Centrelink changes to cost taxpayers $50 million
Centrelink has announced it will outsource its call centre in a three-year test program that will cost the government $51.7 million.
UK private company Serco, which runs Australia's detention centres, will take on outsourced call centre duties from Centrelink, Human Services Minister Alan Tudge has announced.
"This will cost $50 million over two years," he said. "We are piloting a new program...using a private provider to answer some of these calls."
The new contract comes after 1200 Australians were ‘released’ from Department of Human Services jobs.
Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary Nadine Flood said that the contract added insult to injury to those who’d lost their jobs and criticised the move as ineffective, "cut-price privatisation".
"Services are complex and it requires properly trained staff," she said.
"This is a cut-price privatisation and it's not going to fix people's problems with Centrelink."
She said the government was putting peoples' personal details at risk.
"Trusting the highly sensitive needs and information handled by Centrelink staff to a private operator is scary in itself and this situation is even worse," said Ms Flood.
"Providing Serco with even the most basic access to client records would be giving the company a frightening amount of personal information.
"Centrelink clients need real help, such as that they are given by our members who have permanent jobs in the department and, therefore, the proper training and experience to actually resolve peoples' problems.
"A private call centre that's designed merely to make the department's call waiting times look better isn't going to genuinely help anyone."
In 2014, 22 million calls to Centrelink were met with engaged signals, increasing to 29 million in 2015, and a massive 42 million in 2016.
Mr Tudge said the new operators would be "up and running" by early next year.
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