Centrelink to be replaced with DIY desk amid soaring job losses on Mornington Peninsula
A temporary extension for Mornington’s Centrelink office expires soon and job seekers will have to change the way they deal with the agency. Here’s what the new service looks like.
South East
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Thousands of desperate job seekers across the Mornington Peninsula will soon have a critical support service slashed to a self serve desk at a busy post office.
The Services Australia office in Main St, Mornington, which houses Centrelink and Medicare, is due to close in September and be replaced with a part time agency service.
The change means some of the region’s most vulnerable people will have to manage their own Centrelink inquiries or discuss personal matters amid “the clamour of people queuing to send a parcel or pay their bills”.
Mornington Peninsula mayor Sam Hearn said the planned move to an agency service for Mornington Centrelink was “grossly inadequate”.
In a letter to federal Minister Government Services Stuart Robert, Mr Hearn said a preview of the agency service, which has already opened, painted “a bleak picture”.
“What privacy is afforded the single-parent or the unemployed-worker in explaining their personal circumstances to an Agent against the clamour of people queuing to send a parcel or pay their bills?” the letter states.
“The most cursory examination of the environment reveals it to be grossly
inappropriate for the function it purports to provide.”
The desk would be staffed on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9am and 4.30pm.
Mr Hearn said the limited face-to-face contact was a significant concern and represented a 62 per cent cut to existing services.
He said the ongoing need for the service centre was amplified by the impacts of COVID-19 that included a loss of 5,900 (11 per cent) jobs in the region.
Mornington Peninsula’s Disability Advisory Committee was also worried about access to the site, including parking and the lack of privacy provided to clients.
The council has been battling to save the current service since it was first slated for closure early this year.
In February Health Minister Greg Hunt secured a part-time agency service as a replacement and in March he announced the existing service had been extended by six months until September.
At the time Mr Hunt said the lease extension would create certainty for residents “through both the health and economic implications of the coronavirus outbreak”.
“This is not a once-in-a-decade or a once-in-a-generation challenge,” he said.
“We are currently facing a once-in-a-century event.”
Mr Hunt told Leader on Monday that he had also written to Mr Robert asking for a further extension of the existing service.
Stuart Robert has been contacted for comment.
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