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]

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.

He is talking about jobseeker and stated he has been trying to reach them for 6 weeks.

6 to 8 weeks sounds about right for jobseeker.

If he just resigned from his job he will need to wait 12 weeks unless he has medical evidence.
He has to have also used up any leave eg holiday and long service leave.

 

[Suzanne rose]

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.

Yeh I understand that. I just don't see his problem as it seems to be the normal time frame.

I understand centrelink has a lot of applications to get through and need to make sure you are entitled to the payment.

Which hence my original question not sure what his problem is and seems to be much unanswered questions to this post

 

[Hel]

He is talking about jobseeker and stated he has been trying to reach them for 6 weeks.

6 to 8 weeks sounds about right for jobseeker.

If he just resigned from his job he will need to wait 12 weeks unless he has medical evidence.
He has to have also used up any leave eg holiday and long service leave.

It's still a disgrace that he can't even get through to them. People who have never been on Centrelink before find the whole process confusing, god knows even their own staff can't figure some of it out. Most have zero care factor, they're still getting paid even if they do a shit job.

 

[marni]

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

Should have gone to the media. Apparently then you go to the top of the list. So wrong on so many levels

 

[christineamck]

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

Awww Alan, everyone has a different story and after a breakdown it’s like all parts of your life are a jigsaw puzzle that has been thrown in the air and scattered and exhaustion makes pulling it back together even harder. Not everyone can survive financially waiting as long as you have for the dsp. I wish you well Alan.

 

[Suzanne rose]

Awww Alan, everyone has a different story and after a breakdown it’s like all parts of your life are a jigsaw puzzle that has been thrown in the air and scattered and exhaustion makes pulling it back together even harder. Not everyone can survive financially waiting as long as you have for the dsp. I wish you well Alan.

I'm Suzanne

 

[Hel]

Should have gone to the media. Apparently then you go to the top of the list. So wrong on so many levels

Seems to be the only way to get some people to do the decent thing.

 

[beauty1]

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.

 

[beauty1]

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.

 

[beauty1]

I agree not enough trained staff, now because of the major floods in and around Lismore my carer has been cut off his dsp pension all together because we had to buy another block of land to put a house on. So we need to sell the place in monaltrie but who wants to buy flooded land ? No one
Centrelink gives him carers allowance of $150 per fortnight roughly. It's a joke how can you eat for that amount. $150 per fortnight
So we need to go to church feed areas, cheap food luckily I got a few chooks eggs go a long way.

 

[bschulze]

I honestly think that this 3000 extra staff is a blatant lie as for a full year centre link has spruiked this Oh we have employed extra staff and still in training by this same public servant

 

[Bridgit]

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

My husband was getting DSP and we had 40 acres - non income producing land - the 5 acres you speak of is classed as your home ( house on it) and the rest as an asset.

 

[Rob44]

Centrelink, A privatised government service paid for by government? If that is the case, what else would you expect? A useful organisation?

 

[kevinwoodtufftyke52@gmail]

The poor response of Centrelink towards people should impact the CEO and his manager's performance bonuses until there is minimum wait times and NO disconnections! And there should be a time span of not more than 3 months to fix this problem otherwise the CEO must resign or be sacked. They have had plenty of time to fix it but always have excuses.

 

[Ingot]

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.

The story said: "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."

He lived an hour out of Dalby. "Has he seen a doctor?" (Yes).
(Search for "Goranba" on Google maps).
Imagine being physically, emotionally exhausted, financially destitute, isolated by distance, and unable to access help via phone or Internet.

Your mortgage payments are overdue, and you are running up new debt - all because of being unable to contact the one service that is put in place to provide relief and support to him and his family.
That service failed him and it is still failing others.

I'll tell my experience in another post.
Andrew's experience was worse than mine, but mine is told for the record.

Centrelink needs to be returned to what it used to be - The Commonwealth Employment Service.
Having all of this under one umbrella is far too cumbersome to be efficiently managed.

Centralising Services like Centrelink, Banks and Healthcare may have certain efficiency savings, but the down-side is service suffers.

Post Offices have taken over from the greedy banks (thanks Christine Holgate) or there would be no banking services in the bush.


Banks have been centralised and disappeared from the bush, as have doctors and hospitals.

Some things cannot be rationalised and made more efficient.
To do so saves the Government money, but the downside is the unnecessary suffering caused to people who reach out for assistance, and cannot access it.

