Welfare Spending Data Online

[Banjo]

Welfare Spending Data Online

The Federal Government’s national income support data is to be made available online.

Federal Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews said making the income support data readily accessible was part of the Government’s policy to reduce red tape.

“This data will be updated quarterly and includes the number and location of Australians on the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Newstart, Youth Allowance and Family Tax Benefits,” he said.

“Having this information readily available will help raise public awareness and understanding of patterns of income support across Australia.

“Access to timely data will help improve the evidence base around our welfare support system, so that we can work together on innovative solutions to improve it.”

As of March this year, about five million Australians were receiving income support payments, including 2.4 million people receiving the Age Pension.

Currently data from the last quarter of 2013 can be found online. Topics such as welfare payment recipients are available.

The Minister said other related data such as that contained in the annual Income Support Customers Statistical Overview would be added to the website when released early this financial year.

To access the income support data, go to www.data.gov.au/

- See more at: www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2014/07/welfare-spending-data-online#sthash.5JQGsKMI.dpuf

[Banjo]

Human Services tackles outgoing paper torrent

Everything about the Department of Human Services, Australia’s Commonwealth agency responsible for pensions, unemployment & family benefits and Medicare, is measured on an enormous scale. It is responsible for almost 40% of Commonwealth government payments made to Australians each year, $A149.4 billion in the 2012-2013 financial year, while the number of staff required to administer the payments is more than 35,000 nationally.

The volume of correspondence it sends out is a similarly mind-boggling number, approximately four million pieces of physical communications per month from the Centrelink master program that administers payments. The department has been actively moving towards using SMS or email to communicate with Australians receiving Centrelink payments, and the split is now approximately 40 per cent paper and 60 per cent electronic.

The number of people using the messaging service increased from around 3.4 million in 2011–12 to around 4.9 million in 2012–13. At present electronic messaging through SMS or email is currently only available to those receiving Centrelink payments, although in its most recent Annual Report the department said it is working to make it available more widely.

To aid with its migration to digital, the department has implemented an OpenText solution for Outgoing Correspondence management, OpenText Document Presentment (OpenText DP). Outbound communication is triggered from SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and data from SAP CRM is then passed to OpenText DP for composition and distribution to the appropriate communication channel (such as letters, emails and SMSs). The communication is stored in IBM FileNet for archiving.

Gary Sterrenberg, Chief Information Officer for the Department of Human Services, said, “At present, the Centrelink master program produces approximately four million pieces of physical communications per month from our legacy system but this is continuing to decrease as DHS transitions its physical correspondence into the digital channel.

"Over time, more physical communication will be sent using the OpenText Document Presentment solution. “

“All divisions of the department will utilise the new Outgoing Correspondence management. In the future, this Outgoing Correspondence will be the only platform for the department.”

“Previously, data was passed from our legacy system to an in-house built outbound customer communication system.

“Over time, all outbound customer communications will be sent using the new system,” said Sterrenberg.

“We also expect to support more communications through the digital channel, which is in line with the Department’s strategy to increase interaction with customers online, via mobile devices and other self-service methods where possible.”


The department has a whole-of-enterprise architectural approach. Where appropriate, existing capabilities are re-used across the enterprise. HP TRIM, IBM and SharePoint products all play a part in the department’s landscape. While the department expects to see an increase in the trend towards the use of digital communication, Sterrenberg acknowledges there are difficulties to be overcome.

“The main obstacles we have identified in moving to digital communications include the demographic make-up of our customers, technical challenges of connecting to large legacy systems and in some instances - a security or legislative requirement to have communication sent via paper.

“The department has on many occasions been requested to reproduce printed or digital communications for legal dispute purposes, such as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.”

idm.net.au/article/0010212-human-services-tackles-outgoing-paper-torrent

[struggling]

I feel sympathy for the staff and centrelink , their computers are antiquated , their understaffed and work under constant pressure facing silent abuse from clients everyday.
They have to work to a charter of non prejudice yet they face acceptance of that daily.
A handful of wealthy , arrogant , condescending , and corporate controlled politicians who have no real idea of how most of the pensioners they are responsible to and for actually survive just make hostile remarks and verbal threats at each other , until they recess as one very privileged group within the dining areas of Parliament House enjoying fine food , beverages and luxury items all paid for by the very own citizens they are screwing.
Its all wrong !