BackThe Commonwealth Ombudsman, Colin Neave, released a follow-up report into service delivery complaints about the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Centrelink program. It follows his report in April last year, which was sparked by complaints from people dissatisfied with the Centrelink program’s service delivery arrangements.
The new report found that while the department had made significant progress against a number of the recommendations, other areas still required improvement.
“I conducted this 12-month review because my office has continued to receive complaints from people who experience problems when trying to access Centrelink services,” Mr Neave said.
The Ombudsman said he made 33 recommendations covering 12 topics in last year’s report, of which the department agreed to implement all, either in full or in part.
“It’s clear the department has made efforts to implement the recommendations from that report. They include its document handling, internal review and management of internal complaints.
“As well, DHS has made considerable progress with those recommendations that support the improvement and expansion of self-service and online service options.
“However, that emphasis on self-service does not work for all customers and can, in itself, be the cause of customer complaints. This is most evident in relation to Centrelink’s online and telephone services.”
Mr Neave said he recognised that many of the problems people encountered with DHS’s services stemmed from its ageing computer system.
“The recently announced Welfare Payment Infrastructure Transformation project is a necessary step towards equipping DHS with the tools it needs to provide proper services to its customers.
“In the meantime, DHS needs to consider how it can alleviate the adverse impact on the people who need to access the services of its Centrelink program.”
The full report can be accessed HERE.
Source: Commonwealth Ombudsman, Australia
