MEDIA RELEASE - SHORTEN’S SERVICES AUSTRALIA BACKLOG WORSE THAN PREVIOUSLY DISCLOSED

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

MEDIA RELEASE

26 April 2024

SHORTEN’S SERVICES AUSTRALIA BACKLOG WORSE THAN PREVIOUSLY DISCLOSED

Bill Shorten’s media release today reveals the backlog in claims at Services Australia peaked at 1.35 million claims.

This is worse by 250,000 than the backlog previously disclosed by officials in February.

Yet the delusional Mr Shorten congratulates himself for a ‘backlog of 500,000 Centrelink and Medicare claims radically slashed’.

Services Australia’s backlog of claims is entirely of Mr Shorten’s own making. Examples of Mr Shorten’s mismanagement include:

• Average staffing levels were cut by almost 2000 positions in the 2023-24 Budget.
• Around 600 call centre jobs were axed when a major contract with SERCO was abolished.
• Automation processes for claims processing were – and remain – inexplicably turned off.

“It is deeply concerning that the claims backlog was allowed to reach 1.35 million, which Mr Shorten has now finally conceded was ‘more than twice normal levels’,” Mr Fletcher said.

Call wait times and payment processing times have been a disaster under Mr Shorten as the tables below show.

Media contact: William Sparling | 0416 628 276 | [email protected]