2017-11-22
The Government finding money for an additional 1000 staff from private contractors to prop-up the robo-debt program shows a further deterioration of the Centrelink system, Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said today.
“More privatisation so the Government can strengthen its efforts to crackdown on supposed ‘welfare fraud’ truly beggars belief. Meanwhile the community’s trust in the Centrelink system is at an all-time low as the Government barely touches the edges in attempts to reduce huge call wait times for those that are trying to get through and adjust their payments or receive support.
“We need an increase in public sector jobs so that the Government can genuinely start to repair the broken Centrelink system. This injection of private contract staff in areas such as robo-debt recovery shows they are more concerned with raking back money than actually creating a social safety net that is functional and serves the community.
“I understand the private contract staff will have access to Centrelink systems, I have questions on whether this includes sensitive material and if so this is a major red flag that must be addressed.
“We need to be focusing on genuinely getting Centrelink back on track so that our community can access the social safety net without major obstacles and systemic difficulty”.
Media Release Family, Ageing and Community Services