 

[Ingot]

I honestly think that this 3000 extra staff is a blatant lie as for a full year centre link has spruiked this Oh we have employed extra staff and still in training by this same public servant

I hope you are wrong.
I fear you are right.

 

[Ingot]

Waited 21 weeks in 2023 to hear about my application for a carer's allowance for our family situation. (Terminal cancer, fractured spine, mets in brain etc)
At first I had a meeting with Centrelink at their office in my town.

I was told that yes, we qualified, and to complete the documentaion online - paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.
Eventally assembled doctor's statements, Radiation Oncologists reports, MRI reports - you know - the lot.
Proof! Proof! Proof!

Ticked all the boxes, and was told everything required was completed.
Was told that the Carer's Allowance would be a lot better for us financially than the aged pension was.

That was incorrect, and involved me giving up my pension first, then reapplying for the Carer's allowance. Fortunately I did not do that, since I know how long it takes for applications to be processed, and we needed my pension for rent and food and household generalities.

Waited 4 weeks.
Nothing.
Went down to the local office again - told "Yes everything is ok - just waiting now on assessment and approval of your application."

Another 4 weeks ... tried to ring. Calls dropped out after 45 minutes, then 59 minutes.
Frustrated.
Rang local MP.
Got a call back from Centrelink next morning.
Told "It's being processed."

4 more weeks - week 12 now.
Visit to office to check progress: "Still assessing application."

4 more weeks - Same ... now week 16.
4 more weeks - week 20 - check-visit to office - "Still assessing."

Finally at week 21, a letter - "Your application has been rejected."

We came to other arrangements that proved satisfactory, but no better financially.

I went through the whole 21 weeks and hours and hours of fruitless phone calls, call drop-outs etc only to be told "Sorry. No Carer's allowance for you."

Office staff were very nice, and at all times I remained as nice to them - it's their job - they don't make these decisions, and getting anxious and unhappy makes zero difference.

But I learned two lessons:
* Never give up a benefit to receive a better one that has not yet been processed and approved
* Never use the phone if you can visit Centrelink's Offices.

Over the entire 21 weeks of anxiety and frustration, I never once received information over the phone that was helpful.
All progress was made when sitting in front of a staff member.

 

[Ezzy]

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.

Assuming he resigned due his inability to do his normal job he would have submitted a Doctor's Certificate stating a period of time to Centrelink. This would need to be updated at the expiration of the previous period of time. Putting a person on Unemployment Benefits with the expectation they seek work against a Dr's Cert. would be ridiculous, but then again this is Centrelink. After 12 months on these benefits it would surely be evident that that person is unable to return to their duties & should in most cases, be placed on DSP, or in the minority of cases, be retrained.

l once knew a gent who claimed he had CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME & regularly told me he had CFS (as it rolled off his tongue), had done extensive survey on this subject on the internet & wasn't going to return to work. The fact he had researched this subject thoroughly left me to wonder if he was genuine. How many people would research the subject as he did?

 

[Ingot]

Assuming he resigned due his inability to do his normal job he would have submitted a Doctor's Certificate stating a period of time to Centrelink. This would need to be updated at the expiration of the previous period of time. Putting a person on Unemployment Benefits with the expectation they seek work against a Dr's Cert. would be ridiculous, but then again this is Centrelink. After 12 months on these benefits it would surely be evident that that person is unable to return to their duties & should in most cases, be placed on DSP, or in the minority of cases, be retrained.

l once knew a gent who claimed he had CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME & regularly told me he had CFS (as it rolled off his tongue), had done extensive survey on this subject on the internet & wasn't going to return to work. The fact he had researched this subject thoroughly left me to wonder if he was genuine. How many people would research the subject as he did?

It's one of those grey areas.
Only a doctor can diagnose.
Patients can only report symptoms.
At that point the doctor can test to verify the symptoms and try to confirm a cause.
It's a process - anyone knows you don't just rock up claiming an illness, and expect a lifetime pass onto benefits.

Sometimes people simply need a darned good holiday - get the burdens off their shoulders for awhile and recharge their batteries.

No human was designed to cope with the pressures we all face on this earth every day.
It's no wonder people are exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally.
It's a wonder many of us can function at all.
I'm inclined to cut people some slack when cracks begin to appear.

 

[Ezzy]

Yes stress has a way of consuming us sometimes. I needed to change jobs 36 years ago when the stress of shift work & the type of work became too much.