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Transcript

22 October 2009

Launch of Australian Government Mobile Office initiative, Parliament House, Canberra

E&OE PROOF ONLY

SUBJECTS: Australian Government Mobile Offices, Centrelink, Medicare, Australian Hearing.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks very much Carolyn. I also acknowledge the Ngunnawal people on whose land we meet. I also acknowledge the Secretary of the Department of Human Services Finn Pratt, the Chief Executive of Medicare Lynelle Briggs and the Managing Director of Australian Hearing Steven Grundy.

Thanks for coming ladies and gentlemen. In the Human Services portfolio, we have as one of our priorities delivering services in a way which suits Australians, rather than necessarily the way which the Department or the agency is used to delivering those services. The way that’s convenient for Australians rather than the way that’s convenient for us. And today we’re launching the latest initiative in that regard. We’re launching what is officially known as our Mobile Service Offices, unofficially known as the Drought Bus, I think perhaps more appropriately known as the Drought Semi-Trailer, but I think Drought Bus is probably what’s going to stick and that’s just fine.

So what we have today are our new and improved drought buses. These are improved in many ways and for the first time we have specifically designed, fit-for-purpose room for Australian Hearing to undertake hearing tests on our visits to rural and remote areas. And this is very important. Hearing is a huge issue in rural and remote areas in particular and I’m delighted that Australian Hearing has been able to join with Centrelink and Medicare in this initiative and that we can bring this service to the people in addition to the hundreds of permanent and visiting offices that Australian Hearing has around the country.

Centrelink and Medicare are not just mechanisms to deliver money and payments to our clients and Australians generally. There are a range of skills available in Centrelink and Medicare – social workers, financial advice – across the whole gamut. And the service delivery operators who’ll be on these buses will be trained in the full gamut of delivery that Centrelink and Medicare have available to them. And we also have wireless technology on the bus so that there can be real time linkages in with the Centrelink and Medicare systems and that information can be put into the system immediately while our client is on the bus with us. So this is very important.

Also, of course, this isn’t just about rural and remote service delivery. When Australia suffers a natural disaster, then Medicare and Centrelink are deployed into action. And when I’ve travelled around Australia meeting employees of Centrelink in particular, I’ve met people from across the country, for example, in Brisbane and elsewhere who were deployed in the Victorian bushfires. And when you have a natural disaster of that scale, often finding the facilities to provide the services is difficult. Sometimes they’ve been destroyed, sometimes they’re not suitable, and we can deploy these buses at very short notice in response to natural disasters so that we can give those people who’ve suffered through those natural disasters the quality of service delivery that they deserve.

And also of course, as you can see when you go inside, the bus is almost entirely flat, which I’m told is an Australian first. Fully accessible for people of differing levels of ability when it comes to access. So this is very important as we travel around the country, making sure that everybody has full access to the services that we can make available. So thanks very much for coming today. I’m not going to crack a champagne bottle or anything on it, but consider the bus launched … Has anybody got any questions?

JOURNALIST: You mentioned buses. How many buses will there be?

BOWEN: We have two. This is one. We have another one which is almost a carbon copy.

JOURNALIST: In terms of the locations it’ll be going to, you mentioned it will go all around Australia. What’s the first journey of this bus?

BOWEN: It’ll be going to Queensland next week.

JOURNALIST: To inspect the bushfire areas?

BOWEN: No, more generally in areas where we’ve identified there’s a demand.

JOURNALIST: And you mentioned before that this is the first time Australian Hearing’s been involved. Was that feedback from the community?

BOWEN: Well, certainly we’ve taken into account that community feedback. But certainly Australian Hearing are always looking at new and improved methods of service delivery and this is one of them.

JOURNALIST: What are your impressions of the new Mobile Office?

BOWEN: Well, it’s very impressive. The old Drought Buses were impressive; this is just a whole new level. The fact that we have wireless technology with real time input into the system and the fact that Australian Hearing’s been able to come on board with a very impressive hearing laboratory on board, this takes our service delivery in rural areas to a whole new level.

JOURNALIST: And what does something like the Mobile Office mean to Centrelink and the other Human Services agencies?

BOWEN: I think it’s an example of our Human Services agencies working together and this is something that we need to do a lot more of. Medicare, Centrelink and Australian Hearing, for example, providing services in the way that’s convenient to Australians, not necessarily the way that we’re used to, not necessarily the way that’s convenient to us but the way that’s convenient to Australia. That’s something that we’re now doing much more of and it’s something that we need to continue to develop.

Ends