Centrelink annual report 1999 – 2000 Contact officer

Other Achievements

Debt Prevention Activities

Specialist Debt Prevention and Monitoring Officers, in partnership with relevant Centrelink Community Segment Teams, play a key role in the development, implementation and promotion of debt prevention strategies. The Debt Prevention and Monitoring function includes:

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  identifying and applying strategies to minimise and prevent customer debts to Centrelink;
  
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  monitoring debt activity to ensure debts are processed in a timely manner;
  
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  conducting debt prevention information and outreach programs within the community; and
  
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  raising Centrelink staff awareness of debt-related issues.
  

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  targeting outreach to employers with a high number of casual or temporary staff, who are traditionally more likely to incur income-related debts;
  
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  contacting Family Allowance customers to confirm the accuracy of their estimated income;
  
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  educating customers about their responsibility to advise Centrelink of changes in their circumstances through seminars and information strategically placed in Centrelink customer publications;
  
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  identifying and educating Newstart Allowance customers who have recently incurred an income-related debt in an attempt to minimise the risk of these customers incurring future debts;
  
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  reviewing the Rent Assistance entitlement of customers who appear to be paying an excessive amount of rent; and
  
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  distributing specially produced Centrelink information leaflets with payslips to casual AEC employees (6000 for the 9 October 1999 ATSIC election and 80 000 for the National Republic referendum of 6 November 1999).
  

Additional information about compliance activities can be found in Chapter 4, Our Client Partnerships, page 29, and Appendix ix, Compliance, page 219.

Cost Per Service—Activity Based Costing

The Cost Optimisation Project has been established to enhance Centrelink’s approach to strategic cost management including the use of Activity Based Costing.

Regular up-to-date output costing data will inform business pricing, cost benchmarking, process re-engineering and resource allocation processes. Activity Based Costing is being conducted in consultation with Centrelink’s client agencies. To date, two surveys of staff effort have been conducted to map inputs to activities and outputs. It is expected that systems-based transaction data will be available early in 2001.

Funding Models

Centrelink, its client agencies and the Department of Finance and Administration (DoFA) are working together to develop a new funding model for Centrelink.

Current funding arrangements are out of date, complex, different for each client, create instability, encourage accountability for inputs not outputs and do not capture changes in cost drivers across all payment types.

The new funding model should be in place for use in the 2001–02 Budget and in the next round of Business Partnership Agreements.

GST Implementation

Centrelink undertook a considerable amount of work to ensure it was GST-ready on 1 July 2000. Changes were made to policies, procedures, systems and structures during 1999–2000 and as a result Centrelink was able to meet its legislative obligations in respect of A New Tax System from 1 July 2000.

Contract Management

During 1999–2000, Centrelink has achieved savings of approximately $18 million as a result of prudent management of national contracts. These savings have been achieved through the contracts associated with:

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  outgoing telecommunications services;
  
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  travel services;
  
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  managed voice services;
  
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  motor vehicle leases; and
  
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  photocopier and mail services.
  

The savings have been realised as a result of negotiating new contracts or contract management activities including:

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  cost reductions from better practices;
  
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  reduction in or waiver of supplier invoices;
  
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  liquidated damages and rebates; and
  
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  reimbursement of costs from inter-agency activities.
  

Outsourcing initiatives

During 1999–2000, Centrelink market-tested three activities previously undertaken in-house. As a result of the competitive tendering and contracting (CTC) process, three separate contracts were let. Details relating to these contracts are provided below.

Mail Sorting and Transfer Services

A contract for mail sorting and transfer services was let in September 1999 with a total contract value of $220 000. The term of the contract is for one year. $64 000 in savings were identified as a result of the CTC process.

Publishing, Printing, Distribution and Services for Personalisation and Mailing

In early 1999, through a CTC process, Centrelink incorporated a number of functions previously independently contracted out into one combined contract. The function of personalisation was added to the overall contract arrangement for the first time. The term of the contract is for five years and commenced in August 1999. The estimated value of the contract is $135 million and savings are estimated at over $3 million.

Legal Services

Centrelink conducted a CTC process in late 1999 for the renewal of its legal services contract arrangements. As a result, a standing offer panel contract was established for the provision of legal services for a three year period with an estimated value of $8.53 million.

ETI*Extract

The Knowledge Team has developed a new data warehousing tool, ETI*Extract, which has significantly improved programming practices, reduced maintenance costs and reduced computer processing time by more than half. This initiative considerably enhances the Knowledge Teams’ delivery of management information to all Centrelink staff. As this project is still in its first phase of implementation, Knowledge Team expects the flow through from the use of this product to continue to deliver significant efficiency.

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