Organisation: Department of Human Services
Job Title: Senior Service Officer
Word Limit: 400 words per response
Location: Various
Ability to research, investigate and resolve escalated, complex and sensitive customer complaints, including providing ongoing management of vulnerable customers, and managing aggressive customer behaviour
In my current role as an acting Personalised Services Officer with the Child Support Agency (CSA), it is my role to liaise with, and resolve matters relating to customers with complex, difficult or unusual circumstances. Many of the customer matters that I deal with require me to balance correct application of CSA process with the capacity to recognise and respond to the support needs of vulnerable customers. An example of this is found in my management of a recent customer, the paying parent, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder who suffered a range of physical conditions resulting from of his prior military service, and who had a history of suicide attempts.
As a result of an application for reassessment by the receiving parent, this customer had been assessed to pay a higher amount based on his military service pensions he was receiving. During his phone conversations with me, this customer was highly agitated and abusive. I used a calm communication style and level tone to attempt to defuse the customer’s aggression and establish a rapport. While reminding him firmly that aggressive or abusive behaviour would not be tolerated, I acknowledged that this was an emotional and sensitive issue for him, due to not having access to his children. I ensured consistency in my information and advice, and reliability in following through with scheduled call back times.
The customer was unhappy with the assessment of his payment rate, so I explained to him the process of lodging a formal Objection to Decision and assisted him with this process. He was insistent that his military pension should not be used for assessment purposes. To investigate this issue, I conducted research using Department of Veterans’ Affairs resources, including contacting the Department to obtain advice about his specific pension. The outcome of my investigation showed that this pension is considered to be an income source, and hence could be used for the purpose of CSA assessment.
I notified the customer of the outcome of this investigation and he was naturally unhappy that the higher assessment rate would continue. Recognising the vulnerability of this client, I acted to ensure that he was provided with the appropriate ongoing support, including securing referrals for him to the Veterans’ Affairs counselling and support services and providing him with contact details for relevant mental health, legal aid and men’s support group services.
Demonstrated ability to develop written correspondence to customers and senior internal and external stakeholders, such as reports, corporate documentation and responses to complaints
As a clear, concise and confident communicator, I possess the capacity to tailor the style, tone and message of my written communications in a way that is suitable for my audience. This has been demonstrated through my work with the CSA where I effectively communicate in writing with audiences ranging from customers seeking responses to complaints through to senior external stakeholders such as the Australian Government Solicitor.
In my past work as Senior Case Officer at the CSA, I have been aligned with a number of customers who are restricted to written communication only. These are often complex cases with clients presenting with difficult behaviours. This work has continued in my current capacity as an acting Personalised Services Officer. An example of my capacity to concisely convey complex matters in a written format to diverse audiences was demonstrated in my handling of a recent matter of a customer who is restricted to written-only communication as a result of his abusive, aggressive and threatening manner. This customer was a New Zealand citizen residing in Australia, who claimed to be supporting five children and a wife in Fiji. A brief relationship in Australia has produced one child, resulting in his dealings with the CSA as the paying parent.
I have written to this customer addressing the issues that he has raised and informed him of the administrative options available to him for addressing these. In dealing with this customer’s behaviour, I informed him in writing that any further threats would be reported to the police, and that should his abusive behaviours continue, I will be making a note of his correspondence but ceasing to provide a response.
This customer currently refuses to pay the assessed child support amount. I have conducted investigations in to his financial situation and discovered that he is receiving approximately $50,000 per month into a business account, and that a bank account under a trust name holds over $900,000. I have provided a clear, accurate and detailed report to the CSA’s litigation department, apprising them of the results of my investigation and making them aware of the history of difficulties with this customer’s behaviour. This report was written in such a way that it can be relied on by the litigation department as a precise and complete account of events that can be referred to in pursuit of court proceedings.
Ability to drive continuous improvement via feedback to the business, the identification and escalation of systemic issues, with an emphasis on the service delivery needs of vulnerable and escalated customers
Where I identify systemic issues or opportunities for improvement in business processes, I act to ensure that this information is received by the appropriate channels. For example, I have recently identified an ongoing issue that has resulted in a number of customer cases being referred to Personalised Services for management, due to the way that the system is responding to tax return lodgement. Where a customer has an income estimate in place, lodgement of a tax return is triggering an automatic reconciliation of their estimate; this can then cause arrears to be raised and the tax refund to be intercepted. All of this is occurring automatically, without review by a service officer. In a number of these cases, my review has determined that the reconciliation was incorrect, meaning that an overpayment has occurred to the receiving parent. I have used the online feedback tool, raising this issue and making the suggestion that an indicator be received when a reconciliation occurs, so that it can be reviewed by a service officer before being processed.
