The Department of Human Services (DHS) has recently announced that Centrelink will stop the Intent to Claim starting 1 July 2018, which can further delay the processing of Age Pension entitlements.
Prior to the new policy, you could file an ‘intent to claim’ either online and in person to inform Centrelink that you’re seeking a payment or concession card – before you submit the actual claim form with the attached documents.
Senior Australians eligible for Age Pension will no longer be able to submit an ‘intent to claim’ for certain payments and concession cards. The claim form will soon be required to be filled out completely, with all supporting documents attached before Centrelink can start processing the claim.
No More Backdated Age Pension Payments
It can take some time to process claims, so traditionally Centrelink has provided a ‘backdating’ allowance to cover for any delays. Until now, the DHS backdated the pension payments if you signed up online and you had submitted all your claim paperwork within 14 days of registering the claim intent.
However, with the new policy, the claim cannot proceed without all complete documents upfront. Once your claim is successful, you will get a payment or concession card issued from the date you submitted your complete claim. Centrelink will no longer pay you from the date you started your claim or contacted them about your claims.
To manage the transition, Centrelink will help existing customers (who have started an online claim between June 17th and June 30th, 2018) to complete their claim within 14 days, so they can be paid from the date they have started the claim.
What Can You Do?
Centrelink rule changes are unavoidable; however, assistance is available with the Retirement Essentials Age Pension application service.
Retirement Essentials can help you prepare your application, and avoid ‘backwards and forwards’ with Centrelink, so that you can file your application quickly
Also, did you know?
You can submit your Age Pension application 13 weeks before you reach Age Pension age.
Contact Retirement Essentials Today
Our team of experienced Age Pension specialists can support you to get your claim completed and ready to submit – so you can access your entitlements as soon as possible.
Aside from getting your Age Pension, we can also help you keep your entitlements by:
- Reminding you when you need to update Centrelink
- Informing you of government changes that affect your Age Pension
- Ongoing access to our specialists whenever you need help
For more information, please call Retirement Essentials on 1300 527 727 or send an email to hello@retirementessentials.com.au
I lodged my claim for Aged Pension on 7th February 2018. I became eligible on 15 March 2018. I was given an estimated completion date of 28 March 2018. After not receiving any updates after 29th March 2018 I lodged a complaint. On 31st May 2018 I was contacted and told my claim was being forwarded for action and I should hear something within a week. Three weeks later I have still not heard anything from Centrelink. I have a small income from my Super and rely on what is in my bank account to survive. Since the phone call from the guy at Centrelink I have had no further contact. In my phone conversations with Centrelink staff I have been assured I have completed all that is required but I am still waiting. On my MyGov app on my phone it is still showing as being processed.
Hi William
Your story is a common one. From our experience it is taking Centrelink 4 – 5 months to assess Age Pension Applications. Based on your lodgement date you should hear something back from Centrelink this month or early next month. The good news is when you do finally get your Pension approved your payment back dated to when you lodged your application.
I am 71 years of age and I have waited since April 2018 for my aged pension to be processed.
All documentation having been completely uploaded by 1st April. On line it said it would be completed by 25th May 2018.
I have just received notification on October 10th that I will receive my first payment on 16th October .
There is no mention of any back pay for the months I have had to support myself.
Can you advise if i can e levy any back pay
Hi Rosemary
As long as you submitted a complete application back in April then you should be entitled to a full back pay of your Pension for this period. If it wasn’t complete in April and you had to subsequently provide additional information, then Centrelink would only back pay from the date they deemed you lodged a complete application. It’s definitely worth investigating.
I also applied for thr age pension in July. received a txt on 21st August that it would be finalised by the 25th August. no communication since. I’ve rang 2hrs to get through. I’ve visited the office fobbed off both times. I’ve put a complaint in no response. I’ve contacted the ombudsman no response. I’ve contacted my federal member and no response. I like many gave worked and paid tax for 50 years and to be treated like this is so stressful it affects my health. it can’t take this long it’s not like it just happened ice worked for 50 years they know who is eligible. they must all be working from home still. if that’s the case then Mr Shortan is to blame so next step is ACC as its a crime against the interests of the Australian people as stated on the Anti corruption commission Web site
The government sets the age pension eligibility age.
