In the heart of Australia's Western Downs region, a volunteer firefighter's battle has highlighted a distressing reality faced by many Australians in times of need.

Andrew Burt, a dedicated firefighter and father of six from Goranba, Queensland, found himself in a dire situation when he was cut off from Centrelink support for weeks, leaving him and his family in financial peril.

Andrew's ordeal began when he sought to access JobSeeker payments after being emotionally and physically drained by traumatic events from recent fires.

Despite his service to the community, he was left unable to work in his full-time job in metal fabrication.

A firefighter from Queensland was unable to contact Centrelink for weeks. Image source: Shutterstock

His attempts to contact Centrelink for assistance were met with prolonged call wait times and disconnections.

‘I’ve been stuck in limbo for six weeks with no income, getting further and further in debt because everything is being deferred,’ Andrew stated.

The 50-year-old firefighter was previously receiving Disaster Recovery Payments, but those payments have now ended.

With no public transport available and the nearest Centrelink office nearly an hour's drive away in Dalby, Andrew's reliance on the phone and internet services became a frustrating and fruitless endeavour.

‘Not being able to get through for basic essential needs is breaking me even more. I was already broken with work,’ he shared.

The impact on Andrew's family was severe. Falling behind on mortgage repayments and personal loans, the financial strain was compounded by the inability to afford medication and groceries.

The stress of the situation was palpable, with Andrew and his wife, who is undertaking a traineeship, forced to borrow money and take out loans to make ends meet.

He admitted: ‘We’re about $2,000 behind on our mortgage repayments and another $1,000 behind on a personal loan.

‘We’re struggling and we’ve had to borrow money from family,’ Andrew added. ‘My wife has had to take out loans to make ends meet. We’re going further and further backwards.’

This story sheds light on the broader issue of Centrelink's accessibility, which has been a point of contention for many Australians.

In the six months leading up to December 31, only about half of the nearly 45 million calls to Centrelink were answered by an operator.

Millions more were met with congestion messages or terminated by customers in frustration.

Services Australia, the agency responsible for Centrelink, has acknowledged the problem.

General Manager Hank Jongen expressed apologies for the long wait times and assured that efforts were being made to improve the situation.

The agency has hired 3,000 new staff to help process claims and take calls, with hopes of seeing improvements by April as these staff members become fully trained.

Andrew's case was finally addressed after media intervention, with his claim processed the day after contact was made.

This resolution, however, came after weeks of unnecessary hardship and stress, raising questions about the efficiency of the systems in place to support Australians in need.

Key Takeaways

• A volunteer firefighter in Queensland has been cut off from Centrelink, unable to afford medication and groceries due to long call wait times.
• Despite living nearly an hour's drive from the nearest Centrelink office with no public transport, Andrew Burt could not speak to anyone in person to resolve his issue.
• After the media contacted Services Australia, Andrew's claim was processed the next day.
• Services Australia General Manager Hank Jongen apologised for long wait times and mentioned that 3,000 new staff have been hired to improve service and call wait times.

Have you had a similar experience with Centrelink? Share your story in the comments below.

 

[Suzanne rose]

I'm not really understanding this story .
He was cut of from disaster relief payment wasnt that a one off payment for each adult and child ?

He says he is physically and emotionally drained , has he seen a doctor? Most people would feel like this after helping with natural disasters.

Has he actually left his job ? If so that's a bit drastic .

Has he applied on line for jobseeker or has he been trying to applyon the phone ? The normal wait time for jobseeker is around 6 weeks and he will get back money.

There is alot to this story that isn't making sense

I have been waiting for 12 months for DSP to be approved and I only just had a video appointment with their doctor.

As for calling them if I call first thing in the morning around 8 am I always get through .

I think there is more to this story

 

[Jill57]

Best to bite the bullet and go on the bus to the Centrelink office . I know calling can be the most frustrating time wasting thing you can do .1 hr by bus or more than 1 hour waiting on the phone ?

