Third of Centrelink calls abandoned

An audit office report has found customer satisfaction with Centrelink telephone services is falling.

Nearly a third of the 800,000 calls made to Centrelink each week are abandoned by customers before the reason for their call is addressed.

An audit office report found customer satisfaction with Centrelink telephone services is falling and access to call centres is the largest cause of customer complaints.

But Human Services Minister Marise Payne has told ABC radio Centrelink last year met its key performance indicator of 16 minutes to manage calls.