ABC-The World Today story on Centrelink 2005

This is a very interesting ABC interview transcript from 2005 featuring people who have been messed about by Centrelink for no reason at all. Don't forget, if you are having issues with Centrelink, you can defend yourself against this corporation with love, peace, honour and goodwill; take a look at centrefunk.com or you can drop us a line here at the mikiverse; dazedconfused883@yahoo.com.au.

ABC Online


The World Today - Former Centrelink managers speak out


[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1404889.htm]

The World Today - Friday, 1 July , 2005  12:15:00

Reporter: Karen Barlow

ELEANOR HALL: Problems at the Government's welfare delivery agency, Centrelink, have turned personal today.

Revelations yesterday of a bungled bank debit operation by Centrelink angered clients already frustrated by the system and highlighted ongoing problems with the way Australians receive payments such as Newstart, the aged pension and disability support.

Now former Centrelink managers are also speaking out about the agency, as Karen Barlow reports.

KAREN BARLOW: Vic Roberts was a welfare recipient for seven years, three while studying at university.

She now has a full-time job, but is still paying off a debt she says was incurred by a number of Centrelink mistakes.

VIC ROBERTS: My experience is that they've stuffed me around a fair amount. They lost my tax file number a number of times, even though I'd been getting Newstart Allowance for a number of years.

KAREN BARLOW: They lost your tax file number?

VIC ROBERTS: Yeah. So they said that I would stop being paid until I gave it to them again. So I'd go obviously for maybe a fortnight without being paid.

KAREN BARLOW: How did that affect you?

VIC ROBERTS: Well it meant that some days I couldn't go to university when I was studying because I didn't have my bus or train fare to get there. And it also meant that I was having a hard time paying my rent every month, and also going grocery shopping.

KAREN BARLOW: Centrelink claims to have an 86 per cent customer satisfaction rating – a level of service rejected by Vic Roberts and other clients.

VIC ROBERTS: I think that Centrelink has just fallen into this pit of, I don't know, hell or something – they treat their customers really badly.

VOX POP 1: Centrelink have insulted me.

VOX POP 2: I would be surprised if even 40 or 50 per cent said that they would be happy with the way that they have been dealt with by Centrelink.

KAREN BARLOW: Former Centrelink manager Rod Whyte, and author of Australia's Artful Dodger – Centrelink Exposed, says he's not surprised by the double-dipping bank debit bungle.

ROD WHYTE: Obviously the problem that occurred with the double dipping was to do with the system, and not necessarily to do with the people that input the debts into the system. So, I mean, there's a question now about the assurance of them payment system itself, and the debt recovery system itself, that is of concern.

KAREN BARLOW: So you can't pin it down on one thing – computer problems, staff, managers, attitudes? It's a myriad of things?

ROD WHYTE: Oh yes, most definitely.

KAREN BARLOW: Centrelink says the double-dipping bungle was a one-off incident that it has apologised for.

Centrelink General Manager Hank Jongen says Centrelink has a difficult job.

HANK JONGEN: This is an extremely rare occurrence that happened the other day, and we've contacted those people, we've apologised to them, and we will ensure that they do not incur any financial cost. But I make this point as well – we are one of the few organisations, government organisations, with the courage to measure our performance every month across every one of our customer service outlets. We engage in independent market research to measure customer satisfaction. And our customer satisfaction, despite the fact that we do a good job, a tough job, we have to say no to people, we have to knock people, we have to say to people you're not putting enough effort to get a job. We raise debts against people if they haven't told us. Despite that tough job that our staff have to do, our customer satisfaction is sitting at 86 per cent.

KAREN BARLOW: But could that be because the clients of Centrelink are too afraid to actually say that you guys aren't doing a good job?

HANK JONGEN: Well again, critics such as Rod Whyte would try and make these contentions. There's no evidence that that's the case. The research that we undertake to measure attitudes towards Centrelink is undertaken by professional independent market research companies, who make it clear to our customers who are randomly selected, that they have no association with Centrelink.

KAREN BARLOW: Hank Jongen says Rob Whyte is a disgruntled former junior manager who hasn't been on the inside of Centrelink for several years.

He also accuses him of making money off the woes of Centrelink clients – a claim Rob Whyte denies.

However, Hank Jongen doesn't shy away from all criticism of Centrelink.

HANK JONGEN: It's inevitable that on occasions we will get it wrong, and I don't walk away from that. We are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I also know how hard-working and dedicated our staff are, and how genuinely committed most of our staff are to providing high levels of customer service.

ELEANOR HALL: Centrelink General Manager Hank Jongen ending that report from Karen Barlow.