 

[beauty1]

We were caught up in the Feb floods of 2022 at monaltrie 5 mins from Lismore massive flood. We had moved down from qld roughly less than a week before to start to live on our farm while building a new home even though I had verbally told centrelink over the phone multiple times. We lost everything I also had pics of my bits of clothing on fences pictures of my caravan wrapped around a tree in middle of the river
Including my number plates shown but centrelink cut me off my dsp all together for approx 3 mnths last year
We had nothing left to live on
Despite numerous calls to centrelink it had to go to the top apparently they went back and listened to all ph calls found out I was telling the truth and back payed me. But I was given totally wrong information
Abused because they stated I was not living there. Literally abused over the phone which apparently this person might have been sacked over it. We had nothing left in clothing lost 40 head of cattle not including calves, furniture, clothing, all household tools everything we had to start all over again. Thankfully the army guys helped clean up some of the paddocks, blaze aid were brilliant and helped us with fences but at 66 to start all over again is hard. But with nothing left to live on bottle feeding calves that lost their mums the stress levels were way over the top with lots and lots of tears all because some people were ripping off centrelink trying to scam fair enough but I had proof with my van clothing, damaged broken furniture, laptop left behind In the floods centrelink staff was accusing us for lying but
My dr was right behind us, realestate agent wrote up a letter stating I had moved out of my house as well but centrelink staff didn't care at all.

 

[gamiry]

I'm not really understanding this story .
He was cut of from disaster relief payment wasnt that a one off payment for each adult and child ?

He says he is physically and emotionally drained , has he seen a doctor? Most people would feel like this after helping with natural disasters.

Has he actually left his job ? If so that's a bit drastic .

Has he applied on line for jobseeker or has he been trying to applyon the phone ? The normal wait time for jobseeker is around 6 weeks and he will get back money.

There is alot to this story that isn't making sense

I have been waiting for 12 months for DSP to be approved and I only just had a video appointment with their doctor.

As for calling them if I call first thing in the morning around 8 am I always get through .

I think there is more to this story

I don't have a problem with this. It happens too often. See story from Beauty 1

 

[beauty1]

I don't have a problem with this. It happens too often.

You have no idea of the real world I have been waiting on the phone for over a hour at 8am been cut off multiple times actually, abused by staff over the phone by centrelink staff yes it's been reported and that staff member still there. He was a security guard at robina Town centre because i had audacity to ask for a chair for elderly man who could not stand up and was holding onto wall. I got abused because I knocked on the door to give him a chair no I did not bang hard or abuse anyone
This guard decided to try and abuse me to the point the manager came out with all the yelling he was screaming at me others were there acted as witness's. And agreed verbally with me as to what happened the old man was given a chair straight away as they could see the condition this poor man was in. Centrelink automatically cuts you off waiting for over a hour on the phone

 

[mylittletibbies]

They've been telling us for over twelve months about all this extra staff and about them having to be trained.
I can understand that, but how long should this take, it's not exactly rocket science.
Nothing has improved, in fact things have got worse.

 

[StarTrekker]

I'm not really understanding this story .
He was cut of from disaster relief payment wasnt that a one off payment for each adult and child ?

He says he is physically and emotionally drained , has he seen a doctor? Most people would feel like this after helping with natural disasters.

Has he actually left his job ? If so that's a bit drastic .

Has he applied on line for jobseeker or has he been trying to applyon the phone ? The normal wait time for jobseeker is around 6 weeks and he will get back money.

There is alot to this story that isn't making sense

I have been waiting for 12 months for DSP to be approved and I only just had a video appointment with their doctor.

As for calling them if I call first thing in the morning around 8 am I always get through .

I think there is more to this story

He is a Volunteer Firefighter and has been fighting fires which has drained him physically and mentally. He cannot work in his normal job which doesn't pay him for his voluntary work. Jobseeker also covers those that use to be on Sickness Benefit.
12 months is not a long time for DSP my daughter waited 4 years.

