Tens of thousands of calls to one of Australia’s most important domestic government agencies are allegedly going unanswered, leaving thousands of Australians without access to vital everyday services.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has revealed that due to significant staffing shortfalls in Services Australia-the agency that oversees government programs like Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support.
Melissa Donnelly, the CPSU National Secretary, has said that it was clear the staffing situation in the department had reached a crisis point, and the federal government needed to act quickly to secure the future of current employees and increase overall staffing numbers….