Centrelink telephone hold times continue to grow with analysis revealing callers are waiting the longest since the reporting scheme was updated.
On average people calling the welfare office waited an average of 15 minutes and 44 seconds to talk with someone, according to the agency’s annual report.
‘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.
Centrelink callers are waiting the longest since the reporting scheme was updated by parent company DHS
Mr Jongen indicated the standard is within the company’s target of 16 minutes, the ABC reported.
He does however understand the frustration and the company is doing all they can to improve, he said.
A mother in Perth however believes she had spent more than 10 to 12 hours on hold to the agency since May.
‘Some days it’s taken me an hour or two before I can even get through to Centrelink – I get the engaged tone,’ Ms Eves said.
The new average is the longest recorded since 2014 when the Department of Human Services (DHS) updated its reporting regime.
Labor’s Social Services spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said the result was an ‘absolute disgrace’ from the Turnbull government.
During the 2015/16 financial year the expected wait was 15 minutes and 9 seconds, 35 seconds less than today’s average.
On average people are waiting an average of 15 minutes and 44 seconds to get through to the welfare office
For a number of other call lines the average had ballooned much worse, including for young people and students dialing Centrelink who wait an average of 31 minutes and 15 seconds – an increase of around six minutes.
Anyone calling through to the employment hotline would typically experience a 30 minute and 21 second hold time – up by about five minutes.
Up by more than three minutes was wait times for people phoning about disability, sickness or carers payment who wait on average 28 minutes and 17 seconds.
‘It certainly looks like they’re (the groups) being discriminated against,’ Ms Macklin said of the groups.’
Mr Jongen said calls were more complex as online services were used to handle simple matters.