Big change to crazy passport queues

Aussies have been camping outside passport offices, but crazy long lines will soon come to an end with two major changes set to slash wait times.

Now that travel is back in full swing, Aussies have been rushing to apply for a new or renewed passport.

The only problem is, there’s lines up to 150m long outside some state offices with residents waiting up to nine hours to be served.

But, the crazy long queues will soon come to an end with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade set to overhaul the collection system.

The Daily Telegraph reported the wait time outside Sydney’s passport office for people seeking information about delayed travelled documents will fall from six hours to just 90 minutes by the end of this week.

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People in line at the Sydney Passport Office waiting for information about their passport. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Those who receive a text to pick up their passport, after having waited up to 12 weeks, will no longer go up to Level 7 of the Sydney CBD office.

Instead, their two-hour wait will be slashed to just 20 minutes by a ground floor “pop-up site”.

But waiting times are set to be slashed with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to overhaul the collection system. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Level 7 will be dedicated to people who have been waiting weeks to get their new or renewed passports.

Sydney residents have been lining up at passport offices for more than nine hours a day but that too is expected to drop as 70 call centre staff have been added.

This means phones will now be answered, which was not the case previously. By September, more than 1100 people will have joined, The Daily Telegraph reported.

People seeking information about delayed travelled documents will fall from six hours to just 90 minutes. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It comes as Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts told NCA NewsWire the government was “urgently” increasing the numbers of both processing and call centre staff, standing up some call centres with 35 or more workers.

“We‘ll be putting on an additional 250 staff on board in the next six weeks to help with the processing of applications,” he said in June.

Mr Watts said the surge in cases, which hit a record high of 16,000 applications on June 7, could have been prevented by the previous government.

“I say this surge was entirely predictable should have been planned for,” he said.

“The results (are) of the previous government frankly, dropping the ball on failing to properly plan for an expected surge in passport applications when Australia‘s borders reopened. Aussies love to travel, that’s no surprise.”