CENTRELINK PHONE WAIT TIMES BLOW OUT UNDER LABOR 

As the cost of living crisis worsens, new information from Services Australia has revealed that the Albanese Labor Government is making it harder for Australians to access vital government services and payments. 

According to Services Australia, from 1 July 2022 to 31 January 2023, it took on average over 18 minutes for a person to be connected with a Centrelink operator and over 2.1 million Australians chose instead to terminate a call rather than wait.

Shadow Minister for Government Services, Paul Fletcher, said Australians deserved better.

“This new Centrelink data is a horror show for the government and they must do better,” Mr Fletcher said.

“The facts speak for themselves. In 2021-2022, under the Coalition, Centrelink handled over 55 million calls which were answered within 14 minutes and 14 seconds on average.

“But in 2022-2023, call wait times have spiked by over 26% under Labor, despite Centrelink only handling 25 million calls. 

“It’s particularly concerning that busy parents trying to get information about support payments are the worst hit.

“This new data reveals that Australians calling Centrelink about the Child Care Subsidy, for example, are being stuck on hold for over 27 minutes on average. That’s simply unacceptable.

“Australians are suffering because the Minister for Government Services is spending his time trying to score political points rather than doing the hard, detailed work of methodically improving customer service,” Mr Fletcher said.

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