Government should be prepared for ‘unprecedented demand’ on welfare services

The Australian Institute Deputy Director Ebony Bennett says the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “is going to need to be much bigger, much quicker than I think we are seeing at the moment”. Thousands of recently unemployed workers have queued outside Centrelink offices across New South Wales and Victoria as businesses continue to close their doors as government restrictions tighten to curb the spread of the virus. Ms Bennett told Sky News the sudden rise in unemployment has placed an “unprecedented demand on the system but a foreseeable one,” and had hoped the “government would have been slightly better prepared”. New measures have been introduced that will allow Australians eligible for welfare payments to access necessary information online to prevent the long queues outside Centrelink and hasten the process. “I do think there has been an enormous amount of confusion,” she said. “The communications are going to be so critical to getting [the response] right. “Temporary and targeted isn’t going to cut it, we are going to need to some big structural, long term changes.” Image: Getty Via news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site https://www.news.com.au