The Federal Government has drafted a US call centre expert to improve how Centrelink interacts with customers, the new Human Services Minister Michael Keenan has revealed, as the coalition pushes ahead with a major digital shake-up of the portfolio to encourage more users online.

Speaking to The West Australian for the first time since being promoted to Cabinet, the former justice minister said that while agencies needed to improve their dealings with the public, he believed most people experienced good customer service from government agencies.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say that everyone who interacts with it (Centrelink) has a bad experience,” Mr Keenan said. “I think the vast majority of people that do make the calls actually have a good experience.”

Labor has targeted the Department of Human Services after it was revealed that more than 55 million calls to Centrelink were met with a busy signal in the past financial year, up 26 million on the year before.

Camera Icon Human Services Minister Michael Keenan talks with Department of Human Services acting service centre manager Maria Hinsey and muliticultural services officer Hylton Garrison at Centrelink Mirrabooka. Credit: Danella Bevis

With almost $175 billion in cash payments made each year and more than 700 million transactions, Mr Keenan said that, inevitably, there would be some problems but the Government was working to improve services.

A US consultant, described by Mr Keenan as a “world expert” on call centres, has been contracted to look at improving the system.

“It’s very important that people have confidence when they call that their call will be answered, and that they will be talking to somebody who can give them the information that they want,” Mr Keenan said.

“It is not perfect, but of course we are dealing with literally 700 million transactions a year. We take over 50 million calls a year, and that is obviously a big challenge to make sure that you triage demand, and that you have got the appropriate number of people answering the phones at the appropriate time.”

With a new focus on digital transformation — which will be paired with Human Services for the first time — Mr Keenan said the Government could “revolutionise” the way people interacted with agencies by better using technology.

“We have got to look at ways that we can use the online world in a more efficient way,” he said.

But while the Government looks to improve its operations, Mr Keenan said he would continue to take a “zero tolerance” approach to those people seeking to defraud the system, and would lobby the Senate to support the Government’s cashless welfare card and drug-testing regime.

“Everyone out there who is defrauding the system should know we are coming for them, we are looking for them and we are finding new and ingenious ways to find them,” he said.

“When we find them we will prosecute them to the maximum extent of the law. It is exactly the same as walking around pickpocketing people and it should be treated that way.”