The framework that is supposed to ensure quality control is consistent across the Department of Human Services is "less than effective", an audit has found.
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In place for five years, the Human Services quality framework was designed to ensure services were delivered to a high quality, systemic issues would be identified and fixed, and leaders in the department would push a "customer advocacy" approach.
A National Audit Office report has called the department's effort to implement the program, which sits alongside separate quality control processes in place for Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support, "less than effective".
"While the framework has strengthened quality arrangements in service delivery operations where it has been comprehensively implemented, lower levels of implementation elsewhere in the department and a lack of integrated reporting on quality has limited its effectiveness in meeting core design features."
The report found that service delivery areas of the department had effectively implemented the quality control measures, but other areas hadn't used the new system as well, labelling the uneven implementation "a dichotomy".
It also found that the main body within the department responsible for governing the framework hadn't met since May 2015 or performed its responsibilities for the framework.
While the framework was designed to include continuous improvement methods to quality, only some areas of the department could identify examples of continuous improvement in action.
"There is a lack of clarity around whether the activities undertaken under the framework have led to improvements in products and services. There has also only been one systemic issue escalated to the quality council since its inception."
The report found a number of positives for the department, including that the quality framework had been partly effective in its design.
Auditor General Grant Hehir made just two recommendations to the department, saying the department should decide if it will keep the framework across the department, or revise it to have different approaches in different areas.
He also said the department needed to monitor if the quality control framework was actually being complied with, and report back on that. The department said it agreed with the recommendations and was already reviewing the system.
Centrelink, which is part of the department, failed to meet its customer satisfaction target by 10 percentage points last financial year, and complaints to the agency rose by 68,000 to 237,000.
Nearly half of the complaints were about long wait times, the lack of updates on claims and the need to contact the agency continually.
While a questionnaire for users who had dealt with the agency recently showed an improvement in satisfaction, another survey of people who had used Centrelink in the last 12 months showed a drop in satisfaction from 50 per cent to 46.5 per cent.
Greens spokeswoman for family and community services Rachel Siewert said the audit report was "hardly a revelation".
"It’s frankly infuriating that we can’t even get the basics right – someone on the end of the line or at the office able to assist people in a timely manner with their claims. It’s really not too much to ask," Senator Siewert said.
"We need a service that works, but we really need to get back to focusing on the basics – like staffing call centres with permanent departmental staff."