In an example of my capacity to provide direct feedback relating to service improvement, a particular customer was referred to me as she was emotional and stressed, since she had not receiving Family Tax Benefit for any of her four children due to Child Support issues. When this case was allocated to me, I conducted a review and discovered that she had made an application for Child Support for two of the children, but that this application had been rejected due to no proof of parentage having been provided with the application. I identified that the customer was married, and had not been divorced. I reviewed the relevant procedural instructions regarding proof of parentage requirements and found that these instructions direct that the agency can accept marriage dates with no divorce as a proof of parentage. I therefore determined that the service officer who had rejected this application had made an incorrect decision and had not reviewed the procedural instructions before making the decision. Recognising the potential for further training to improve the service being delivered, I discussed this matter with both the technical support officer and the team leader of the relevant service officer, informing them of the issue and making a recommendation that identification of training needs within the team may be of benefit.
Demonstrated ability to effectively plan, organise and prioritise your own work and that of your team in the context of competing priorities, including coaching and training staff to build knowledge and capability
Displaying excellent organisational and planning skills, I manage a high personal workload within a demanding environment of rapidly emerging, and often conflicting priorities. Possessing strong time management and organisational skills, I attribute my career success to my capacity to set work priorities and deadline schedules. Even when working in a part-time capacity, I have managed a full-time workload and consistently achieved amongst the highest statistics at the Child Support Agency.
In my position as Team Leader of Deceased Customer Management (DCM), I assessed my workload by priority and tasks required. Accountable for the allocation of work to team members, I would consider what strengths or specialised skills would be required to complete any given task. Constantly reviewing and assessing incoming workloads against available resources and allocated targets, I would reassess work distributions throughout the day in response to incoming priorities. In this environment, I maintained an understanding of the individual needs and requirements within the team to ensure that staff had an optimum environment in which to manage their workload. The results of my strong ability to manage multiple commitments with ease and efficiency, whilst performing in difficult environments with minimal supervision, has provided me with a strong reputation among peers and management.
A self-motivated and results-orientated professional, I take responsibility for achieving outcomes within my position at the CSA. My accomplishments within this position include meeting targets, mentoring and training staff and customers, leading by example, and supporting improvements to systems and procedures. Demonstrating a high level of motivation, personal drive and integrity, I have successfully balanced work with the ability to multitask and remain focused. My career to date has involved diverse responsibilities, which have enabled me to develop excellent personal and professional skills.
Showing a commitment to supporting a positive team culture, I promote collective achievements and contributions to shared goals, while acknowledging the individual strengths and abilities of each team member. Extending this model beyond the team has seen me successfully build trusting relationships to drive and deliver on business objectives, as well as supplying quality information to all stakeholders. Within my current role as an acting Personalised Services Officer, I regularly support other team members with their customers and workloads, assist interstate team members by calling their customers after-hours due to time differences, and manage the customers of colleagues during their periods of leave, while maintaining high-quality service to my own customers.
Ability to establish and manage stakeholder relationships including collaborating with them to deliver quality outcomes for customers and the department
As acting Personalised Services Officer, I am often required to manage complex cases where my customers are facing a myriad of issues that go beyond the sole jurisdiction of Child Support Agency matters. In these circumstances, I identify stakeholder agencies and organisations who are able to resolve issues and the delivery of quality customer outcomes. For example, one of my customers was referred to Personalised Services because she was under stress and struggling financially, and not receiving Family Tax Benefit for her four children due to child support registration issues. She was owed $45,000 in Child Support, but the paying parent was frequently in prison and had a history of drug abuse, hence there was little likelihood of receiving payment. During the call with the customer, I identified that she was raising her four children without support, and that she was in a relationship with ongoing domestic violence.
After obtaining the customer’s consent, I liaised with a social worker and explained my concerns for the customer’s wellbeing and the ongoing threat that I believed was present. Through a series of discussions with the social worker, it was confirmed that this customer had 51 reported incidences of violence recorded. I enquired with the social worker about the possibility of this customer being granted an exemption from having to claim Child Support for Family Tax benefit purposes, and after some consideration of the circumstances he was able to confirm that he had granted this exemption. In addition, the customer was able to discharge the Child Support arrears without impacting on her Family Tax Benefit entitlement. Through liaising with the social worker, I ensured that this customer was provided with support services to assist her and her children.
Another customer that I engaged with in my Personalised Services role identified that they were unable to support themselves due to issues with their benefit payments. Additionally, they reported a fear for their personal safety. In assessing this customer’s case, I identified that there were multiple issues requiring collaboration between the CSA and Centrelink in order to properly support this customer. I contacted Centrelink and explained the customer’s situation and concerns, and requested that suitable options be made available to meet this customer’s needs. Through identifying and liaising with the appropriate stakeholder, Centrelink, I was able to ensure that the customer received the support and services that they needed in circumstances where they were vulnerable.
