LIBERALS PRIVATISING CENTRELINK PIECE BY PIECE

Reports of more outsourced Centrelink jobs today are nothing more than taking with one hand and giving with the other.  The Government doesn’t deserve any congratulations.  Over the last two years alone, the Turnbull Government has cut around 2,500 jobs from the Department of Human services, and it has become more difficult for Australians to contact and access Centrelink.  The Government is addicted to outsourcing and is privatising Centrelink piece-by-piece.  Centrelink programs and income support are complex. That’s why it’s so important for Centrelink to have permanent staff who are trained and skilled to manage and assist the community.  There have been consistent reports of poor practices and standards at outsourced call centres. Labor is very worried about compromised service delivery, insecure working arrangements, lower wages, reduced conditions and poorer quality training.  The Government also has very serious questions to answer about how much sensitive private and health information will be put in the hands of private companies, and what protections are in place.  Pensioners, carers, families and people with disability need to come first, not profits.  Under the Government pensioners, students and carers are waiting hours on the phone to speak to someone at Centrelink; and living on the edge of their savings while they months for their payments to arrive.