The Australian welfare system has always been needlessly cruel. Now it’s punishing half the country
Like a lot of people, I called Centrelink on Monday. After 11 attempts to get through, I was greeted with a message directing me to the MyGov website. Navigating that site eventually revealed that to register, I’d need a customer reference number, which could only be obtained … by phone. Welcome to the 12 Tasks of Centrelink.
Judging by the lengthy message imploring callers not to abuse staff to which you’re forced to listen before you’re admitted into the oubliette that is Centrelink’s phone queue at the moment, there are a lot of people out there who are angry and bewildered at the current situation. This, of course, is hardly surprising: the unprecedented economic effects of coronavirus mean there are a lot of people turning to the government to help for the first time, and they’re clearly not impressed by the system they’re being required to navigate.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/25/the-australian-welfare-system-has-always-been-needlessly-cruel-now-its-punishing-half-the-country
Judging by the lengthy message imploring callers not to abuse staff to which you’re forced to listen before you’re admitted into the oubliette that is Centrelink’s phone queue at the moment, there are a lot of people out there who are angry and bewildered at the current situation. This, of course, is hardly surprising: the unprecedented economic effects of coronavirus mean there are a lot of people turning to the government to help for the first time, and they’re clearly not impressed by the system they’re being required to navigate.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/25/the-australian-welfare-system-has-always-been-needlessly-cruel-now-its-punishing-half-the-country
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