 

[gamiry]

You have no idea of the real world I have been waiting on the phone for over a hour at 8am been cut off multiple times actually, abused by staff over the phone by centrelink staff yes it's been reported and that staff member still there. He was a security guard at robina Town centre because i had audacity to ask for a chair for elderly man who could not stand up and was holding onto wall. I got abused because I knocked on the door to give him a chair no I did not bang hard or abuse anyone
This guard decided to try and abuse me to the point the manager came out with all the yelling he was screaming at me others were there acted as witness's. And agreed verbally with me as to what happened the old man was given a chair straight away as they could see the condition this poor man was in. Centrelink automatically cuts you off waiting for over a hour on the phone

I was actually replying to Suzanne Rose and all of her questions. Unfortunately I DO understand too well as I've actually walked your shoes and cried your tears. I have tried, over the years to get through to Centrelink for hours.... at one stage I hung on for 3 hours just to see if they would answer, which they didn't. Because of the state of my spine I had to lie on my bed with the phone beside me because if I'd sat up I would have had no feeling in my legs for the next couple of days.Luckily, as of a couple of days ago, I'm now 82 and have my pension and spend my days on the computer fighting for the rights of people like those in Qld who can't even get an assessment for 12 - 18 months "because there isn't enough workers or money". I'm so sorry you misunderstood and I wish you well. I only wish I was there with you as I miss my cows, sheep, dog, chooks and ducks.

 

[Clancieblue]

I'm not really understanding this story .
He was cut of from disaster relief payment wasnt that a one off payment for each adult and child ?

He says he is physically and emotionally drained , has he seen a doctor? Most people would feel like this after helping with natural disasters.

Has he actually left his job ? If so that's a bit drastic .

Has he applied on line for jobseeker or has he been trying to applyon the phone ? The normal wait time for jobseeker is around 6 weeks and he will get back money.

There is alot to this story that isn't making sense

I have been waiting for 12 months for DSP to be approved and I only just had a video appointment with their doctor.

As for calling them if I call first thing in the morning around 8 am I always get through .

I think there is more to this story

Me too Suzanne, wondering why he isn't covered by workers comp.

 

[Clancieblue]

Me too Suzanne, wondering why he isn't covered by workers comp.

Just realized he is a volunteer.

 

[Suzanne rose]

We were caught up in the Feb floods of 2022 at monaltrie 5 mins from Lismore massive flood. We had moved down from qld roughly less than a week before to start to live on our farm while building a new home even though I had verbally told centrelink over the phone multiple times. We lost everything I also had pics of my bits of clothing on fences pictures of my caravan wrapped around a tree in middle of the river
Including my number plates shown but centrelink cut me off my dsp all together for approx 3 mnths last year
We had nothing left to live on
Despite numerous calls to centrelink it had to go to the top apparently they went back and listened to all ph calls found out I was telling the truth and back payed me. But I was given totally wrong information
Abused because they stated I was not living there. Literally abused over the phone which apparently this person might have been sacked over it. We had nothing left in clothing lost 40 head of cattle not including calves, furniture, clothing, all household tools everything we had to start all over again. Thankfully the army guys helped clean up some of the paddocks, blaze aid were brilliant and helped us with fences but at 66 to start all over again is hard. But with nothing left to live on bottle feeding calves that lost their mums the stress levels were way over the top with lots and lots of tears

I'm sorry this happened to you but I actually thought they wouldn't even give DSP if you owned a farm or owned property on more than 5 acres.

Did you sell your property to buy the new property, that can affect your pension

 

[AlanQ]

Me too Suzanne, wondering why he isn't covered by workers comp.

he's a volunteer, not covered by compo. Their employer potentially is covered, but the employee needs to confirm with the employer if they agree to the extension of work cover while the employee is off volunteering. Potentially, the answer from most small business operators would be NO. Especially if the business is a low risk operation, their workcover premiums would be low and if they made a claim for an employee they agree to cover under workcover, their premiums then go up proportional to the risk level of the role, ie, firefighters are the highest premium. He also resigned from his job, so the 6 week wait is the time required before any applicant is eligible for any payment. The wait in this case is standard wait time & the eventual outcome was co-incidental.

 

[Suzanne rose]

I don't have a problem with this. It happens too often. See story from Beauty 1

Even with beauty 1 story I'm not following. I actually thought you couldn't get a pension of any kind including DSP if you owned a farm or had property over 1 or 2 acres

 

[Suzanne rose]

Just realized he is a volunteer.

