Friday, October 27, 2006

Centrelink administrative chaos

DH's simple query: "How many hours am I required to work given my age?" coupled with being a week late with her diary due to a date mix-up, almost melted down Centrelink's computer system. Alright so she's exaggerating a weeeeeeeeeeeee bit, but this query resulted in a frenzy of clicking - she kids you not, the CSO, brows furrowed,  clicked thru and backwards and forwards between 10 and 20 unintelligible screens - DH's life in numbers, and after all that a supervisor had to be called to sort it out. Both staff were really nice, no worries about that, but you have to feel sorry for them, sitting almost alone in a dingy cavernous deserted office, with obviously no training. DH notes that of the staff, the only long term one she recognises clearly has a social disability, This is far from intended to mock: DH has social disability in the family as readers of this blog are aware. It raises the question in her mind: is the government exploiting employees with disabilities who may feel that they have to put up with terribly conditions because they have nowhere else to go.
 
DH may be completely wrong about all her assumptions of course. She is just going on her instincts and the fact that the staff do not seem to understand the byzantine rules of a liberal government that's supposed to be about less bureacracy. Less bureacracy should begin with less red tape, not less workers. Instead the liberals have steadily increased the red tape to bind us all, slashed the workers, and hope it all works out somehow. It doesn't, but what do the MacMansion brigade care? Until it's their turn...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was told in response to a question on one occasion by a Centrelink lackey that the computer hadn't decided yet! I asked when it would, like when it got back from lunch?