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Guidelines on banning customers from entering Centrelink offices because of inappropriate behaviour are the subject of the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s investigation report released today.

Commonwealth Ombudsman, Prof. John McMillan said his office has received complaints over a number of years from customers whose face-to-face contact with Centrelink staff has been withdrawn because of their behaviour.

‘In most instances Centrelink’s decisions to ban customers from its offices were reasonable’, said Prof. McMillan. ‘Centrelink did not have national guidelines that would ensure consistency and transparency of decision making in this area. Instead, different regions had developed guidelines specific to their particular area.’

Prof. McMillan stated that after discussions with his office and consultation with peak community organisations, Centrelink implemented national guidelines for working with customers with difficult or aggressive behaviour in February 2007.

Under Centrelink’s ‘alternative servicing arrangements’ model, staff can decide to withdraw face-to-face contact with customers where their behaviour poses a threat to the safety of Centrelink staff or other customers. In these circumstances arrangements need to be made for the customer to contact Centrelink in another way. The Ombudsman’s report examines the way in which Centrelink has applied this policy.

The Ombudsman made five recommendations to Centrelink for improvement:

• reviewing letter templates to ensure customers are properly notified of their review rights and the review process
• implementing strategies to ensure relevant staff are aware of the review processes required by the guidelines, and providing further training where appropriate
• introducing an appropriate internal monitoring/review mechanism to ensure quality and consistency in the application of alternative service arrangements
• encouraging decision makers to explore the most appropriate alternative servicing arrangement for future contact before deciding to withdraw face-to-face contact
• amending the guidelines to ensure staff record an appropriate level of detail to justify their actions and decisions following an instance of aggressive behaviour.

The report is available online.

For further information or to arrange an interview with Prof. McMillan contact:

Elizabeth Courtney-Frost
Director, Public Affairs
02 6276 0133
elizabeth.frost@ombudsman.gov.au

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