DHS is a mess and a contributing factor to this, was the outsourcing of staff.
Staff need in depth training on how to do their job and when the jobs are outsourced, this is impossible.
I have been an employee at Child Support for over 12 years and I can tell you now, you do not learn the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 and the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 overnight. My knowledge continues to grow and this is due to working in different departments at Child Support and being surrounded my experienced, supportive colleagues.
Outsourcing needs to stop, it is just adding a bandaid to a gashing wound that needs stitches.
The staffing cap also needs to be removed.
Management at DHS state all their decisions (e.g PLUTO system) are based on “business requirements”. They need to be reminded that they are working to serve the public and it is not “a business”.
Our public service is just that – we are here to serve the public and this needs to be enforced.