ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Thanks for being here everyone. I’ve just toured the Services Australia centre here in Toowoomba and have seen firsthand the important work they do for the local community and surrounding areas. Part of the Federal Albanese Government’s recent announcement, was to recruit 3,000 additional staff for Services Australia. That included just under 100 in regional Queensland and it included 30 here in Toowoomba. Services Australia do such important work in communities, by providing support for people who are doing it tough and for those people who are trying to get back on their feet. But also, what we’ve seen in the recent natural disaster season, was that the floods and the storms that impacted South East Queensland, and other regions throughout Queensland, was that the Services Australia staff were really important in providing that first assistance. So, I’m really pleased as part of the Albanese Government, along with Minister Bill Shorten, to be providing additional staff to Services Australia so that we can continue to support the community. People know they can come in and get assistance when they need it. We know how vital it is for so many people. So, I’m really pleased to see those 30 additional staff that will be based here in Toowoomba. They’ll be managing claims, they’ll be answering queries, and they’ll be providing an important service for the local community.
JOURNALIST: I can see here that there’s going to be 100 extra staff across regional Queensland, but you’re still talking about a shortfall of 3,000 from a decade ago. How much is the government planning on ramping up hiring to fill that deficit?
CHISHOLM: It’s a significant challenge and you’re right to identify that when we came to government, there were less Services Australia staff than when Labor was last in government. So, it was degraded under the Coalition. We’re doing our best to lift those numbers, but doing it within the constraints of the budget. It’s important that we try and reduce waiting times over the phone, and that we reduce the number of claims. All that work is ongoing and these recent 3,000 additional staff will contribute to that, along with the previous staff hired last year that helped to manage that emergency relief effort that has become so prevalent in Australia.
JOURNALIST: Those phone wait times continue to be an issue that a lot of customers complain about regularly. Are these extra staff going to be people that people can come and see in person or are these people going to be on the phone lines?
CHISHOLM: My understanding is they’ll be doing all of those things and the Minister has said that the wait times on the phone are too long. We want to get that down to closer to 15 minutes. So, these staff will be important in fixing that, but they’ll also be important in assessing the backlog of claims as well, because we think that is too high at the same time. So, we know that additional resources are necessary. We’ve shown our commitment to do it by providing these additional employment numbers, but we also know that there is ongoing work needed to continue to provide the best service possible for Services Australia.
JOURNALIST: There’s also a note in there about bolstering interpreters. Obviously, Toowoomba has got a very diverse community. Are those going to be specifically working with those groups?
CHISHOLM: Yes, and I’ve met with a couple of the interpreters that are working this morning and they do play an important role, particularly in a community like this. So, we know that they do need additional support. Talking to management here, this is something that they’ve identified and are doing their best to accommodate those people through the different hours of the day.
JOURNALIST: Do you know how many of that 30 will be specifically interpreters?
CHISHOLM: I haven’t seen the breakdown of how they’ll be split between those services, but we do know that there is a need across the whole board of Services Australia in the work that they do for additional staff.
JOURNALIST: And there’s 30 new staff in Toowoomba and, say, 20 in Townsville, how is it decided how many go into each area?
CHISHOLM: My understanding is the Department do those break downs based on the need of what’s happening in those communities and they’ve got a sophisticated system of managing that workload. Obviously, the more staff we can throw at that, it reduces that workload, reduces waiting time, reduces call waiting times, which is obviously what we want to achieve.
JOURNALIST: And how vital was it to increase staff members?
CHISHOLM: Well, what we saw under the previous government is that the number of people employed at Services Australia had gone down so much so that it was actually less than when we were last in government. So, we know that we’ve got a big job to boost the support services, but we also know that the work that they do is vital across the community. So, we want to support that, through reducing waiting times and ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible.
JOURNALIST: How’s it going in the wake of the natural disasters that we’ve had in the Far North and also Western Downs region here, have there been a lot of requests for help?
CHISHOLM: My understanding is it has been a busy couple of months for Services Australia staff both here and in Dalby. So, we know that when those sorts of events happen, they do go through busy periods. That’s why we need to support the staff as much as we can, provide those additional resources, but know that it is going to be an ongoing challenge for us. Thanks very much.
ENDS
