Centrelink need staff

Centrelink has been forced to hire 1000 staff to field calls from freshly fired workers trying to join the dole queue.

So many callers are overloading Centrelink’s employment services call centre (132 850) that the line sporadically gives an engaged signal instead of placing callers in a queue.

Centrelink general manager Hank Jongen has apologised for delays in getting through to call centres, despite the recruitment of new staff.

He urged people to stop phoning the hotline to ask about the federal Government’s bonus payments, which would be paid automatically into the bank accounts of eligible customers by April 6.

Mr Jongen said Centrelink had hired 1000 staff in February, mostly to man its call centres, and would recruit more temporary workers in coming months.

He said Centrelink was “busier than ever”, dealing with calls from victims of the Victorian bushfires and north Queensland floods.

“As a result, some customers are currently experiencing delays in getting through to Centrelink call centres,” he said.

“We apologise for any delays experienced and we thank people for their patience.”

Mr Jongen said people who failed to get through to a call centre could visit a Centrelink office, use the website, write a letter or send a fax. But some offices have been turning Newstart applicants away, instructing them to phone a call centre.

National Welfare Rights Network president Kate Beaumont said some Centrelink offices were insisting jobseekers make an appointment, or wait up to four hours to register for unemployment benefits.

She said the delays were stressful for the newly unemployed because their Newstart allowance would be assessed only from the date of first contact with Centrelink.

The Community and Public Sector Union said Centrelink was understaffed and under “enormous stress”, with up to 650 callers queueing to speak to hotline operators at any one time.

The number of jobseekers has jumped 14.6 per cent in a year.