Centrelink is again under fire over ballooning call wait times, with some customers complaining the service is now “refusing to take their calls” at all.
Amid claims that many calls to Centrelink are going unanswered, some callers say they’re now being blocked from calling back at all and are receiving an automated message when they try to do so. Yahoo reports that Centrelink customers are fuming.
One customer posted audio of a call to Centrelink on X, formally Twitter, and complained the phone ID system was “block[ing] people reattempting a call”.
“We know you’ve been trying to reach us,” the message begins.
“However, we are experiencing a high volume of calls at the moment and are unable to take your call. We apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”
The message does not give any timeframe for the customer to try calling again, and simply hangs up when finished.
“Services Australia now blatantly refusing to answer calls,” the customer said.
Not a new occurrence
This automated system is nothing new. Early last year, SBS reported that vulnerable Australians were receiving the same message when trying to get through.
When a person calls Centrelink, an automated response asks them to explain the purpose of their call in a few words.
If the explanation is too vague or hard to understand, the call will reportedly cut off.
If the customer then calls back on the same number, Centrelink’s phone ID system will identify them as a repeat caller, play the repeat caller message and hang up once more.
The system isn’t new, but a spokesperson for Services Australia says increased wait times mean more people are receiving the message when attempting to call.
“Our wait times are longer than we’d like at the moment,” the spokesperson says.
“We’re sorry some people are waiting longer than they should be. If our phone lines are congested, people may receive a message explaining our staff are busy. People experiencing vulnerability are prioritised in this case”.
What’s the hold up?
Getting through to Centrelink on the phone has been an ongoing issue for more than a year and staff shortages seems to be the main culprit. Over the past decade the total staff headcount at Centrelink has dropped by almost 5000, from 31,000 in 2012-13 to 26,600 when the numbers were investigated last year.
In response to that investigation, the federal government promised $228 million to Services Australia to hire an additional 3000 staff to help bridge the gap. Whether that will be enough to get wait times back to acceptable levels is the question. those 3000 additional staff are really only replacing the numbers cut during the March 2022 Federal Budget, a move that was predicted to lead to call time blowouts at the time.
Will there be any extra funding for Centrelink staff in this year’s budget? If these call wait times are to be addressed then there will have to be.
Have you tried calling Centrelink recently? Have you received this message? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also read: On hold and on the edge – the scourge of calling big companies