Outsourced call centre staff at NDIS have to pretend to work for government, workers say | Australia news

Outsourced call centre staff on the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) phone lines must pretend to be public servants, according to workers, and are responsible for deciding which funding requests are prioritised despite having no specialised welfare training.

Workers at Serco, a major outsource provider, have also been issued government agency email addresses, making it impossible for the public to tell them apart from direct employees despite vast differences in their pay, conditions, training and support.

A Serco call centre employee told Guardian Australia that staff were kept at arm’s length from the public service, while the government “outsources its duty of care to contractors”.

“The fact is that we’re representing the government and we have to pretend that we’re public servants and we’re not allowed to say we’re Serco,” said the worker, who asked not to be identified.

Serco is a major private contractor for the Australian government, holding multi-billion-dollar agreements across defence, healthcare, contact centres and community services.

While the British multinational has expanded rapidly in the region, it notably lost its longstanding contract for onshore immigration detention facilities in 2024.

“Instead of sending distressing cases through to the real NDIS, priority situations must be screened and determined by our Serco team leaders who are not welfare or disability trained, nor do they have financial qualifications for understanding the budgets of participants.”

The outsource workers are on the phone lines and conduct email duties, with their stats closely monitored.

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Over the past several months, Guardian Australia has detailed the widespread use of private call centres by government agencies, including the Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink.

The workers describe a system marked by inadequate training and low pay that they say prioritises profit over worker wellbeing and quality of service.

Moves by the government to curb reliance on external consultants and outsource workers have stalled just two years after Labor ordered agencies to bring skills back in-house.

A Serco spokesperson said the company provided vital support to the public service and worked “in seamless collaboration” with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

“In no way are Serco NDIA staff directed to make any misrepresentations,” the spokesperson said.

An NDIA spokesperson said only public service staff with the appropriate delegation could “action and progress” priority plan change requests.

‘Bedridden with broken hoist’

Serco workers told Guardian Australia that NDIS callers often face delays and are given poor guidance due to the call centre arrangements.

For example, while Serco team leaders can decide whether a request for urgent funding be placed in a priority queue, the queue itself is managed by NDIA’s direct employees.

“People call in asking how their urgent plan change request is going and we have to tell them it is still in the queue, and is overdue, but we are not allowed to admit we are not the public service so can not give them a reason why,” a second Serco worker told Guardian Australia.

“Someone may be bedridden with a broken hoist, can’t get lifted out of bed without two people and the hoist is broken, and their funds have been depleted.

“The whole thing is just wrong, you can’t apply this call centre framework to the most vulnerable people in Australia.”

Serco’s most recent NDIA contract started in September 2024 for a three-year term, with up to two further three-year extension options. It said at the time it had a 1,200-strong team in its contact centre.

Starting pay rates at outsource centres are about $52,800 a year, according to interviews with outsource call centre staff at different private operators, compared with more than $72,000 for many public servants on the same phone lines.

While the model relies on private operators delivering call centre functions more efficiently than the public service, experts have warned it’s an illusion to suggest a private operator will deliver the same quality at a lower cost that allows for profit making.

Beth Vincent-Pietsch, deputy national secretary at the Community and Public Sector Union, said Australians reaching out for help to the NDIS deserve to speak with a trained, supported and accountable public servant, not a “labour hire worker in a for?profit call centre who has been thrown in the deep end”.

“This is a model that is failing Australians who need sometimes urgent help from the NDIA, and it is failing the workers who are asked to carry it,” Vincent-Pietsch said.

“Providing Australians the support they need from the NDIA is core government work that should undoubtedly be done by Australian public service employees.

“The NDIA’s longstanding and problematic reliance on outsourcing is undermining service quality and public trust across the scheme, and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”