Services Australia is the agency responsible for delivering Centrelink and Medicare payments and age pensions to eligible clients. They are currently facing a staffing crisis, post-COVID hangover, and under-investment in human resources. David Hazlehurst, the Chief Executive, assured the Senate estimates hearing on Feb. 14 that he hoped to reduce the backlog of 1.1 million claims down to between 400,000 and 500,000 by April.
Hazlehurst acknowledged that it would take some time to reduce the backlog to a manageable level, despite receiving $228 million in federal funding used to hire additional staff. The hiring process is complete, with new staff trickling into 3,000 new positions created in various locations. Hazlehurst was “optimistic” the agency would be able to manage the number of claims over the next few months, but cautioned that the backlog would take some time to reduce to acceptable levels.
Since Labor was last in government more than a decade ago, staffing levels at Services Australia have declined. According to Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten, in 2011-2012, there were about 37,000 staff employed at Services Australia. Today, even with the additional positions, staffing levels are more than 3,000 fewer than they were a decade ago. He attributed this to the former Liberal government, but hailed the boost in hiring as a means of providing better government services for all Australians.