The federal government is hopeful Centrelink call wait times will reduce with 3000 extra staff to be recruited in frontline roles.
The staff will be employed across the country with about 500 workers to be employed in Canberra. Staff will be employed in capitals as well as regional centres including Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Toowoomba and Ballarat.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said more than 800 people had already accepted jobs with the agency.
"These 3000 new staff are the first step in returning people to frontline Services Australia roles after 10 years of Liberal neglect," he said.
"The new staff will be critical to reducing call wait times, speeding up claim payments and giving Australians back some time in their busy lives.
"Services Australia will be bringing on the staff as quickly as possible."
Centrelink has come under fire as wait times have blown out and calls have gone unanswered. In the 2022-23 year only, 31 per cent of calls were answered. Many calls were terminated by the person calling. There were 2.8 million busy messages sent to callers in July and August of this year alone with only 23 per cent of calls answered, The Guardian has reported.
Mr Shorten hit out at the former Coalition government, saying more than 3800 frontline staff had been cut from Services Australia.
"We are committed to restoring Services Australia's funding, replenishing its workforce and getting the agency back on track - and we're going to get it done sooner rather than later," he said.
There will be $228 million spent on the new staff and service delivery staffing this financial year.
