Australians furious as popular MyGov system crash denies access to essential services

In an age where we've grown accustomed to the convenience of digital services, it's particularly frustrating when technology fails us.

This was the sentiment shared by many Australians after a major outage affected access to crucial online government services.

The disruption has impacted users attempting to reach government services, raising concerns over the reliability of the digital platforms that many rely on for essential support and information.

This incident has sparked widespread calls for improved stability and resilience in the country's online service infrastructure.


On Monday afternoon, November 18, the popular MyGov system experienced a significant outage, leaving hundreds without access to crucial government services.

The disruption, which primarily affected login attempts, also extended to the MyGov app and website, with 35 per cent of reports indicating that both platforms were experiencing issues.


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A myGov outage prevented hundreds of Australians from accessing Centrelink, Medicare, and Child Support services. Credit: Shutterstock


‘Centrelink online account, Medicare online account, Child Support online account and the associated express plus apps are currently experiencing intermittent issues,’ a myGov app login page alert read.

‘We apologise for any inconvenience.’


Users attempting to access their accounts were met with various error messages.

Some were told that the ‘service is not currently available for view’, while others encountered a more alarming ‘access denied’ notification.

A few users even reported a ‘there has been a critical system error’ when trying to access their Medicare account via the app.

The outage not only caused inconvenience but also sparked concern and frustration among those who rely on these services for their livelihood.


Social media platforms were abuzz with comments from affected individuals.

One person noted, ‘All they can really do is assure you that it’s not just you, (that) things will be okay, and it’ll be fixed soon enough…some people have probably been legitimately terrified, though, because the message is like “ACCESS DENIED”.’

‘I’m hitting an “access denied” loop…Calling to resolve, but I assume also half the country is also calling at this very moment.’

‘Trying to report our income. MyGov not working, Express Plus Centrelink mobile app not working. Telephone reporting line screwing up,’ another shared.

‘How are we supposed to report? We need our money tomorrow, we have no food, among other things.’


Services Australia, the agency responsible for the MyGov platform, is actively investigating the cause of the outage.

They have committed to updating those affected via their Facebook page.

As of the time of writing, Services Australia has been contacted for comment but has not responded yet.

For our readers who may be impacted by this outage, we understand the distress and difficulty this may cause.

We recommend keeping an eye on the official Services Australia social media channels for the latest updates and, if possible, exploring alternative methods of accessing services until the issue is resolved.


The recent MyGov outage, which left Australians unable to access essential services like Centrelink, Medicare, and Child Support, has underscored the critical need for robust and secure online platforms.

This disruption not only caused inconvenience but also highlighted vulnerabilities that fraudsters are keen to exploit.

In a related incident, scammers have taken advantage of these weaknesses, targeting MyGov accounts and causing financial chaos for many unsuspecting users.

Both events stress the urgent need for enhanced security measures to protect Australians from cyber threats.
Key Takeaways
  • Hundreds of Australians were affected by a myGov outage that prevented access to Centrelink, Medicare, and Child Support online services.
  • Technical issues on Monday, November 18, caused login problems and impacted the myGov app and website functionality.
  • Users encountered various error messages when attempting to access their accounts, including 'service is not currently available' and 'access denied'.
  • Services Australia is investigating the cause of the outage and plans to update affected individuals on their social media page.
We would love to hear from you about how this outage has affected you. Have you been denied access to essential services? How has this impacted your day-to-day life? Share your experiences in the comments below, and let's support each other through these technological hiccups.
 

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Things happen. This is nowhere as bad as when a bank crashes .

Problems do happen and I'm sure there is no real urgency that someone couldn't just wait a few hours for these services.

I remember months ago I needed to put in a claim with Medicare and I was able to get into mygov but not Medicare. I came back a few hours and everything was fine.

At least it wasn't travelling to a Medicare office only to see the doors shut !!

As I said things happen
 
Things happen. This is nowhere as bad as when a bank crashes .

Problems do happen and I'm sure there is no real urgency that someone couldn't just wait a few hours for these services.

I remember months ago I needed to put in a claim with Medicare and I was able to get into mygov but not Medicare. I came back a few hours and everything was fine.

At least it wasn't travelling to a Medicare office only to see the doors shut !!

As I said things happen
Agree - Getting so used to this sort of thing - Finally was able to logon Tuesday morning around 8/9 and report to CentreLink.
Australia is a joke when it comes to Intrenet security & reliability, but it's a hackers & scammers wonderland. And these same AssHoles want us to rely on it more and with many people who are ill equip to handle this type of so called "It will make your life easier" bullshit.
 
Things happen. This is nowhere as bad as when a bank crashes .

Problems do happen and I'm sure there is no real urgency that someone couldn't just wait a few hours for these services.

I remember months ago I needed to put in a claim with Medicare and I was able to get into mygov but not Medicare. I came back a few hours and everything was fine.

