Media Release

Looking to the future of Australian Government service delivery

17 September 2007

Minister for Human Services, Senator the Hon. Chris Ellison and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration, Senator the Hon. Richard Colbeck today launched a package of measures designed to streamline the future of Australian Government service delivery at Centrelink’s new Tuggeranong Community Access office in Canberra.

“The community expects a high standard of service delivery from Government agencies, and the Department of Human Services has been tasked with the job of improving and diversifying the way in which social and health services are delivered,” Senator Ellison said.

“With work and family life becoming increasingly busy, people need access to Government services after hours, through online, SMS and phone services.  That is why the Howard Government is committed to overhauling all channels of service delivery to the Australian people.

“The Human Services Portal provides a single-entry point for health and social services websites, and more than 3,000 Australians have already registered for the single sign-on feature.  It provides easy and secure access to the online services offered by Centrelink, Medicare Australia and the Child Support Agency.  The portal allows people to link their logons and move freely between agencies’ websites without having to log on and off.  It can be viewed at myaccount.humanservices.gov.au.

“In addition, the Australian Government is working to improve call centre performance in agencies such as Centrelink, which took almost 31 million calls in the 2006-07 financial year.  A new Centrelink Community Innovation Centre, planned for the New South Wales South Coast, will showcase the future of Government phone services and is the first of its kind in Australia.

“At the same time, each of the Human Services agencies is working to provide local communities with better quality and more personalised access to government services.  The Tuggeranong Centrelink Community Access office is an outstanding example of how face-to-face services will be delivered into the future.

“The Centrelink office has state-of-the-art technologies to manage customer demand and keep the community informed of new Government initiatives, modern facilities for staff and customers, and casual meeting areas to improve access for local welfare and community groups,” Senator Ellison said.

Senator Colbeck said the Government’s Forms and Letters Parliamentary Committee established in 2006 had produced some key findings on ways to improve Human Services agencies’ communication with customers in the future.

“Letters and forms are a necessary part of delivering quality Government services, but consistent feedback from the Australian community indicates people often find them to be too long and difficult to understand,” Senator Colbeck said.

“The Committee’s task has been to identify ways to streamline and simplify forms and letters sent by agencies such as Centrelink, Medicare Australia and the Child Support Agency, to reduce the burden on families and improve their access to services.

“In total the Committee has reviewed 167 forms and 201 letters and has substantially improved their style, appearance, readability and usability.  The reform process has saved 13.2 million pages of paper per annum, providing a substantial environmental gain as well.

“The development of the DHS Forms Design and Style Guidelines will also ensure that the reforms of the Committee will be common to all new forms and letters developed by Human Services agencies in the future. This will ensure national consistency in the way the Human Services portfolio communicates with the Australian public,” Senator Colbeck said.

Senator Ellison said the future of Australian social and health services looks bright.

“I’m confident the work being done by my Department and the Human Services agencies will ensure the Australian community continues to receive the high quality of service it expects and deserves,” he said.

Media Contact:

Michael Barrett (Senator Ellison) – (02) 6277 7200 or 0419 424 359
Aaron Oldaker (Senator Colbeck) – (02) 6277 5814 or 0408 826 330