Tasmania Service Centres Face Big Cuts to Operating Hours

A proposal to cut the operating hours of multiple Service Tasmania service centres by up to half has prompted concern for older residents. The state government is proposing to reduce the opening hours of five Service Tasmania centres, due to a "reduction in foot traffic".

The changes would affect centres in the regional communities of Queenstown on the state's west coast, Oatlands and Campbell Town in the midlands, Currie on King Island, and Whitemark on Flinders Island — all of which already operate at reduced office hours.

Some residents 'really impacted', mayor says

Flinders Mayor Rachel Summers, who previously worked in customer service for Service Tasmania, said the proposal was concerning — particularly in an isolated region such as hers.

"We have a number of older people, a number of people who aren't able to access reliable internet services, and they're going to be really impacted by this decision," Councillor Summers said.

Rachel Summers says some residents in her community would be negatively impacted by the changes.

"Government talk on forms and information sheets can be quite difficult to understand," Cr Summers said. "If you're trying to get help with filling in a form, sometimes you actually need to be there in front of the person to see what they're writing, where they're writing."

"If you're checking that something's been filled in completely and accurately, you can't do that over the phone," Cr Summers said.

Opposition criticises proposal

The state opposition has pledged to try to stop the changes. Bass MP Jess Greene said contact hours would be "difficult to restore" once hours were cut.

"It's not like there's another shop that's just 10 minutes down the road for people that live on Flinders Island or King Island, for example," Ms Greene said. "We know that we have a digital divide in Tasmania. We know that these service cuts will have a negative impact on regional and our island communities. We're asking Premier Rockliff to reconsider these cuts."

Proposed changes open for public consultation

The opening hour changes are open for public consultation from Monday. Under the proposal, the reduced weekly operating hours would mean a cut from 25 hours to 20 hours in Oatlands, 32.5 hours to 16 hours in Queenstown, 25 to 16.5 hours in Campbell Town, and 20 to 10 hours in both Whitemark and Currie.

A government spokesperson said the 1.9 FTE positions referred to vacancies that "won't be filled across the whole Service Tasmania".

Usage behind decision, government says

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the centres in question had been chosen following analysis of two years of customer visitation data, which found demand was much lower than the hours currently offered.

"The way people access government services has changed significantly over recent years," Mr Rockliff said. "As these customer preferences continue to evolve, it is important that we regularly review how services are delivered. We know many Tasmanians still rely on in-person services and that's why these changes have been proposed based on current customers' usage."

Consultation on the proposed changes, including which times and days would best meet local needs, will run until October 2.