Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 5:35:09 to 5:37:12
Discussion regarding the 10-week average wait time for full service offers and reports of delays extending to 17 weeks for some providers.
Topics: Social services, Government spending
Speakers: Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Mr Greg Pugh, Unknown Speaker
Um, just gonna mop up a few questions here and there. Um so just coming back to the minimum service offers. Um we're hearing from providers that the wait times to receive a full service offer are exceeding in some cases 17 weeks. So, as I understand it, that's far more than the intended 10 weeks. Um so just wanting to get an idea of whether that's your understanding and and what's causing some of those time frames to blow out, and maybe if you could tell me the longest uh that people have had to wait to get their full service offer?
Thanks, Senator. So um the average uh 10-week wait time on interim funding was a uh feature of the first eight months of the program. Um the 10 weeks uh does not um average does not feature in 2026-27, and so we expect that there are some people who will have been allocated a place at an interim funding level on the first of July who remain uh in an interim place uh as at today's date. So um, not without trying to be tricky about the answer, the the it will be four months.
So that's the longest someone's waited. So to date, yes. What's the average wait time at the moment to get a full service offer?
Uh I don't have that as at today's date. So that the most recent data point that I have is the uh average of 10 weeks, which that was the the timing of the 30th of June 2026.
Okay. Um do you have anything for quarter three? So from July, September third quarter. So the 10 weeks is up to the end of the financial year, yes?
That's correct, Senator. So no, we don't have the average from the most uh recent quarter to hand.
Okay. Would I be able to get that on notice?
Yes, Senator.