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Danny O'Brien urges Andrews Labor government to improve performance of Victorian public service departments'

Danny O'Brien, the Nationals Member for Gippsland South, has criticised the Andrews Labor government for the lack of front-facing services in Victorian public service departments.

By news@gippsland - 11th April 2023 - Back to News

The Nationals Member for Gippsland South Danny O'Brien has called on the Andrews Labor government to do better to ensure that Victorian public service departments are meeting the needs of Victorians. Speaking in Parliament recently, Mr O'Brien said that despite Victorian public service numbers having risen around 60 per cent since the Andrews Labor government came to office, it was evident that there is a clear lack of front-facing service available.

One of the poorest-performing agencies is Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, with constituents finding it difficult to contact them regarding certificates

Government service inadequacy

Mr O'Brien said, "Based on complaints to my office the frontline service of many government agencies has been terrible, some of it under the cover of COVID, but not getting much better in recent months. Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria has been one of the worst offenders, with constituents struggling to get hold of BDM for birth and death certificate inquiries. It took one Gippsland family in my electorate eight months to register a baby born outside the hospital system."

"Right now the BDM customer service centre - it seems like an oxymoron in the circumstances - is still closed. In recent months I have had constituents with similar problems contacting anyone at Aboriginal Housing Victoria and the Working With Children Check hotline, and we have seen reductions in office opening hours at Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action offices," he said.

Mr O'Brien said he was aware that the Working with Children's Call Centre has recently been tasked with NDIS worker screening checks and that this was placing unprecedented demand on the hotline. "There is a real push for everything to be online, but there are many times when you just need to speak to a human being. I call on the government to urgently put the 'service' back into public service."

Pictures from Danny O'Brien MP website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com