- a woman's welfare payment was cancelled because she did not attend an interview, even though it was because she was having chemotherapy for leukaemia and had recently had surgery,
- a man with severe epilepsy was waiting in line at Centrelink when he suffered a seizure. Paramedics were treating him when his name was called and explained his case, but when the man returned from hospital he had a letter from Centrelink saying his payment had been suspended because he failed to attend an interview.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman, Mr Mcmillan, says these cases point to systemic issues that need investigation.What a nice time to ask these questions in the press! Just before an election and when the organisation is in caretaker mode!
I for one would like to suggest some additional and/or (perhaps) different questions.
- Does Centrelink have enough experienced, trained staff at present and the funds to pay them, to meet its obligations to provide a sensitive and sound service?
- How many of the staff serving 'customers' are new?
- How many of the new staff are adequately trained and supported by experienced supervisors?
- How useful are the computerised tool suites that are provided to staff at the front line in dealing with issues such as those described in the article?
- How many of the "rules" keep changing and how frequently?
- What are the mechanisms by means of which staff are kept up to date on what to do with 'customers' who do not fit the standard mould (referred to internally as 'clean skins')
- What is the current "throughput" of "customers" ie how many people are needing to be seen and attended to and how much time is 'allocated' to each?
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