Centrelink will save $131.3 million over four years by scanning documents instead of keeping them in hard copy, according to the government's mid-year and economic fiscal outlook released yesterday.
The outlook details strategies that have been put into place since the budget was announced in May this year.
From 1 July 2010, according to the fiscal paper, Centrelink would scan all documents as close as possible to the point of receipt.
"This will increase efficiency by reducing the cost of transferring paper forms between Centrelink sites and record management units, and by reducing storage costs for paper documents," the paper said.
The initiative is being enabled by $6.6 million in capital funding this year and $12.4 million in operational funds, but was tipped to save $43 million next year, $50 million the year after that and $57.2 million in 2012/2013.
Let me be the first to welcome our social security overlords to the 1990's