Helping people in familiar settings

Since August 2022, the Services Australia Community Partnership Pilot has been helping people in difficult circumstances access the services they need. Services Australia has partnered with 18 non-government organisations (NGOs) around Australia to give vulnerable customers, often experiencing homelessness, better access to services and payments.

Experienced service officers, known as Community Partnership Specialist Officers (CPSOs) are embedded in partnering NGOs. They provide onsite wraparound support to customers who have difficulty accessing services online, by phone or in a service centre.
 

A Community Partnership Specialist Officer with a customer at Core Community Services
Image: Services Australia

Having staff working onsite at these NGOs means the CPSOs can help people in a trusted and familiar setting, where they feel comfortable and safe. Together, the NGOs and CPSOs help break barriers to Government payments and services and help people access other community support.

In 2022–23, CPSOs recorded over 9,000 interactions with NGO service users. Sixty-seven per cent of interactions were with people facing significant barriers to accessing agency payments and services online, by phone or in a service centre. Over 73% were experiencing homelessness or housing issues, and over 43% were experiencing mental health concerns.

Early insights show reduced processing times and an increase in the number of people – who need complex assessments – getting the most appropriate payment for their circumstances.

Services Australia regularly collects feedback from partner NGO staff, customers and other involved organisations. This feedback continues to be highly positive.

Giuseppe was instantly accepted by our guests because he was seen as one of us, and the guests see us as helpful. It’s going where people are, dealing with the needs here and now, in the situation here and now. – Reverend Bill Crews of the Bill Crews Foundation, speaking about one CPSO

This pilot has proven to be transformative in the lives of a cohort who often sense that they have been forgotten and left behind by the rest of the community. – Major Brendan Nottle, The Salvation Army Melbourne Project 614

We’re connecting with people in a familiar setting, working alongside the organisations they already go to for help. These simple and helpful interactions are building relationships with people that may have been otherwise marginalised from their community. – Minister for Government Services, the Hon Bill Shorten MP.