Centrelink wait times grow, again
Centrelink's annual report has revealed that call wait times are on the rise, again.
People waited an average of 15 minutes and 44 seconds to speak to someone, according to the report. This is up by 35 seconds compared to last year's 15 minutes and 9 seconds.
And this only represents the average, some lines were much worse than others:
- those phoning the disability, sickness and carers line faced wait times of 28 minutes and 17 seconds
- those phoning employment hotlines waited on average 30 minutes and 21 seconds
- youth and students waited 31 minutes and 15 seconds on average (an increase of almost six minutes).
"I think it's important to make the point that it only represents a 35-second increase on the previous year," Centrelink spokesman Hank Jongen said. "And it is still within our target of 16 minutes."
I guess if you can't move forwards you can at least celebrate moving backwards at a slightly slower pace.
55 million calls were also met with an engaged tone.
What do you think of the wait times? I would be shocked if I got through in less than half an hour.
22 comments
Why is everyone calling Centrelink all the time, most things can be done online these days. Age Pension is definitely part of the Welfare Budget, in fact it's the largest component. It does not depend on how much tax you paid in your working life, that tax was used for services while you were working and your kids were at school etc. Your Age Pension is now directly funded by current tax payers, other wise we wouldn't have deficits. No shame in taking it, just don't pretend you are owed something because of your urears of work, that entitlement menatality is over.