The
Sydney Morning Herald,
20 September 2018:
Labour hire workers will
soon be used in face-to-face roles in Centrelink offices across the country, as
part of a six-month trial.
Thirty labour hire
workers will be used in some Centrelink offices in Queensland, South Australia
and Western Australia in what is believed to be self-managed support advisor
roles from next month. This person generally greets people as they enter Centrelink
offices and often directs them to using computers and phones in the offices.
The move is another step
in increasing use of labour hire at the agency, following on from the
announcement that 1500 call centre roles would be outsourced to Serco, Stellar
Asia Pacific, Concentrix Services and DataCom Connect.
It had also previously
been announced that 1000 staff from labour hire firms would be deployed at
Centrelink offices around the country, and a pilot program with Serco with 250
call centre staff means 2750 contractors have been hired since last year to
work at the agency. It's believed the trial is part of existing labour hire
contracts Human Services has with private companies.
A Department of Human
Services spokeswoman said the 30 staff members were additional staff.
"There are no job
losses associated with the move," the spokeswoman said.
The main public sector
union is worried that members of the public will be dealing with staff members
who aren't employed by the government.
"The CPSU is
seriously concerned that labour hire workers will now be the first port of call
for customers walking into a Centrelink office, instead of permanent members of
staff. We want Australians to be served by experienced and properly trained staff
members," Community and Public Sector Union deputy secretary Melissa
Donnelly said.
"The job might
sound easy but dealing with clients who may be agitated or distressed as they
walk into an office can be very difficult, and could pose a risk to the safety
of the workers."
It's not yet clear how
workloads will be managed in a role that was previously shared among Centrelink
staff throughout a shift.
“Experienced Centrelink
staff are able to manage that, but it’s going to be much harder for labour hire
workers who don’t have the same experience or background.
This is bad news for
those workers and bad news for members of the community who are trying to
access services," Ms Donnelly said.
* Private prison operator Serco has a disreptuable history in Australia and overseas.
See: https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/serco-run-facilities-fraud-failures-and-fatal-errors/ & https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/detention-centre-staff-condemned-by-coroner-over-deaths-of-villawood-detainees/news-story/e7716137afb293eda1294cca07f30ebe & https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/serco-to-pay-back-69m-over-fraudulent-tagging-contracts-9015214.html &
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-12/melbourne-immigration-guard-sacked-over-sexual-harassment-claims/7163786
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