'Inappropriate' Centrelink question after 5 hours on hold: 'Do not get to ask that'

A woman said she was left in tears after a “highly inappropriate” conversation with a Centrelink officer. The government department has apologised for the worker’s behaviour and told Yahoo Finance it was “not up to expected standards”.

Jordana Grace shared she had been trying to talk to someone about a Centrelink debt that she has been disputing since the pandemic when she was receiving JobSeeker for a brief period. The British expat said she was put on hold for more than five and a half hours while trying to get to the bottom of the issue.

After speaking to multiple different departments, Grace was eventually told to speak to an ops leader and was advised she had interest accruing on her debt.

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“I went back to the debt services and spoke to this guy and said, ‘Hey, can I speak to an ops leader’ and he wouldn’t even answer my question,” the radio host shared in a TikTok.

“He just kept ignoring me and by this time I was starting to get teary because it had been over five and a half hours.”

Grace said she repeatedly asked to speak to an ops manager but claimed the worker kept refusing to answer the simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question.

She said she started to feel “uneasy” as he pressed her on why exactly she needed to get the debt refunded.

“[I said] because it’s money that is mine. But then he goes ‘But why do you need it? Don’t you have enough money? Don’t you have enough savings?’,” she said.

Grace said the worker then asked her how much money she earned, what she did for a living and what medical expenses and medical conditions she had.

“I was like that is highly inappropriate, you do not get to ask me that,” she said.

Grace claimed the worker eventually agreed to give her a refund but then backtracked on the offer after she again asked if she could speak to a manager to ask about the interest charges.

“And then after all that he said, ‘My manager is not free. You can call back tomorrow’," she said.

Grace said the behaviour was "inappropriate" coming from the government and she felt the worker was trying to “punish” her for simply asking to speak to a manager.

To top it all off, she said she tried to submit a complaint form but was unable to get through.

Services Australia responds

Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen said the phone call was not up to the department's standards.

“While we can’t comment on the details, we sincerely apologise for this poor service experience which was not up to our expected standards,” Jongen told Yahoo Finance.

“We’re contacting the customer to work with them on resolving these issues and trust our interactions will be more positive.”

Services Australia notes formal reviews typically take 49 days but some may take longer depending on the details of the review. It said it received a "high number" of review applications.

‘So bad’: Aussies share support

Grace shared the frustrating experience online and Aussies flooded the comments to share their words of support, with many encouraging her to complain about the worker and escalate it further if need be.

“It should be recorded! Ask them for a record of the conversation and for his name! He needs a massive complaint filed against him! But yes.. contact the ombudsman!” one said.

“Their calls are recorded - make them listen back to the call and explain why ANY of that is acceptable. I’m so angry,” another person agreed.

“I'm so sorry you were treated like that. You might be able to lodge a complaint with the ombudsman,” another said.

It comes as some Centrelink recipients express their frustration over long Services Australia call wait times. Average times on hold for Centrelink have grown to over half an hour, with more than 11 million calls going unanswered in the year to April.

The government recently rolled out a new national online booking system so Aussies can book phone and face-to-face appointments online.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said the onboarding of an additional 3,000 staff was also working to reduce claim backlogs and phone wait times.

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