Navigating the golden years of retirement should be a time of relaxation and enjoyment, but for many, it's proving to be a period of financial stress and uncertainty.

The culprit? A backlog of age pension claims at Centrelink is leaving thousands of seniors in limbo.

Adele McIntosh-Jackson, working as an independent sub-contractor, applied for a partial age pension in August 2023, hoping to reduce her work hours.

However, after a fall in December that left her with a broken ankle and unable to work, her situation became dire.

Adele McIntosh-Jackson is one of the many waiting for their age pension claims from Centrelink. Credit: Shutterstock

'Over the last seven weeks, I've had no income whatsoever,' she shared.

'I still have a mortgage and strata fees, and I still have electricity bills and all sorts of things.’

‘So, it's not a great position to be in at my age.'

McIntosh-Jackson was told the reason for the Centrelink delay was her work as an independent sub-contractor rather than an employee.

However, her story is not unique.

Many Australians have been waiting months for their age pension claims to be processed, with no clear indication of when they might receive their much-needed funds.

Joe, a 72-year-old pensioner, shared his experience: 'I first applied in July. When you do actually get to speak to someone, they're generally very helpful.’

‘But it's really, really hard to get through on the telephone. I'm just looking for a part pension. I'm 72, and I'm struggling a little bit.'

Other SDC members also complained about these delays.

In a previous story on frustrating call times and pension approvals at Centrelink late last year, member @Casper said, ‘I have been waiting over six months for approval of a disability support pension. Phoned a couple of times at one hour fifty-two minutes wait time and, on other occasions, cut off after waiting over an hour.

‘You never get the same answer twice to a question. And one person tells you one thing, and the next person [gives] a different answer. Talk about bashing your head against the wall. The whole system is a pathetic joke.’

‘It took five months for them to approve my aged concession card. Yesterday, I was on hold for 1 hour and 48 minutes due to my rent allowance being cancelled after one payment,’ member @jackibourn said.

‘Due to non-uploading of a document only to behold, they did have it on file. This is not good enough.’

So, what's causing these delays?

Centrelink has also been grappling with a significant staff shortage.

This has resulted in a backlog of 34,000 age pension claims, with an average processing time of 72 days.

Honk Jongen, general manager of Services Australia, acknowledged the issue, stating, 'I'm the first to concede that we are not meeting demands as we would like to and as our customers would like us to.'

‘Up until now, we've not had sufficient staff to deal with the workload that we face.’

‘Now the government has recognised that, and late last year, they allocated us sufficient funding for an additional 3,000 staff.’

‘As a matter of priority, we've been recruiting those staff, and right now, they are all on board but going through intensive training,’ he added.

However, staff shortage isn't the only factor contributing to the delays. Jongen pointed out that incomplete applications and complex financial affairs can also slow down the processing time.

'Many people have got complex financial affairs, trusts, in shares and other investments, all of which need to be appropriately assessed,' he said.

'In some instances, we need to go to third parties to confirm the information that is required, all of which can contribute to delays.'

For those in urgent need, Jongen advised visiting a Centrelink office in person if possible.

‘In Adele's case, this is a clear situation,’ he said.

‘If she's experiencing financial hardship, then what she should do is, if she can, visit her local office because if she explains her situation to our staff, we will do what we can to help her out.’

Centrelink is also working to expedite the training of its new recruits to help ease the backlog.

'We're moving to try and get them on board as quickly as we can,' Jongen said.

Key Takeaways

• Age pension claimants have been experiencing months-long waits for Centrelink to process their claims.
• Partial pension applicant Adele McIntosh-Jackson shared her struggles, highlighting the financial difficulties she faces due to the delay.
• Services Australia General Manager Honk Jongen attributed the delays to staff shortages but noted that newly allocated funding has allowed for the recruitment of an additional 3,000 staff.
• Jongen advised that urgent cases like Ms McIntosh-Jackson's should visit a Centrelink office in person to seek expedited assistance.

Have you experienced delays with your age pension claim? Let us know in the comments below.

 

[Suzanne rose]

I'm up to 120 days waiting. Patience is wearing thin I must say. Going into the Centrelink office is a waste of time. They speak to you as if you are a five year old and give you a pat on the head. That is so condescending and doesn't pay the rent, put food on the table or put fuel in the car.

I've been waiting 348 days !

 

[Suzanne rose]

So far it would appear that Albo and his party of wankers, have broken every promise they made, as I said
GIVE ALBO THE ELBOW.

Firstly I think that slogan can be sold in the next campaign but seriously all governments are the same. Centrelink has been in a mess for years as has Medicare.

We need a new government who can fix the problems caused over the past 20 years by Labour abd The Liberal parties