Tens of thousands of older Aussies are waiting months to have their Age Pension applications approved, due to a massive backlog at Centrelink, an anonymous source at Services Australia has said.
The delay means many people are having to eat into retirement savings to make ends meet and some are even having to delay important medical appointments while they wait for their health care card application to be processed.
A source at Services Australia, who asked not to be named, told The West Australian the backlog for new Age Pension claims stood at more than 30,000 in late November, with some applications dating back to early June.
“That’s a big number, even by our standards,” the source said.
Once the pension application is granted, the payments will be backdated to the application date, meaning the first payment will be much bigger than usual. But this doesn’t help older people struggling with cash flow now.
It’s also possible to pay the full cost amount for medications and appointments, and then claim the difference between that and the concession amount back through Centrelink once your concession card has been renewed.
But that assumes you have the money to pay the full amount in the first place, which many do not. Instead, people are delaying medical treatments and going without their medication.
The anonymous source cited staff shortages as the driving force behind the application backlog.
What is being done?
Early last month, the federal government announced a $228 million boost to Service Australia’s operating budget, aimed at recruiting an additional 3000 staff to ease the bottleneck.
Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen apologised for the delays and said anyone facing financial hardship should contact Centrelink to get their claim prioritised. That is, if they can get through to speak to anyone.
“The Australian Government is boosting Services Australia staff by 3000 in coming months to help improve the customer experience and already 1000 people have accepted permanent positions,” he said.
“Most of these will be working on processing claims and answering calls.”
Minister for the NDIS and government services Bill Shorten blamed the previous government for letting staff levels at Centrelink get so low.
“More than 3800 frontline staff were ripped out of Services Australia, making the agency’s job to help Australians increasingly difficult,” he said when announcing the funding increase.
“These 3000 new staff are the first step in returning people to frontline Services Australia roles after 10 years of Liberal neglect.
“The new staff will be critical to reducing call wait times, speeding up claim payments and giving Australians back some time in their busy lives.”
Are you waiting on an Age Pension application? When did you first lodge it? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also read: ‘Glitch’ blamed for incorrect Age Pension payments