Water & Ports

Boat licensing chaos results in statewide strike today

Details

Published on Friday, 03 September, 2010

24 NSW Maritime offices have closed across the state today as customer service officers strike over management’s refusal to acknowledge the failure of its chaotic new licensing software.

The NSW Maritime offices are primarily responsible for the issuing of boating licenses, boating registration and mooring registration.

Customer service officers have found the new licensing software to be completely unworkable since it went live in July to replace the old system.

The new software has resulted in incorrect letters being sent to boat owners telling them their license has expired.

More worryingly, it has neglected to send letters to boat owners who may need to renew their licenses immediately.

“We potentially have unlicensed boat owners out on the water today, due to the failure of the government’s new licensing software,” ASU NSW Secretary Sally McManus warned today.

“The new system has been an absolute nightmare since its introduction.

“The average time taken for a registration transaction has risen from five minutes to 30 minutes.

“Incorrect payment information is being sent out to boat owners and the new software is completely incapable of processing new commercial boat licenses, meaning this part of the system has effectively ground to a halt.

“Introducing such a fatally flawed new licensing system isn’t fair to the public, and it certainly isn’t fair to staff. Management is completely aware of the problems, but they’ve turned a blind eye.

“Staff are the ones facing the brunt of customer anger and frustration. They are being regularly abused at work and forced to deal with drastically increased pressure. Six people went home in tears last week.

“That’s why customer service officers have had to walk off the job from midday today.”

The strike will continue until close of business Friday, September 3, 2010.

If management refuses to take action to rectify the problem, more action strikes will occur next week.