Poor government planning led to Australian passport delays and queues after Covid, audit finds
by Josh Butler from World news | The Guardian on (#6JE9A)
Officials knew as early as December 2020 there would be pent-up demand surge' but additional staff were not engaged and trained in time, review says
- Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
- Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
Government officials did not properly plan for a pent-up demand surge" for new passports when Australia's international borders reopened after Covid, causing major delays and long queues, according to a damning audit report.
In a report tabled in parliament on Wednesday, the auditor general found passport delivery by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) has not been efficient", with a quarter of applications after the 2022 change of government taking longer than six weeks.
Continue reading...