Many of them will be involved in the policies that the new government campaigned for and for which it is trying to change the agreements quickly.
The agency pays more than $ 230 billion annually to people with more than 470 million claims. During the pandemic, it also responded to all claims for emergency payments, which led to the temporary incorporation of an additional 2,000 workers.
However, in recent years it has come under pressure to force more and more people online to make such claims, with nearly 30 Centrelink or Services Australia storefronts closing nationwide, leaving 318 dedicated outlets. . Shorten has previously said that people looking for support and services should have the option of talking to real people, not just being pushed into a website or sitting in an automated phone queue.
Another top priority for Shorten in his new role is to launch a royal commission on robodeute as soon as possible.
The robodebt scheme, which was later declared illegal, used an automated system that measured a person’s average income to claim hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged debts to 433,000 Centrelink recipients. The government resolved a class action lawsuit in 2020 for a total cost of more than $ 1.8 billion.
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Despite legal action and multiple inquiries, Shorten said it was still unclear who was responsible for the plan.
It also wants the royal commission to provide broader lessons for the government on the use of algorithms and automation to decide payments, including those of the National Disability Insurance System.
Cut to the chase of federal politics with Jacqueline Maley’s news, opinion, and expert analysis. Subscribers can subscribe to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.