Thread: anyone work at centelink

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Nah I don't think anyone at Centrelink actually works, although quite a few are employed there.

Mostly the the staff are off doing courses on the latest proven technique on how to make customers feel worthless and unemployable, thus ensuring their own ongoing employment.


Sorry I can't help JeepBoy with his actual information request.

A bit harsh ain't it

Originally Posted by Shonky

Why not just call Centrelink?!

Speaking as a public servant here, it's bad enough having to do work during work time - I sincerely doubt that someone who works at Centrelink of all places would want to help you in their down time, for free!

Good luck with your questions though.

Some of us are happy to help others with there knowledge

Wouldn;t be much of a forum if people didn;t share what they knew would it

Most of us yes!

I take it you don't work at Centrelink though!

Originally Posted by V8Ian

A bit harsh ain't it

Have you ever stood in the queue at Centrelink?

For most of the counter staff there, you can't be harsh enough. They treat you as if they are paying you out of their own pockets and that you are always defrauding the system.

Originally Posted by Shonky

Most of us yes!

I take it you don't work at Centrelink though!

I think its a complete contradiction in terms people working at centrelink.
Myself i have found alot of people who work in the public service are those to stupid get a job in the private sector. But now i said that thinking about it there the smarter ones because they get paid for doing jack.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Have you ever stood in the queue at Centrelink?

For most of the counter staff there, you can't be harsh enough. They treat you as if they are paying you out of their own pockets and that you are always defrauding the system.

Diana, I worked there for 8 1/2 years prior to retirement. I was a Senior Field OIfficer running two specific project teams investigating fraud and misrepresentation immediately before retirement. Fraud is widespread. Computers are helping pick up a lot that was previously undetected. However the cash economy is still out there. Undeclared relationships still a major problem and major cost to the taxpayer. The greatest area of undetected fraud is still Sole Parent Pensioners in undeclared relationships continuing to draw the pension as if still single. Paying out of YOUR pockets too, remember.

My teams were typical. We were repaying our annual salaries every month in reduced and cancelled payments, and the average amount of overpayments detected per annum by an active full-time field officer was around $300,000.

In my time there, the Departments offices never had enough staff. Staff turnover was amazing. Stress levels high. Officers in public contact simply wore out and looked for specialist jobs in back office, or transfers to other departments. Experienced and capable staff were lost to the front line jobs because they had absolutely had enough of daily dealing with liars, cheats, and the grubby end of society.

You don't like standing in the queue to get free money? Try being the receptionist. All day every day facing rude, smelly, drunk, drugged, foul mouthed, abusive clients. In any reasonable society, some of these should have been physically and roughly removed from the premises and black listed but no, "customer service" demands they be treated nicely.

The dramatic changes made to the style of operation in the last 10 years have made life worse for the staff. Politicians like to fiddle continually with the rules, hence the need for constant staff traing, and the social engineers in Canberra who have never worked in a regional office and have their heads in the clouds are the pollies advisers. As an example, the last office I worked from had two sub-offices and around 200 staff. There are now only 12 staff left there that were there when I retired.

Sorry folks, but I have to side with Brian on this one.

In many businesses, there are often employees that have to deal with unhappy customers. Try calling customers & get them to pay a bill. Yes they have a contract to pay within 30 days. Yes they signed it. But when you ring them after sending letter after letter, they make you feel like you are the bad guy.

In all of the dealings I have had with Centrelink, I cant recall any problems. A bit like this forum, you get back what you give.

I have seen people crack a nut when told that they are going to have their benefits cut off, to the point where the police were called and removed them. Try facing that every day, and see if you dont build a wall between you & the next person in line.

Centrelink are no different to any other government department, in the fact that they have to deal with ever changing rules. And quite often, those changes cannot be communicated in a memo or a staff meeting. They take training.

So, my opinion is to take each case on its merits. Sure, there are some staff at Centrelink that are hard to deal with, and there are some coffee shop employees that are just as difficult. The one advantage of Centrelink, is that if you don't like the answer you were given, you can ask to speak to the supervisor, and get a second opinion.

All I am saying, is don't tar everyone with the same brush. It's like saying that all Queenslanders are slow, just because they cant work out daylight saving.