Jim Belshaw posted Personal Reflections: Praise for Centrelink in response to one of my entries last week.
Earlier in the week Neil (Ninglun) reported on a visit to Centrelink. Apparently, he was the first to apply for a pension on-line, at least at that office.
Now I find it hard to comprehend that Neil has gone for an old-age pension. He is older than me, but it still makes me feel ancient. So I am going to close my eyes and ignore his application as an inconvenient truth! However, his post does provide me with an opportunity to say something nice about Centrelink…
Centrelink’s job is not easy. A core challenge is to find ways of delivering services more efficiently while still improving customer service. Here e-services are central.
I am and remain sceptical about some e-services because so much of the apparent benefits come from pushing responsibility onto the client in order to achieve cost savings. We all have all seen this. But e-services also have a place because they can make service delivery so much more customer friendly. Centrelink is trying to achieve this…
Well, Jim, some further reason to be hopeful.
I was told last week that it would be 21 days before my application was processed. Thanks to the online application things have moved much faster, and the first payment will arrive the day after tomorrow. Just had a phone call from, presumably, Port Macquarie where the online applications apparently live.
Posted by Benjamin Solah on July 23, 2008 at 11:10 am
I rather think Jim’s praise for Centrelink is a bit short sighted given that it doesn’t matter to most people if they can apply online or not when they don’t get their payment anyway, are harrassed by Job Networks for jobs that cannot sustain them anyway, are asked to pay back money for Centrelinks mistake, staff are trained in how to breach clients but not how to refer them to assistance programs…
The list could go on. I think people’s hatred for Centrelink is very very reaching.
Posted by ninglun on July 23, 2008 at 11:16 am
Perhaps things are improving, if too slowly. I can only praise the treatment I have had from Redfern Centrelink and online so far.
But yes, I have seen the other side: one example from a couple of years back is here.
Later
Jim Belshaw has responded. I agree totally with:
I kept well away from it during the Howard years. It was more punitive than supportive far too often, as well as inadequately resourced. Jim’s explanation (from one well versed in public service) is interesting. And Benjamin, having observed the Beast close up in some of S-W Sydney’s harder areas under the Great Grey Garden Gnome, is well placed to comment too.
I can only repeat that my experience has thus far been positive, as it had been on the few occasions when I had dealings with its predecessor in the Keating years. I also know of others this year who have been well treated, a contrast with the kind of thing I reported about Lord Malcolm a couple of years back. And it is Redfern I am talking about too, not exactly the most salubrious part of the city when it comes to Centrelink issues.