A single mothers’ group says major IT outages affecting the government’s child support agency are creating anxiety, confusion and fear that payments may not be made before Easter.
The IT system designed to help staff administer child support payments has experienced significant problems in recent days.
The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents workers at the Department of Human Services, said the system had been completely inoperative for four days, and was still sluggish and unstable.
The union alleges the system is being run “on the cheap” and has again raised questions about the extent of outsourcing and cost-cutting around tech work in the department after a series of significant failures, including the notorious robo-debt scandal and more recent problems that caused families of aged care recipients to be overcharged.
The government rejected the union’s characterisation of the outages as “simply incorrect”. It said there had only been “intermittent issues, which have been resolved”.
A spokesman for the Department of Human Services, Hank Jongen, apologised to anyone affected, but said full service had been restored and no payments would be missed.
“Child support customers have not missed payments they are due and will not be affected ahead of the Easter holiday,” Jongen said.
The National Council for Single Mothers and their Children said the outages were creating significant confusion and anxiety. Those receiving child support payments were unsure how much money they would be left with over the four-day Easter break.
The council’s chief executive, Terese Edwards, said recipients were being given incorrect information or being frustrated in their attempts to report. The problems were particularly bad for more complex child support cases.
“This is probably one of the longest delays of glitching. And we’re using the term glitching, because it’s not just delays, it’s incorrect information being put across,” Edwards told Guardian Australia.
“There is always heightened nervousness around long weekends … if you are struggling around the poverty line and there is an automated deduction, say for rent, you’re really nervous about whether it’s been paid, what is your balance, and there isn’t anybody to talk to in an emergency in the Department of Human Services over that period.”
Lisa Newman, the CPSU’s deputy national president, said departmental staff had been told they faced weeks of extra work as a result of the outages.
She said the outages left staff unable to tell recipients anything about their cases. In many cases, they were simply having to take down numbers and promise to call back.
“People are ringing up wanting to know what the progress of their payments is, and they’re not being able to be given any information at all, and that is increasing their frustration and aggression towards our members,” Newman said.
“So is it going to affect the payments system? From what our members are saying, almost certainly. On a four-day closedown, it is not what you want to see happening, particularly for people who might be under significant financial stress.”
It’s not the first time the child support IT system has experienced difficulties. Last year, Fairfax Media reported the launch of a new multimillion dollar system, Pluto, caused disruption and posed an extra burden on staff.
Staff described the launch as a “shambles” and a “shit show”, according to Fairfax. Public servants were also reportedly being asked to drop other work to answer phones to deal with an influx of angry child support customers.
The problems are part of a series of tech failures at the Department of Human Services.
Last summer problems with the transition to a more automated debt recovery system for welfare recipients created havoc, prompting two inquiries and significant public anger.
The Department of Human services was also involved in a recent spate of errors with the means-tested care fee, which caused significant debts for people in aged care.
