Services Australia apologises over Centrelink call centre performance as age pension claims hit by huge delays
by Cait Kelly Inequality reporter from World news | The Guardian on (#6JM2W)
New data reveals backlog of 1.1m claims across all payments while around half of all calls to Centrelink went unanswered in six-month period
Services Australia has apologised to its customers over a sustained blowout in call centre wait times as new figures also reveal a backlog of more than 1.1 million payment claims and significant delays for age pension applications.
Despite the Albanese government employing thousands of new Centrelink staff, only around 50% or 22.4m of the almost 45m calls to Centrelink made in the six months to 31 December were answered and handled by a Services Australia operator.
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