It still doesn't match up. What was he exactly suffering from? Was it a long term illness or just needed rest ? Didn't he gave holiday or sick pay ? Why did he leave his job ?

Doesn't add up !

 

[Suzanne rose]

the land around your home and on the same title as your home - up to 2 hectares (5 acres) of private land, or all land if certain conditions are met - any excess land is counted as an asset. any garage, shed, tennis court or swimming pool that is used primarily for private purposes and is on the same title as your home

 

[Hel]

I think anyone who has tried to call them has experienced the same thing. They've used the staff shortage excuse for far too long. Do they have a customer service charter? I found this online - (apparently you can get an immediate response to feedback on their services, but not to feed your starving family).

Service commitments​

We provide high quality Medicare, Centrelink and Child Support services.

on this page​

• What you can expect from us
• Help us
• Feedback

What you can expect from us​

Respect​

We will listen and work with you to understand your individual and cultural needs.

This means we will:

• treat you with courtesy and value your individual circumstances
• listen to you
• adhere to the Values of the Australian Public Service.

Quality information​

We are committed to providing consistent and accurate information.

This means we will:

• provide accurate payments and services
• explain our decisions to you and outline your options if you think our decision is wrong
• help you understand your rights, entitlements and obligations.

Honesty and integrity​

We will be open and honest and follow through on our commitments.

This means we will:

• be accountable for our actions, acknowledge mistakes and take timely corrective action
• do what we say we will do
• make information available that is simple and easy to understand so you can make informed decisions
• protect your personal information.

Efficiency​

We will simplify the way we deliver services to you.

This means we will:

• respond to and resolve your enquiry in a timely manner
• improve our self-managed service options so you have easy access to government services
• allow you to manage your own business
• make our forms and letters easier to understand.

Help us​

You can help us if you:

• provide complete, accurate and timely information about yourself and your individual circumstances
• are respectful and courteous to staff and other customers
• tell us if you need help to use our products and services
• talk to our staff if you are not happy with the outcome.

Feedback​

We value your opinion and want to hear what you think about the quality of our service. We will use your feedback to improve our products and services. Read more about complaints and feedback. If you need an immediate response for your feedback call us on 1800 132 468.

 

[AlanQ]

It still doesn't match up. What was he exactly suffering from? Was it a long term illness or just needed rest ? Didn't he gave holiday or sick pay ? Why did he leave his job ?

Doesn't add up !

he resigned from his job and was applying for the dole. DSP isn't granted until at least 12 mths on the dole and long term return to work plans are exhausted. So the 28 day wait is the standard time applied before any payment to commence, plus 2 weeks before payment is made. That's 6 weeks, the timeline was met.

 

[Hel]

Best to bite the bullet and go on the bus to the Centrelink office . I know calling can be the most frustrating time wasting thing you can do .1 hr by bus or more than 1 hour waiting on the phone ?

Might come as a surprise, but some towns have NO bus service. I know because I lived in one until a few months ago. NO car, no go.

 

[Hel]

I'm not really understanding this story .
He was cut of from disaster relief payment wasnt that a one off payment for each adult and child ?

He says he is physically and emotionally drained , has he seen a doctor? Most people would feel like this after helping with natural disasters.

Has he actually left his job ? If so that's a bit drastic .

Has he applied on line for jobseeker or has he been trying to applyon the phone ? The normal wait time for jobseeker is around 6 weeks and he will get back money.

There is alot to this story that isn't making sense

I have been waiting for 12 months for DSP to be approved and I only just had a video appointment with their doctor.

As for calling them if I call first thing in the morning around 8 am I always get through .

I think there is more to this story

You can't just apply for DSP and get it. It's a process. I think he's talking about other assistance. Problem is if you leave a job you wait 3 months. I think the big issue with Centrelink is the lack of service, phone or otherwise. Some of their offices don't even have toilets for elderly or disabled people sitting waiting hours. They have very few staff and the amount of misinformation provided is a disgrace.