Centrelink outage: Huge blow to EVERY Australian who relies on Services Australia – here’s how the shock move will affect payments
Australians on Centrelink could face a huge blow if staff from a major government department make a shock move that could impact payments.
Services Australia staff will resign on Monday, October 9 after their demands for a pay rise have not been met.
Employees will take the entire day off, with the 24-hour strike potentially impacting customers accessing essential services.
Centrelink customers (pictured) may see service disruptions to employees as Services Australia employees walk off the job over a pay dispute on Monday, October 9 – but General Manager of Services Australia Hank Jongen told Daily Mail Australia in a statement that the supply of social benefits are not affected as a result of the strike
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) told Services Australia that members of the agency’s 32,000 employees will take industrial action over the pay dispute.
The union claims Services Australia’s latest offer, a 0.7 per cent increase on the proposed wage offer of 10.5 per cent over three years, is ‘not sufficient’.
CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly said the government must honor its commitment to the public sector by giving workers a pay rise.
“The CPSU has rejected this offer because we know we can and should aim higher than 50 percent plus one,” Ms Donnelly said.
“The Albanian Labor Government made a public service commitment before its election to become a model employer and rebuild the APS (Australian Public Service) after a decade of damage and destruction.”
Ms Donnelly said the latest round of industrial action is justified and staff should receive higher wages to cope with the current financial stress.
“In an environment where every APS employee is feeling extreme cost-of-living pressure, the current wage offer is not enough,” she said.
‘Our members are prepared to increase pressure if necessary to achieve better reward results.’
CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly (pictured) said the federal government must keep its promise to deliver better wages for public sector workers and that upcoming industrial action is justified.
The CPSU informed the Australian Public Service Commission on Wednesday that the union will not accept the wage offer.
The strike will impact the provision of several services, including Centrelink and health insurance.
General Manager Services Australia Hank Jongen told Daily Mail Australia in a statement that welfare payments will not be affected as a result of the strike.
“We want to reassure customers that there will be no consequences for payments,” Jongen said.
‘Our online and self-services are not affected and remain available 24/7.
‘We encourage customers to take advantage of these options first by accessing services through myGov, Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support online accounts and mobile apps, and our self-service telephone lines.’
Mr Jongen said the agency will try to minimize disruptions caused by the strike.
“We respect that lawful industrial action is part of the bargaining process and we are working to identify possible numbers of participating staff,” he said.
Several welfare services (pictured), including Centrelink, are likely to be affected by the 24-hour strike
The CPSU is demanding a 20 percent pay increase over three years, which the union says will benefit 150,000 public sector workers.
Daily Mail has contacted the Minister for Public Services, Bill Shorten, for comment.
Services Australia staff were absent for an hour in August, leading to a brief disruption to services.
The upcoming strike will be the first to potentially impact customers, as previous forms of industrial action have only affected the agency’s management.