By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — Serious faults with a new computer system, the Newstart Common Platform (NCP), dealing with unemployment and related benefits has caused chaos at Centrelink, the federal agency responsible for delivering social security payments. Anger and frustration among union members in Centrelink is mounting as the July 1 changeover to the Youth Allowance.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is demanding a delay in the introduction of the Youth Allowance until the computer system can be guaranteed; extra staffing to handle the crisis; more client-free time to clear backlogs of work; a day's leave in recognition of the increased stress and loss of reading and development time; and increased resources for information technology implementation. If the system fails on July 1, the chances of an industrial conflict are very high.
The Centrelink section secretary Mark Gepp said on June 23: "The computer problems, combined with a staff cut of 1300, have resulted in thousands of missed and incorrect payments, massive increases in queues and dangerous levels of frustration for both clients and staff."
"Our members have been physically assaulted and are being harassed as they leave work by agitated clients",he said.
Centrelink staff are demanding to know what steps social security minister Jocelyn Newman is taking to protect them. "We are also demanding to know when the computer system will finally be fixed. If we do not receive absolute assurances on these issues, members will be forced to consider industrial action", Gepp added.
The union has rejected claims by Centrelink that there are only minor glitches with the system. "As of [June 23], there are still 830 individual technical problems with NCP. In this environment, Centrelink's decision to press ahead with its Youth Allowance system launch on July 1 can only be seen as foolhardy", and could push the entire system into "total chaos", Gepp argued.
Centrelink chief executive Sue Vardon initially admitted only "teething problems". However, in a media release on June 24, Vardon pleaded with unemployed young people to return YA transfer forms immediately. "More than 90,000 forms were sent out in May and, as of today, 46,000 forms have not been returned." A major crisis looms with YA, as young people who have not returned their forms will be cut off benefits instantly.
The CPSU has called workplace meetings for June 29 to discuss options for action, including distributing information leaflets and protest letters to Centrelink clients; refusing to work when faced with health and safety risks; and endorsing individual workplaces to take further two-hour stoppages every two days, where members endorse that action.