iPad the future: Human Services' Wadeson

Centrelink staff using iPads for client interaction is the future, according to Department of Human Services' deputy secretary of ICT Infrastructure John Wadeson.

In an interview with ZDNet Australia at the 2010 CeBIT expo in Sydney earlier this week, Wadeson said Centrelink staff had initially trialled a device that staff could carry around the office for face-to-face meetings with customers, but due to the device's weight, "unless you were Arnold Schwarzenegger", there were OH&S issues with long-term use of the device.

Wadeson thought iPads were something staff would one day use in Centrelink offices and said while some probably thought they should already be using the devices, it would be a long way off.

Newly appointed to his role in the Department of Human Services, the former Centrelink chief information officer said the consolidation of IT infrastructure from Centrelink, Medicare and the Child Services Agency was expected to be "cost neutral" but admitted it would be years before it would be fully integrated.