Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The future of the South Melbourne Centrelink office, the only Centrelink office in my electorate of Melbourne Ports, is a matter of abiding concern to me. Some people at the eastern end of the electorate are served by the Windsor Centrelink office, but that is in the seat of Higgins. The South Melbourne office serves the people of Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, Albert Park, Middle Park and West St Kilda—something in the order of 20,000 people.

The area served by this office has a high level of need for Centrelink services. It includes many elderly people, tenants in public housing and recent migrants, particularly people from the former Soviet Union, many of whom do not speak good English. Many of these residents travel by public transport. In 2001 the area served by South Melbourne included 5,600 disability pensioners, 5,500 age pensioners, 2,200 family pensioners and 1,500 job seekers. Those figures have only slightly decreased. It is a small office compared to other Centrelink offices, but it is a vital office.

In 2001 the then Minister for Family and Community Services, Larry Anthony, tried to close this office down and force everyone in the western end of my electorate to travel to Windsor to access Centrelink services. This caused an enormous community protest led by clergy and church community workers from the South-Port-Parks Inter-Church Council, representing the Christian churches of South Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Albert Park and Middle Park. As a result of this protest and the prospect of a protest rally outside the Centrelink office, Mr Anthony, at a meeting with me, agreed either to find new premises for Centrelink or to keep the existing office open. It in the end kept the existing office open. This was a great victory for the local community.

Five years later Centrelink’s lease on its current premises is expiring and, as a result, many Centrelink clients fear that the service at South Melbourne is to be downgraded or closed. I have been told that staff are being rotated in and out of South Melbourne on a month-to-month basis, which would mean that clients have to deal with people they do not know and who have no familiarity with their cases. It would also mean that inexperienced staff are unable to build links with the community.

This would certainly not be acceptable to the local community or to me. The arguments in favour of retaining a fully staffed and fully functional Centrelink office in South Melbourne are as strong now as they were in 2001. This is an area of high social need. I am particularly concerned about my migrant, elderly and disabled population—people living in poor health or with disabilities. They are familiar with the South Melbourne Centrelink office and can reach it easily. They are not familiar with Windsor and cannot reach it easily by public transport. The Windsor office is six kilometres east of South Melbourne. This may not seem far to members but, because of the radial structure of Melbourne’s public transport system, this is a slow and difficult trip for Centrelink clients, particularly the elderly. It involves catching three trams.

I have a great deal of respect for Centrelink staff and their dedication to their clients. Keith Stevens, Centrelink’s regional manager, has assured me that he is working to provide better services for Centrelink clients at South Melbourne, and I do not doubt that that is true. The problem is not with Centrelink staff but with the continuing suspicion that the government wants to downgrade Centrelink services in electorates like mine.

Yesterday I had a meeting with the Minister for Human Services, Mr Hockey, and his adviser. The minister assured me that, although the lease on its current premises is about to expire, the South Melbourne Centrelink service will not be closed and that it will continue to offer face-to-face services to clients. I, of course, accept the minister’s word on this, but I will remain vigilant in the interests of Centrelink clients in South Melbourne. As Ronald Reagan used to say in relation to the Soviets, ‘Trust, but verify.’