Services Australia workers are gearing up for a 24-hour strike next week, leaving many Australians wondering about the impact on Centrelink payments and services. The strike, scheduled for Monday, October 9, is a response to a government pay rise offer that has sparked discontent among staff.
This strike follows a series of work bans and a one-hour stop-work action that occurred in August. Meanwhile, Centrelink wait times have been on the rise, increasing from an average of 14 minutes in 2021-22 to 20 minutes in the current financial year, according to government figures.
No Impact on Centrelink Payments
Despite the strike action, Centrelink recipients can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that their payments will not be affected. Services Australia’s general manager, Hank Jongen, assured the public that preparations are being made to minimise potential disruptions to customers.
For the short term at least Retirement Essentials expects wait and processing times at Centrelink to get even longer as staff cope with both the current backlog and the further impact of the strike. We can’t speed up Centrelink but we can help you get your application into the queue as quickly as possible if you need any assistance.
Well i agree some of the nonesense i have seen at times people are not very nice aggressiveness gets you nowhere
Ah well when I make the required “within 14 day” changes via MyGov it will now take 6 months to be updated instead of the usual 2-3 months.
You were lucky Steve mine took 9 months and that was after I had to ask for it to be done by the lovely person in my local office.
Will we notice any difference? We already wait for hours on the phone that is if you can connect in the first place. The service is terrible, it’s not the workers fault, they need way more staff.
Wait times currently 20 minutes I WISH.
I’ve waited on the phone one & half hours, 2 weeks in a row. I wonder if the older Australian phone number has less Centrelink officers?
need to go to Centrelink office
as one cannot get through by phone.
I have wrongly been dealt with re my aged pension. been so far twice re same problem of rental subsidy. due 3rd time tomorrow but strike.
big mess up by Centrelink leaving me not enough to live on. been in hospital & rehab for last 6 months therefore have been disabled unable to visit Centrelink office without great difficulty. was promised restoration of funds then later was cancelled.
WHAT IS GOING ON PLEASE.
Seems I will be unable to get to your office till later on week which makes it very difficult financially for me.
im am very concerned. there does not seem to be any avenue to resolve my problem.
ref:207 063 066H
please answer this request.
Hi Barbara, thank you for sharing your scenario with us and I am sorry to hear how dire it has become. Based on the wording of your comment I fear you may misunderstand though. This website you are using to read articles and post this comment is for Retirement Essentials, a private company that helps Australian Seniors navigate their retirement journey with bit sized advice and help getting approved for the Age Pension. We are not Centrelink though as you may think and we are only able to assist our customers, we cannot simply contact Centrelink ad hoc on behalf of someone. I do hope you get the assistance you need.
As far as face to face interviews.My local branch have been fantastic.I just quit work on the spot being aged 73 yrs I just couldn’t face another day.The staff at my local office were great roughly 15 min wait for two interviews and my aged pension was processed and paid within the month.The staff were friendly kind and supportive.
I have been waiting over 3 months for my old age pension. They should get more help for the staff to process the pensions on time.
it’s a joke Centrelink striking, let them try to live like people on welfare payments.
Annoyingly I have found after waiting for one hour the call drops out and you need to start the process again.
By the time you get to speak to a person in most instance you have waited 90 minutes. Why do the government not put more staff on, and what makes the think our time is not important. They need to streamline these process for the elderly to, it’s hard when they have to visit the offices and wait and wait. There is no customer service left bring it back please.