As the Department of Human Services’ acting CIO Charles McHardie sat before a Senate committeelast week defending his department’s botched Child Support system overhaul, staff at the Child Support agency were forced to revert to pen and paper as the platform suffered a major outage, it is claimed. The Community and Public Sector Unionsays computer systems used by Child Support staff were “completely inoperative” for four business days from Thursday last week until yesterday, meaning workers had to take down increasingly frustrated customers’ phone numbers. “For four long days our members have had their hands tied, unable to do anything to help clients other than take their numbers and promise to call back when the system is working again. Even now staff are facing a massive backlog and a sluggish and unstable system that’s a long way from working as it should,” said CPSU deputy national president Lisa Newman. “It appears it’s Child Support clients and staff who’ll continue to bear the brunt of this rather than those who made the decisions that led us to this point. Staff are preparing to work additional hours to try to get things back on track,” she added. According to the union, its members report limited systems were back online this morning although they remained “unstable and sluggish”. The Department of Human Services (DHS) told CIO Australia that claims the system had been down for four days were “simply incorrect”. “Some customers and staff have experienced intermittent issues which have been resolved. Full services are available for customers,” said DHS general manager, Hank Jongen. The DHS last week revealed it had spent the entire $102 million budget assigned to the project to replace itslegacy ‘Cuba’ payments and case management system with a SAP-based system called ‘Pluto’. Despite the significant cash spent on the Pluto project, which was initially intended to completely replace Cuba, much of its capability still comes from the older system. The Senate committee last week heard how the set-up meant staff were “copy and pasting” data betweenthe old system and its replacement, which carries a “backlog of defects”. The department this week held a town hall meeting with staff in Hobart, following similar events last week in Newcastle, to find out what added functionality they want from Pluto. “Staff have been supported throughout the process with regular updates from management,” Jongen added. The department added thatChild Support customers have not missed payments they are due and will not be affected ahead of the Easter holiday. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP What goes well with Viña Concha y Toro wines? Meat, fish, poultry, and SAP Viña Concha y Toro, a wine producer that distributes to more than 140 countries worldwide, paired its operation with the SAP Business Technology Platform to enhance its operation and product. By Tom Caldecott, SAP Contributor Dec 04, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by Azul How to maximize ROI by choosing the right Java partner for your organization Choosing the right Java provider is a critical decision that can have a significant impact on your organization’s success. By asking the right questions and considering the total cost of ownership, you can ensure that you choose the best Java p By Scott Sellers Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Application Management brandpost Sponsored by DataStax Ask yourself: How can genAI put your content to work? Generative AI applications can readily be built against the documents, emails, meeting transcripts, and other content that knowledge workers produce as a matter of course. By Bryan Kirschner Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence feature The CIO’s new role: Orchestrator-in-chief CIOs have unique insight into everything that happens in a company. Some are using that insight to take on a more strategic role. By Minda Zetlin Dec 04, 2023 12 mins CIO C-Suite Business IT Alignment Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe