DFAT South Australia State Office

I want to cry cause I should be going on a trip tomorrow. There was so much neglectance from the post and especially the passport office. I submitted my passport in on the 1st of November which is 5 weeks before my travel date, I am aware of the 6 week estimated wait time but I am also aware that a lot of people get theres in half the time so It was definitely possible to get my passport on time. When I went into the passport office I should have been properly instructed on what to include on my b11 form but I was told the information I had was enough. Then I called in three weeks after for an update on my application I spoke to an extremely condescending woman when I called the number 131 232, she literally laughed when I was trying to explain things to her, she also let me know that my application had not even gone through, when I asked why I was not contacted she said that they sent an email through to me, which I told her I had not received, it turned out they sent it to the wrong email address. If they did not receive a response from my email, obviously because they did not send it to the right email, they should have tried calling because they have my number. The woman than proceeded to tell me to send an updated b11 from to an incorrect email. I called again the following week, twice and was told by two different men that my application is processing, one of them also told me to get in contact with my traffic manager". The following day I called my traffic manager who told me that my application has not even gone through

The lady who answered the call was such a disagrace. When I asked what would be a good time to call back, she said it was totally up to me. Right. After calling from 9 o'clock in the morning to lunch time, I still could not simply find the right person to answer my questions. I don't think it was by any case 'up to me' . And also, as someone who is working for the department, you sound like you own the department.

paid a priority fee for my sisters passport in October and still haven’t received both of the passports. giving us excuses that we didn’t fill in the form correctly, even though we asked 3 seperate times we’ve came in if we’ve done it correctly and the answer we get back is, “I don’t know, but it should be fine.” most unhelpful, rude and time wasting bunch. we leave to our holiday soon and we’ve chased them up 6 times and still no guarantee answer of when we’ll get the passports. absolutely disgraceful.

This department is an absolute disgrace. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.After 5 MONTHS -6 Phone calls and 2 Trips to the office I learned that my renewal application ( of which the were NO PROBLEMS) - was still sitting there as no one had hit the print button. There was no explanation as to how or why this had happened.The passport was printed in 3 hours after my insistence that I was not leaving without it.All of the staff I dealt with were polite but completely ineffectual in working out what was actually going on.I heard numerous stories similar to this in the queue at the office.My advice to anyone who has been waiting more than 8 weeks is to go in to the office - don’t bother ringing up and it is a pointless exercise.

DELAYS and FURTHER DELAYS – How is this measured !! clearly the system is broken.My application was lodged last week of May 2022 and I received by Passport on 14th Sep 2022. ( 17 WEEKS )This is after multiple follow up from me confirming my travel plans.Yes, Thanks to the DFAT / Passport office on their efficiency that I could not go on holiday after 4 years to spend time with my daughter !!Not only that – I lost out on flight , hotel and local bookings as I was informed time and again it has been escalated / prioritised and being worked on and I would be able to collect it from the office. So no cancellation was made.How is this even acceptable !! is anyone taking responsibility for these delays which cause heaps of inconvenience and loss for so many who miss out on funerals , births, weddings, holidays etc !!!.It seems that if you pay priority you get it the next day. I did see my colleague apply and get one immediately ( 2 days in total) . What are we to understand !! is this is a money making scam !! ??Is there a plan B – How are you managing breakdown !! additional traffic !! staff shortage !! failures to meet deadlines ?? “ an apology “WHO is held responsible for this breakdown / failure ??3rd world and developing countries seem to tackle this much better than us.I am not sure an apology can fix any of this.The primary role I would guess of this department is to ensure passports/travel documents are issued on time and they seem to be successfully failing on this.Absolutely Disappointed.Nothing can fix my loss of spending time with my daughter.Please note – Never once in this entire process was I rude to any staff.If more people left reviews. They would probably realise the inconvenience they cause.#newsreporter #newsmedia #australia #othernews #channel9 #7news #abcnews

I rang the department at about 9.40 this morning (11 May 2023). The lady who answered the phone was extremely rude, whether she was clarifying information (What lawyer?!")

The options given on the phone are too limited - did not get an option that would allow me to talk to a suitable person. Need to have an all other subjects" option."

I had very good experience with the lady who was handling the appointments.i think Her name was Bec or Beth, she looks perfectly simple, not too much makeup, friendly with positive attitude and good at what she does. She doesn't acts like machine with straight answer like the staffs in Melbourne office i have observed. I noticed This lady and the lady on enquiry counnter both were mentally tough and very good with what they were doing. deals with different ppl with different cases in professional manner. I personally have a habit of observing ppl as I run business and service ppl everyday at busy Melbourne. Despite the complexity of my case and i traveled from Melbourne to Adelaide i realized i also mixed up the appt date which was my own fault. She could have asked me to come after a week. But she helped me submitting the forms anyway. Which im thankful and appreciate her help.I have great respect for these girls. I know it's hard job. I hope they will never give up the positive attitude and keep further sharpening interpersonal skills and feel proud to serving the country and it's people.

legalisation of documents (Apostilles and Authentications) Not a one day service anymore. A day to hand over the document's and another day to come and collect.

Poor signage showing entrance while major works are carried out in the complete building.3 trips needed to get documents signed to be recognised abroad.Parking nearby is very limited.