At least it wasn't travelling to a Medicare office only to see the doors shut !!

As I said things happen
Agree!
What an instant society we have become. Years ago you literally had to go to an office to return paperwork, report, etc.
Chill out, things are usually fixed within a few hours.
The sky isn't falling in.
 
Agree!
What an instant society we have become. Years ago you literally had to go to an office to return paperwork, report, etc.
Chill out, things are usually fixed within a few hours.
The sky isn't falling in.
It makes me wonder if there is a real catastrophe how these people would deal with it 🤔
 
Why take out your anger on those who have no answer to a “ quick “ fix they are trying their best to get the system back to normal at least they have apologised as they can see the problem this outage is causing not only to the public but within their own organisation I sympathise with them
In times such as these as they are only human .
 
I must be immune to these outages?
This is the first I've known about it.

I've been on it a few times, before and on, Monday on Medicare and My Health Record to see if something has been updated, but hasn't been. Never had any messages that it wasn't working. 🤔
 
Agree - Getting so used to this sort of thing - Finally was able to logon Tuesday morning around 8/9 and report to CentreLink.
Australia is a joke when it comes to Intrenet security & reliability, but it's a hackers & scammers wonderland. And these same AssHoles want us to rely on it more and with many people who are ill equip to handle this type of so called "It will make your life easier" bullshit.
I agree so much with you NotNats.
 
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Agree - Getting so used to this sort of thing - Finally was able to logon Tuesday morning around 8/9 and report to CentreLink.
Australia is a joke when it comes to Intrenet security & reliability, but it's a hackers & scammers wonderland. And these same AssHoles want us to rely on it more and with many people who are ill equip to handle this type of so called "It will make your life easier" bullshit.
I had no problems reporting to Centrewank on Monday. Guess I was lucky and got in just before the outage.
 
I got into the habit of logging in at 12:01am Monday to report to Centrelink when most of the east coast, that is where I am in Australia, is asleep and hope it's system is working and not being overloaded and it's been a long time when I could not complete my tasks.
 
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I believe there was planned outage so obviously trying their best to resolve this problem. Seniors disc club not helping by overemphasising their problems or showing any compassion for maintenance or upgrades.
Just saying.
 
I got caught out with this one. I always check my Centrelink app on Monday to make sure there has been no activity on it. Tried several times to login and then it cancelled my account and told me to go to myGov and reconnect it. myGov then kept asking for my secret question but wouldn't accept my answer and I got locked out of that as well. After a sleepless night I found my closest Centrelink and they were great. A really nice young lady reconnected all my services and helped me to get the apps up and running again.
The problem, as I see it, is this paranoia that has taken over re being hacked. I only check my Centrelink, Banking etc to be sure that there is no funny business going on. When these outages occur, especially later in the day, forget trying to contact anyone by phone.
What a sad and sorry lot we've become 😐
 
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People have to remember the days before digitalisation took over. As another user said we used to have to go to the office to hand over real documents. You leave yourself vulnerable if you don't occassionly do things without jumping on your computer/laptop/tablet or mobile. I had an issue where Centrelink last week wanted information they already had so we went into the office and fixed it all in 15 minutes. I was also told that Centrelink cannot fish for information and they have to be specific in what they want. We were also told they had our bank account duplicated which happened when they were trying to fix our online account. The person was very helpful and understanding.
 
I got caught out with this one. I always check my Centrelink app on Monday to make sure there has been no activity on it. Tried several times to login and then it cancelled my account and told me to go to myGov and reconnect it. myGov then kept asking for my secret question but wouldn't accept my answer and I got locked out of that as well. After a sleepless night I found my closest Centrelink and they were great. A really nice young lady reconnected all my services and helped me to get the apps up and running again.
The problem, as I see it, is this paranoia that has taken over re being hacked. I only check my Centrelink, Banking etc to be sure that there is no funny business going on. When these outages occur, especially later in the day, forget trying to contact anyone by phone.
What a sad and sorry lot we've become 😐
I'm with you, call me paranoid but I check my bank several times a day and my Centrelink at least once a day, the reason being that I recently had my rent assistance cancelled, $211 a fortnight, which is a big chunk of change for me being on a disibility pension. I had no idea until i'd logged into my account and found an inbox telling me so.
After 45 minutes on hold on the phone a lovely lady fixed it up for me. That is the reason I now check it more frequently.
 
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I got into the habit of logging in at 12:01am Monday to report to Centrelink when most of the east coast, that is where I am in Australia, is asleep and hope it's system is working and not being overloaded and it's been a long time when I could not complete my tasks.
Lucky you did it then - something happened that night - but all I know is when I tried login on Tues around 1am First it went to my husbands closed account, then it wouldn't let me in my account. gave up after 2hrs. But tried again around 8/9am everything was back to normal.
 
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I'm old l still like the face to face service or a voice on the end of the phone 📱
 

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