It’s time to put the concept of ‘service’ back into the public service

Accountability hard to find, writes Ron Cornish

UNFORTUNATELY our lives are becoming increasingly complex by virtue of bigger government and an expanding public service. However, forget service when dealing with the bureaucracy. Frustration, anger and anxiety are the operative words.

In 2014, to change my address with Medicare, it took two phone calls and a visit to Centrelink to achieve the task. The saga is too long to fully expose, but the phone calls lasted in excess of two hours and the visit to Centrelink produced no result. The simple task took a full afternoon.

Try dealing with the Department of Home Affairs.

An anonymous bureaucrat stationed in a foreign country, independently makes a critical decision affecting a marriage and an application for permanent residency in Australia. (Charge $7715.) The application is refused. You are banned from making further applications.

The only redress is an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Another $3138. Sixty-one per cent of the appeals are successful. There is a 50 per cent refund if successful.

Unfortunately, the AAT is significantly under-resourced, with a backlog of 32,000 refugee cases, and only about 5500 cases decided last financial year. You will be advised you have to wait three to four years for the matter to be dealt with and if you are unlucky enough to live in Tasmania your appeal will be handled from Victoria, meaning you join the thousands of appeal cases from that state.

In the meantime, if you want to leave Australia, despite the fact you already hold a bridging visa B ($165) and it does not expire until the appeal is decided; you have to make another application for the same visa each time you want to leave the country and pay another $165. You may or may not be granted such a visa. If not, you are confined to Australia. There is no refund.

Try going to the Home Affairs Office in Hobart. It is locked. A sign on the door states that entry is by appointment only and it is necessary to phone for an appointment.

Try to get the phone number. You cannot; there is not one. You finally ascertain that the Hobart office does not take appointments and that all regional offices of the Home Affairs Department are solely for interviewing people for citizenship with those interviews being organised by the department.

As a result of your permanent residency application having being refused, your eligibility for Medicare is cancelled. As you have an appeal before the AAT it is extended for a year. At the end of that year you are obliged to make further renewal applications. To do so you have to provide a letter from the AAT to Medicare.

Then there is the case of a family member applying for a visitor visa to join the family for Luna New Year (January 2023). $200 application fee.

The parents, two sisters and a husband are successful in applying for a visitor visa but not the remaining daughter; on the grounds the Migration Regulations 1994 have not been satisfied. Never mind that an Australian family member has supported the application with an invitation and guaranteed financial support. Not good enough. No refund and no appeal rights. No contact from the designated decision-maker, who has no surname, who is stationed in a foreign country.

In addition to the cost, too bad if you are not computer literate, or speak a foreign language. An immigration agent will set you back a minimum of another $10,000.

You may well ask: “Why are we importing another 195,000 foreigners to our shores, when we can’t deal with those who are already here, married, working and waiting for permanent residency and ultimately Australian citizenship?”

You could also be excused for thinking there is a nice little racket going on between separate arms of government, to keep the public service requiring ever more personnel and a dedicated revenue stream.

Do not worry about “service”; or common sense.