Service Tasmania contact centre cuts will fuel digital divide, MP says

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; and at Currie and Whitemark on the Bass Strait islands — all of which already operate at reduced office hours.The earmarked Service Tasmania centres are in regional locations, such as Queenstown. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)The government has said no jobs will be lost, with "existing Service Tasmania staff in those regions to contribute remotely".Some residents 'really impacted', mayor saysFlinders Island 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," Cr Summers said.The Flinders Island Service Tasmania service centre at Whitemark, the only one on the Bass Strait island, currently operates two days a week.Rachel Summers says some residents in her community would be negatively impacted by the changes. (ABC News: Lucie Cutting)Under the proposed changes, its face-to-face operating hours would drop from 20 to 10 a week.Cr Summers said additional restrictions on days and times would "further hamper" access, for a trip that is already a long distance for some residents.She said while accessing services digitally could "absolutely work for some people", it would exclude others."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."Whitemark is the main administrative centre on Flinders Island. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)Cr Summers said she expected the proposed changes would be discussed by the council.The proposal was also criticised by the state opposition, which 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," Bass MP Jess 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."Under the proposal, the reduced weekly opening hours would see Oatlands go from 25 hours to 20 hours; Queenstown, 32.5 hours to 16 hours; Campbell Town, 25 hours to 16.5 hours; Whitemark, 20 hours to 10 hours; and Currie, 20 hours to 10 hours.Usage behind decision, government saysPremier 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 open on Monday and run until October 2.