the Albanese government.

“In the last year the Liberals were in government, 7.1 million customers terminated their call before speaking to a service officer and 6.2 million had congestion messaging applied to their call and did not get through to a service officer,” he said.

Opposition government services spokesman Paul Fletcher said the figures exposed Labor’s poor management of Centrelink.

“Australians have two million reasons to be livid with Services Australia,” he said.

“These figures are appalling … Families are under stress and should be able to speak with a Services Australia representative in minutes, not hours.” 

Mr Shorten said more Australians were using self-service online options. “We aim for call wait times to continuously improve, but it’s important to note Australians are increasingly confident in managing their needs using the self-service phone options and digital channels with 90 per cent of interactions now done online,” he said.

Author: Lachlan Leeming

This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 23 August 2024