These screenshots of unanswered calls show exactly why Centrelink is in so much trouble.
Jeremy Di Sessa called the “families” number listed on the agency’s website a staggering 86 times over three days, and not once did anyone pick up.
The 33-year-old dad from Adelaide received a letter telling him his family tax benefits would be cut if he did not update his details within two weeks. But his repeated efforts to speak to a human between January 5 and 8 all failed.
He wasn’t put on hold, or offered a callback service. The line is supposed to be open Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm. When he visited a branch, he was told to use the phone or website, the latter of which he has been unable to do.
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Concerns over Centrelink’s efficiency, accuracy and quality of technology are growing, with customers facing huge queues at branches, confusion from staff who can’t fix the computer issues and being passed from person to person.
The Government’s chief former digital officer Paul Shetler, who resigned in November after being hired to transform its approach to technology, told news.com.au the “root cause of these failures is a deskilled public service that doesn’t understand — and sometimes fears — 21st Century technology.”
If vulnerable people are experiencing the same as Mr Di Sessa, some are likely to simply give up.
He said the public service needs to be “providing frank and fearless advice to ministers” and doing “much less butt-covering to avoid blame”.