The government's reform of human services will change your work and fundamentally shift the customer experience in all DHS agencies. Your union is in consultation with DHS and Centrelink on protocols to ensure your involvement in the change process.
Where are you in the process?
We want to ensure you can raise issues, come
up with solutions and discuss ideas before decisions are made. Centrelink has
guidelines and rules to ensure that employees and their representatives are part
of the change process.
There's a simple four step process in any proper consultation process:
Discuss the need for change, including information, with you and your
union.
Involve you and your union in decision-making by allowing input on the
change proposals.
Take all your feedback into account and develop support on the proposed
change.
Once a decision is made, continue consultation with you and your union
on the changes.
If you want more information or support please contact
cpsu.centrelink@cpsu.org.au or call 1300 137 636 to speak with your
organiser.
Answering some of the obvious questions
We have received assurances that:
employees are not expected to be experts on everything,
work levels won't be downgraded
the reforms are not about cutting jobs, and
any staff reductions will be managed through natural attrition
However, we recognise the complexity of integration when workers are covered
by different pay and conditions must be addressed. This is why the CPSU has
formally requested that the government commence a joint review of wages and
conditions.
Co-location of services
We have secured agreement for a national cross-agency consultation forum for
co-locations. The success of these reforms depends on member involvement. Some
issues the consultation forum will consider include:
providing opportunities for direct engagement of affected workers
occupational health and safety, including security and accommodation
guidelines, and
alignment of hours of work and other employment conditions.
Integration of enabling functions - where has my desk gone?
Integration of enabling functions is underway in NSO and across the DHS
portfolio. Consultation about these changes has varied to date. We received a
puzzling report of a worker returning to work after the holiday break to find a
sign on their office door informing them of their office had moved. Where are
you in the process? Let us know.
Your involvement and your membership matters if we're to ensure changes
happen with you, not to you
Please, share this bulletin and ask one of your workmates to join your
union.
We are your union, join us by calling 1300 137 636 or
joining online
Posted by:Gillian - 13 Apr 2010, 10:39am As a Team leader in a busy rural site i support Boris' comments about the complexity of the work CSA's need to do and the reluctance of the "consolidated" teams to assist. An example is the complex managed investments that many of our customers now have- I was stuck helping a customer when he presented me with heaps of paperwork about income stream products, when i tried to refer on to someone to help me I was told this should be done in the local CSC. Eventually I found someone in another site who could guide me through. Eref did not help.
Posted by:Boris - 31 Mar 2010, 11:02pm Thanks to others who have supported my first comments made on the 6/3/2010.Further to those comments:"Answering Some of The Obvious Qustions" .Employees are not expected to be the expert on everything-well!!this applies to some who BUT not to the "average" CSA in a Centrelink Customer Service Centre since the Access model was introduced (and the CPSU for some unknown reason have still refused to follow up this MULTI SKILLING implementation enforced on some staff by Centrelink without any recognition of the extra expertise and pressure it forces on these staff daily).Our Rural CSC now has more "Specialist" & "Management" staff each day at work than CSA staff to deal with walkins,callbacks,PCI queue & reception yet when the queues are overflowing the so called specialist staff are not called to assist-instead the average CSA needs to go to lunch late,juggle 4 tasks at once or have a brain meltdown every day!The specialist staff-including Social Workers & consolidated teams seem more & more reluctant to deal with customers face to face & expect CSA's to deal with complex issues without adequate support,advice or training.Before the CPSU agree with any proposed changes they need to review the current situation at Centrelink which seems to have got away from them during the labour election elation!!!
Posted by:leanne - 30 Mar 2010, 12:19pm More work, less staff, greater frustration for customers and staff.when will the learn we are humans and we can only process so much mentally,physically and emotionally.Get realistic, the so called leaders at the TOP need to work in CLK for 6 months in both CSC and CC to see the adverse affects staff have and how much they have to cope with.
Posted by:Mark Gilligan - 27 Mar 2010, 7:36pm I agree with Boris' comment of 6 March. I work in a rural CSC and am the delo. The centralistaion of claims processing and now s19s on line for everyone will mean less budget for the local office. Most of us have few options and I can see only one or two wanting to go. At the same time, we have a few chiefs. The future is a shop front type operation with basic work given to the customers to do for themselves. I want Centrelink management to come clean about job losses now.
Posted by:DSS - 26 Mar 2010, 3:36pm Bit cynical of me i know but in the 20+ years that i have been here i am yet to see a change that didn't end up meaning less staff doing more with less expertise/training/assistance. Hope the union is finally going to make a real stand and claw some staff back .
As a Team leader in a busy rural site i support Boris' comments about the complexity of the work CSA's need to do and the reluctance of the "consolidated" teams to assist. An example is the complex managed investments that many of our customers now have- I was stuck helping a customer when he presented me with heaps of paperwork about income stream products, when i tried to refer on to someone to help me I was told this should be done in the local CSC. Eventually I found someone in another site who could guide me through. Eref did not help.
Thanks to others who have supported my first comments made on the 6/3/2010.Further to those comments:"Answering Some of The Obvious Qustions" .Employees are not expected to be the expert on everything-well!!this applies to some who BUT not to the "average" CSA in a Centrelink Customer Service Centre since the Access model was introduced (and the CPSU for some unknown reason have still refused to follow up this MULTI SKILLING implementation enforced on some staff by Centrelink without any recognition of the extra expertise and pressure it forces on these staff daily).Our Rural CSC now has more "Specialist" & "Management" staff each day at work than CSA staff to deal with walkins,callbacks,PCI queue & reception yet when the queues are overflowing the so called specialist staff are not called to assist-instead the average CSA needs to go to lunch late,juggle 4 tasks at once or have a brain meltdown every day!The specialist staff-including Social Workers & consolidated teams seem more & more reluctant to deal with customers face to face & expect CSA's to deal with complex issues without adequate support,advice or training.Before the CPSU agree with any proposed changes they need to review the current situation at Centrelink which seems to have got away from them during the labour election elation!!!
More work, less staff, greater frustration for customers and staff.when will the learn we are humans and we can only process so much mentally,physically and emotionally.Get realistic, the so called leaders at the TOP need to work in CLK for 6 months in both CSC and CC to see the adverse affects staff have and how much they have to cope with.
I agree with Boris' comment of 6 March. I work in a rural CSC and am the delo. The centralistaion of claims processing and now s19s on line for everyone will mean less budget for the local office. Most of us have few options and I can see only one or two wanting to go. At the same time, we have a few chiefs. The future is a shop front type operation with basic work given to the customers to do for themselves. I want Centrelink management to come clean about job losses now.
Bit cynical of me i know but in the 20+ years that i have been here i am yet to see a change that didn't end up meaning less staff doing more with less expertise/training/assistance. Hope the union is finally going to make a real stand and claw some staff back .