Services Australia, the government department in charge of Centrelink, has been stretched to “breaking point” and is potentially at risk of collapse, an investigation claims.
Centrelink payment processing times are getting worse each week, staff numbers have been reduced to unsustainable levels and overtime has been cut, according to an investigation by The Saturday Paper, which spoke to Services Australia staff directly.
Behind these problems, staff say, is an “agency in chaos”, hampered by poor decision-making and a lack of resources.
Some staff say they are concerned the department that processes government welfare payments could be on the verge of “collapse” and unable to deliver its most basic functions.
A Services Australia spokesperson, meanwhile, has defended its services and praised staff for their commitment.
Staff levels too low
Staff members say they feel abandoned by the government and upper management, which are not providing the budget necessary to replace the high turnover of staff.
This, in turn, is leading to increased workloads for remaining staff and longer turnaround times, the investigation claims.
“The culture, morale and treatment of staff by the government and the senior executive service (SES) within the agency is the worst that I have ever seen or experienced,” one staff member said on the condition of anonymity.
“And each day it gets worse. Essentially, we are getting told every day that the agency is broke.”
The agency has had its funding cut. In the May Federal Budget, the average staffing level cap for Services Australia was 26,692 – down 1868 from the previous year.
The government says that was a return to normal staffing levels after an increase initiated during the pandemic was no longer needed.
Wasted upgrade
At least part of the alleged problems at Services Australia could be due to an ill-fated upgrade to its recipient eligibility software.
The ‘entitlements calculation engine’ (ECE) was first introduced in 2019, and aimed to provide a more streamlined way for Centrelink staff to assess a person’s payment eligibility.
The problem was that the new system took minutes to assess what the previous eligibility software could do in seconds. After three years, and more than $191 million, the ECE was scrapped earlier this year, IT News reports.
The exercise has left an enormous hole in the agency’s budget.
Robodebt fallout
Alongside increased workloads caused by a lack of staff, many Services Australia staff say they are still shocked and stressed by what they were asked to do during the Robodebt scandal.
Robodebt involved what was later deemed to be the illegal issuing of debts to some Centrelink recipients using automated ‘income averaging’ to determine how much a recipient had earned, rather than actual records.
It resulted in many incorrect debts being issued to some of Australia’s most vulnerable people, even driving some to suicide.
Many staff who were required to enforce those debts are now dealing with mental illness issues.
Services Australia CEO Rebecca Skinner issued an apology to staff earlier this month.
“I know Robodebt and the fallout from the scheme has been difficult for you all to navigate,” Ms Skinner says in a video apology.
“I want to apologise to all of you for Robodebt. Robodebt is a heavy burden that many of you still carry.”
Services Australia responds
A spokesperson for Services Australia said the agency dealt with an extremely high workload.
“Services Australia manages more than $220 billion in payments and processes more than 500 million claims a year,” the spokesperson said.
“This is a huge undertaking which we deliver because our staff are devoted to helping the millions of people across the nation who rely on us.”
The spokesperson also praised Services Australia’s existing staff and defended staffing levels.
“The heart of Services Australia’s culture is staff who are driven to serve and make a difference in the community,” the spokesperson said.
“This was best demonstrated throughout the pandemic years when our staff went over and beyond to provide record support to Australians, from COVID-19 payments to vaccination certificates and through rolling natural disasters.
“Their commitment allowed us to keep our doors open safely during all lockdowns to provide face-to-face support to those who needed it.”
“Our staffing has returned to more regular levels now that pandemic era work, and associated extra resourcing, has concluded.”
Services Australia reiterated its staff were fully committed to helping Australians who needed it most.
“Our entire agency is focused on putting customers at the centre of everything we do and applying our guiding principles of simple, helpful, respectful and transparent in serving Australians.
“We’re committed to providing the best service we can within the agency’s budget allocation.”
Have you had any problems with Services Australia processing payments. or queries? How have you found wait times? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also read: Auditor calls out accuracy and timeliness of Centrelink payments
I submitted a claim for aged pension on 3rd July this year. It was a very straightforward claim and met every eligibility criteria. For more than twelve weeks now I’ve been without any income at all. As I still have a mortgage & with cost of living at the level it is, it’s been a very stressful time. I’ve drawn $10k out of my very modest super to help pay the bills. Ive also recently had significant medical costs that would have been free if I’d had a health care card. I’ve gone to Centrelink 3 times to ask for assistance but have been told that unless I have no access to any funds at all & am basically living hand to mouth I just have to “wait my turn.”
That is an awful position to be in
Our hearts go out to you
I’m going through this at the moment with Centrelink. I’ve applied through the Home equity loan scheme, but have been told there could be lengthy delays because of 2 things. Very limited staff in this area, and this scheme is classed as ‘low priority’. I find it funny that they chase up money very quickly, but paying money out? – pay it as slow as possible. Yet millions is being lost through NDIS because there is no checks.
I am a Pension Consultant working in this area. For the Home Equity Access Scheme, when I last checked they only had 5 specialist officers assessing those claims. They have been training more but the expected wait time is at least 4 months.
Robodebt type behavior is enshrined in Centrelink. They can overpay people due to a supposed error on their part, which resulted in them paying a normal rate. They can then make a decision and just take the money back, not proving the error ever occurred. They take the money without any agreement on the validity of their claim. Robodebt II!What’s worse they don’t even verify the recipient can survive on the reduced payment. And when you try to deal with them, it is a house of mirrors with everyone blaming someone else and not listening to your issue, just focused on enforcing their decision.
I submitted a claim for the aged pension on 24th May and I keep getting told that it is pending and Services Australia are still processing March/April claims.
Centrelink has been understaffed for years, especially after the decade of staff reductions under the previous Government.
I am currently having trouble with centrelink, I have been retired for 7+ years, and suddenly for the second pay period of July, I was issued with “here are your New Reporting Dates”. Nothing had changed, went into s Centrelink Office. and the person who served me, checked my file, and could not see any reason for the change. Therefore, changed it back to No Reporting, and the receipt of a “Change of Circumstances, you no longer have to Report” message.
Every Pay Period since (5 Periods – 10 weeks), I have received the “here is your New Reporting Dates”, followed by a trip into the Centrelink Office, and, again having my file updated to No Reporting, with the “No Reporting” message a couple of days later.
My last contact was a Phone consult, during which the person serving me stated that IT had discovered a “BUG”, that was randomly changing clients to Reporting, that “it had been fixed”
I am awaiting my next Pay Period to see if it has been fixed.
Same as other people’s comments regarding Age Pension application, was submitted late June and advised review date of 6 September. Nothing heard and its now late September. Just as well as I have access to some funds but not easy.
I had a similar situation a few years ago, trying to get a Disability Pension for my wife, due to failing eyesight from Macular Degeneration. Local Centrelink staff were wonderful, but up against the same Canberra brick wall we were facing. Eventually, after 9 months of merry-go-rounds, the local centre manager suggested we contact our local Federal MP.
3 weeks later she had her pension. Might be worth trying?
We have been waiting months for claims to be assessed
The expected due dates are still well exceeded
The system is so complicated it’s no wonder the admin is falling apart. The whole national centrelink procedures need a thorough overhaul and automated systems installed wherever possible. Computerisation should have made the processes easier but dumb formalities make every transactions completely unworkable resulting in wasted time, inefficiencies and stretched resources. Time for the broom to be deployed.
The crew is yelling “the ship (SS Centrelink) is sinking”. The captain and officers are saying “no it’s not, all of that water is normal”.
I thought Labor would fix the mess the previous government made of Centrelink. They have not. Dealing with Centrelink is still a nightmare. Shame on you Labor!