Post by Banker on Apr 10, 2012 6:34:17 GMT 7
CENTRELINK staff in Hobart's suburbs and Launceston are being verbally abused, threatened and even spat at over the counter by frustrated customers.
The Community and Public Sector Union said security guards were being called in regularly to protect workers.
CPSU regional secretary Paul Blake said Tasmanian welfare recipients often had to wait more than an hour to be served at Centrelink offices because there were too few staff to cope with the workload.
"The wait times have been blowing out longer than ever," Mr Blake said.
"People have been physically attacked over the counter, people have been spat on."
About 2000 Centrelink, Child Support and Medicare workers are spread across customer centres in Hobart, Rosny, Glenorchy, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport.
Mr Blake said certain locations experienced more trouble than others with aggressive customers.
"People are leaving because they can't handle the stress but with a limited job market in Tasmania, it's making some people stay," he said.
Federal Government penny-pinching means staff who leave are not replaced and the union fears the lack of resources will worsen after this year's Federal Budget.
A national CPSU survey of Centrelink workers has found customer hostility and aggression have worsened, while waiting times have increased and more mistakes are being made because of budget cuts and staffing problems.
In the CPSU survey of frontline Centrelink and Medicare staff, 71 per cent said customer hostility had increased in the past six months and 55 per cent said aggression had increased.
Eighty-two per cent said wait times had increased and 69 per cent said more mistakes were being made as a result of budget cuts and staffing problems.
"We're getting regular reports about verbal death threats, spitting, punching, head-butting and worse," CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said.
"Staff morale has hit the floor, with staff worried conditions are going to get worse."
goo.gl/5nRyx
The Community and Public Sector Union said security guards were being called in regularly to protect workers.
CPSU regional secretary Paul Blake said Tasmanian welfare recipients often had to wait more than an hour to be served at Centrelink offices because there were too few staff to cope with the workload.
"The wait times have been blowing out longer than ever," Mr Blake said.
"People have been physically attacked over the counter, people have been spat on."
About 2000 Centrelink, Child Support and Medicare workers are spread across customer centres in Hobart, Rosny, Glenorchy, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport.
Mr Blake said certain locations experienced more trouble than others with aggressive customers.
"People are leaving because they can't handle the stress but with a limited job market in Tasmania, it's making some people stay," he said.
Federal Government penny-pinching means staff who leave are not replaced and the union fears the lack of resources will worsen after this year's Federal Budget.
A national CPSU survey of Centrelink workers has found customer hostility and aggression have worsened, while waiting times have increased and more mistakes are being made because of budget cuts and staffing problems.
In the CPSU survey of frontline Centrelink and Medicare staff, 71 per cent said customer hostility had increased in the past six months and 55 per cent said aggression had increased.
Eighty-two per cent said wait times had increased and 69 per cent said more mistakes were being made as a result of budget cuts and staffing problems.
"We're getting regular reports about verbal death threats, spitting, punching, head-butting and worse," CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said.
"Staff morale has hit the floor, with staff worried conditions are going to get worse."
goo.gl/5nRyx
