Ballarat workers the meat in a Serco-state government stoush sandwich

Opened by Police Minister Lisa Neville in July 2019 after a government pledge to fund the service 12 months previously, the Police Assistance Line and Online Reporting (PAL&OLR) was going to provide up to 300 jobs for people in Ballarat at a cost of $212 million, the government said at the time..

Serco Citizen Services was the preferred tenderer, tasked with setting up and running the centre out of the Flecknoe Building at Federation University.

But the new service has never been taken up to the extent expected, with staff telling The Courier the public are still calling 000 or attending police stations in person, rather than calling the new 131 444 number or using an online portal.

While Serco says the government overestimated the need for the service, the government has countered their argument, saying Serco over-employed staff and usage of the assistance line was growing.

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However staff members, who are caught between Serco and the state government's spat, have told The Courier take-up has now flatlined, and shift offers are falling even further beyond original reports.

One staff member, who requested anonymity, said it had been two weeks since she worked. Other staff have left in disgust, alleging favouritism in shift allocation.

In August The Courier reported staff had been disappointed in the number of shifts on offer at the new PAL&OLR centre, with some saying job agencies had oversold the quantity and quality of the opportunities available. Other staff said they had left employment elsewhere on the premise Serco would offer secure full-time work, only to find themselves worse off than before with no job security and little work.

Another staff member has now come forward saying some full-time staff have now been emailed by Serco, asking them to consider changing to part-time work, while shifts for casual staff have been cut back to one or two a week at the most.

In addition, allegations of misconduct and poor management practice have been made about the PAL&OLR centre.

The Courier was told a number of male staff were making sexual advances to female staff, attempting to engage them in conversations about their sex lives, while a verbal altercation between two staff members escalated to a point where uniformed police working at the centre were forced to intervene.

Other staff had concerns about their ability and training in coping with the nature of the work they were employed to undertake, with some saying they were distressed by the calls they received, including serial callers threatening suicide and making abusive comments. Several staff had resigned or simply walked out during or after shifts.

In a statement, Serco said it takes all allegations of inappropriate workplace behaviour seriously.

'We encourage all staff to immediately report any issue to their manager, Human Resources or through our confidential, independent, "Speak Up" phone line, website or web portal. Where issues are reported we investigate and deal with concerns and complaints quickly, responsibly and effectively.

'We employ full time and casual staff at the centre. Shifts are allocated in line with expected workload levels and staff availability and reviewed regularly. There is no preferential treatment for staff shift allocations and we refute any allegations of favouritism.

"We provide strong training and support programs to our staff including a 24-hour employee assistance program.'

A government spokesperson said there were clear expectations on Serco to meet quality and employment requirements to deliver the PAL service.

'Any form of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace is unacceptable and won't be tolerated. Any allegations of improper conduct or behaviour in the workplace should reported and investigated accordingly, a spokesperson said.

In a strongly-worded statement, Trades Hall Ballarat said: 'Recent allegations, if upheld, show once again why the state government should never have entered into a contract with Serco, a company with a poor reputation for their treatment of both clients and staff.

'Renowned for running prisons and detention centres they have strong track record of chasing lucrative government contracts around the world and hollowing out services to maximise profit above people.

'It appears unsurprisingly that their well-trodden methods are being applied here in Ballarat at the Police Non-Emergency Call Centre. The State Government should never have entertained a contract with Serco in the first place and should now immediately review the contract and operations of the call centre.

'There could have been safe secure public sector jobs that would have provided a benefit to the workforce and the wider economy. These allegations point once again to the immense damage that Serco is doing to the mental and physical wellbeing of its Ballarat workforce.

'How many more allegations of staff mismanagement and mistreatment need to arise before the State Government steps in?'