[Janelle Ward]

Have you had to phone Centrelink lately and waited longer than usual? You’re not the only one.

The agency says it’s experiencing big staff shortages plus increased demand due to the cost of living crisis and that a recruitment drive is under way.

About 25 million calls were made to Centrelink over six months and 5 million of those callers received congestion messages. The average wait time went from 14 to 18 minutes.

Services Australia chief executive Rebecca Skinner said call time performance was less than optimal.

“The agency has also … struggled, similar to other large businesses, and we currently find ourselves in our service delivery space several hundred people short of where we could be.

“We have had a larger demand, I think, partially coming out of changed economic circumstances.”

What has been your experience with Centrelink calls?

[ImOKJack]

This problem has been around for years and nothing ever improves. Not just Centrelink, also utility companies, other government agencies.

[Author]

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