Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to raise the issue of excessive waiting times in my constituents' experience when attempting to phone Centrelink. The issue affects a huge proportion of my electorate, particularly elderly residents receiving the age pension, who often utilise Centrelink's phone services. Customers receiving Centrelink payments such as the age pension and disability support pension are frequently required to contact Centrelink to report changes to their income or to inform them of overseas travel.

Reporting this information is a legislative requirement for payment receipts; otherwise, their payments will be cancelled. However, my office has been inundated with constituents informing me that they have not been able to get through to Centrelink on the phone and reporting being kept on hold from anywhere between 30 minutes and up to four hours. In desperation, these people often contact my office in the hope that I may be able to pass on their message to Centrelink.

Mrs Dale Ward, a pensioner from Armadale, first contacted me late last year reporting her difficulties getting through to Centrelink and sought assistance in trying to contact them before she left on a holiday. She has since reported the same problems a number of times throughout this year. Mr Peter Pavlinovich and Mr Joseph Sutherland are in the same boat.

Most of my constituents who are trying to contact Centrelink are relying on these payments as their main source of income. In many cases, these people are elderly and vulnerable and are frightened of the ramifications of not reporting to Centrelink. They are simply trying to do the right thing and feel that they are being treated as second-class citizens. One local resident told me that, although he is retired, he has better things to do than spend the whole day on the phone.

In the light of the vast number of complaints that I have received, on 1 June 2012 I wrote to Senator the Hon. Kim Carr, the Minister for Human Services, in order to raise this issue, and I received a response—which I have here—on 28 August 2012. This was a poor response which was a standard in every sense of the word and even managed to repeat paragraphs. Furthermore, the minister fails to effectively acknowledge the problem and simply offers other alternatives to getting in touch with Centrelink. Whilst I have informed my constituents of the online services, the option of visiting an office or mailing Centrelink, these are not suitable alternatives for most people.

Many people that receive the pension or other payments are elderly or disadvantaged and do not have the ability to access online services. A large majority are also unable to drive and cannot get to a Centrelink office to report their information. In addition, most that are able to get in to an office are also met with huge queues and significant delays.

I do not seek to criticise the excellent work of Centrelink staff, and I can confirm that staff in the Centrelink offices in my electorate are extremely helpful. However, they are significantly understaffed and underresourced and simply cannot deal with the huge increase in demand for their services. My constituents are trying to assist Centrelink by reporting their incomes or overseas travel but are continually being punished and are at risk of having their payments cancelled unless this issue is addressed urgently. I seek leave to table the minister's letter to me.

Leave granted.