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Stephanie Convery

Stephanie Convery

Moreon Bill Shorten’s announcement this morning:

The data shared by Shorten’s office also includes notes that the average time it took for an operator to answer the phone at Centrelink during that three-week period in July was 26 minutes “depending on the day”.

For comparison, the average wait time for Centrelink calls to be answered in July and August 2023 was 32 minutes, compared with 22 minutes the previous financial year.

The figures also claim the number of congestion messages in the week ending 21 July were 58% lower than they had been in the week ending 14 January.

Make of it all what you will. It’s unclear if the reductions in processing time for things like the pharmaceutical benefits scheme safety net – from an average of 98 days last financial year to 28 days in the first three weeks of July – will be sustained.

Like all the other improvements claimed, we won’t really know until the end of the year if these figures show permanent progress, or just a blip at a quiet time of year. And they’re averages, not medians, so they’re liable to be skewed by extremes at either end.

Shorten said in a statement overnight:

I know Australians are doing it tough and I’ve asked Services Australia to work hard to reduce its claim processing and call wait times. There’s more to do, particularly in processing complex claims, but we’re making significant inroads across the board.

Shorten claims backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims have fallen 66%

Stephanie Convery

Stephanie Convery

Bill Shorten will be out and about this morning wearing his minister for government services hat, claiming that under federal Labor, the backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims has been reduced by 66%, and that processing times have reduced by 73% on last year for people applying for jobseeker payments.

Some 890,000 outstanding claims had been resolved, Shorten said in a statement overnight, with the total now down from 1.35m in early February to “a regular number” of around 460,000.

Processing times had improved by 84% for paid parental leave (from 25 days down to 4) and 73% for jobseeker (from 22 days down to 6), the minister said.

Welcome

Martin Farrer

Martin Farrer

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and these are some of the top stories this morning.

Our lead story this morning is the first part of a new investigation. It reveals that multiple academics have spoken to Guardian Australia about the number of university students who struggle with “basic English” but still receive degrees, saying the integrity of the tertiary sector is under threat – and the rise of AI is accelerating the crisis.

Australians are feeling less opposed to a Donald Trump presidency than four years ago, and less sure the Aukus agreement will make Australia more secure, according to our latest Guardian Essential poll.

Bill Shorten will be out and about this morning wearing his minister for government services hat, claiming that under federal Labor, the backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims has been reduced by 66%, and that processing times have reduced by 73% on last year for people applying for jobseeker payments. Full details coming up.

The Albanese government turned down a plea from budget airline Bonza for financial assistance 10 days before it entered voluntary administration and ultimately collapsed, we report this morning. Documents obtained by Guardian Australia through freedom of information laws reveal the transport department prepared a brief on Bonza’s financial assistance request for the transport minister, Catherine King, on 20 April. Ten days later the airline’s planes were repossessed and thousands of passengers stranded across the country.

It comes Anthony Albanese said Rex Airlines was “important” to communities not served by Qantas and Virgin after the carrier suspended trading in its shares amid speculation about its future. More coming up.

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