More than 300 additional staff will be recruited to speed up Australian passport applications in the face of “unacceptable” delays.
The number of passport applications has increased from pre-pandemic levels of up to 9000 a day, to up to 12000 a day, with the number daily applications reached a record 16,400 on Tuesday.
Applicants queued up for at least three hours in Melbourne on Monday to check on the status of their passports.Credit: Eddie Jim
Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts said Australians were now enduring a “predictable” problem that was “the result of the previous government dropping the ball and failing to properly plan for the surge in passport applications when borders re-opened.”
“It shouldn’t be Australians who suffer the consequences of these failures. While it will take some time to get back on track, we will continue to work with DFAT [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] to make sure the required resources are delivered,” Watts said.
“The current delays in passport applications, and the long waits to get in touch with the Australian Passport Office, are unacceptable.”
DFAT says processing times have doubled since October and now advises applicants to allow at least six weeks to get their passport. But some hopeful travellers say they have waited eight weeks or more and still have no idea when their documents will arrive.
Hundreds of applicants desperate for any news faced a wait of up to six hours in Melbourne and Sydney earlier this week in queues that snaked around the block at the two passport offices.
Watts said he and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong were working with the department to fix the delays by increasing the number of processing and call-centre staff as quickly as they could be hired and trained.
“We are standing up a new additional call centre with 35 staff this week and 35 more staff next week,” he said in a statement, adding at least 250 more would be recruited in the next few weeks.