Unfortunately we are living longer so the pension eligibility age has to be raised in the expectation that we will die before we reach that eligibility age. In the event that we reach the eligibility age the government has the power to extend the time by delaying claims in the hope that we die before the claim is finalized. This does happen to people in this age bracket and is a fact of life. Big savings for the government.
My husband turned 70 in October 2018. We attended Centrelink and were told we could have been receiving a part pension and health care card since he was 65 because of his low pension. It is now February 2019 and we have used all his long service. Yesterday we were told they needed one more piece of paperwork which they hadn’t bothered to tell us about. Almost six months and now I read we will not be entitled to back pay.
I put my application in for the pension back in April 20/2018 . I was eligible for the pension on May 10 . To date all i get is the computer generated message telling me that it is still being processed the only thing that changes is the completion date ,AS this seems to be the only message i get i have taken it upon myself I log in to the center link site to check for updates . after not getting anything other than the usual message i logged to find a message telling me they required a document called !!other !! the rest of the message was don,t contact we will contact you !! Again i took it upon my self to contact them only to be told the document they required was bank statements with the names of the accounts on top . A letter in regards to a income stream with AMP . this is a issue that i have taken up with the dept before as prior to putting in my application i was on new start .I would have thought that there was an inter-department communication between the new start dept and age pension dept but it seems there is none. I also would like to add that the new start allowance stopped as i reached the age eligible for pension. So it seems that one dept knows what is going on but the other one is clueless it seems.
Hi David
Sounds like you are in a bit of a Centrelink rut. We are sorry to hear this. Unfortunately as you have already lodged your application independently our service isn’t equipped to help you. You just need to stay the course (don’t give up), be patient and persistent and hopefully Centrelink joins all the dots and you get your application approved sooner rather than later.
Hi David, Centrelink certainly have no clue what their other dept’s do, approx 5 years ago i applied for age pension & listed my present wife of 10+ years to be told that I was still listed to my 1st wife that had died 15 years prior. I then had to supply a Death Certificate to prove she was no longer living. I thought Centrelink were connected with Births,Deaths & Marriages ,which they are but apparently dont talk to each other.
I applied in February 2018, I have supplied all required documents and nothing more has been required of me. I am 66 years old. The online service says process date expected April 2018, it’s way past that date. After numerous enquiries and phone calls I’ve been told I have to live off my savings and super and I just have to wait. I have gone to my local member but still no pension. Do they wish me to die so they can save the Government some money.
Hi Robyn
It is our experience that it is currently taking Centrelink 4-5 months to process applications for the Age Pension. So that means if you lodged your application in February then you should hear back by the end of July. I know this is a frustrating long wait time, but if you application is approved then you will be back paid your pension entitlement to the date of submission.
It’s been over 7 months for us. Living off money from selling our house, which is dwindling down as it wasn’t a lot. We were hoping to have this for extra bills in our retirement living so this will make life even more difficult for our future. Started processing for age pension January and disability support February for me have answered every question asked, seen doctors and still waiting. Have rang even found out that husband was put in the non Australia citizen by accident so once realised they marked his account urgent but again we’ve heard nothing.
Hi Pauleen
Unfortunately we hear your story all too often. This is why we developed our service to give Australians the helping hand that is needed to get access to their Age Pension entitlements.
Hi Allyson.
My story is much the same as those above.
At the age of 66 I applied for the age pension pension on line on the 2nd of May 2018 and given an estimated cliam process time of 7 weeks. So now it is 13 weeks and I still get the usual computer generated text message of ” claim being processed. It looks like from your comments 16 to 20 weeks is a realistic claim process time and thanks to websites such as this everyone is getting closer to the truth of this government created situation.
I never thought that when I applied for the aged pension it would lead me to decide how I would vote at the next election.
I do have a question you could help me with.
Like everyone else I am living off my savings whilst waiting for my application to be approved and I have been considering drawing on my superannuation fund by applying to create an income stream from the fund. Currently I do not draw anything from my Superannuation fund.
Is this likely to effect my application for the aged pension by prolonging the application process even further?
Hi Geoff
From our experience Centrelink processing times for Age Pension forms is currently sitting at 3-4 months. If you applied in May you may not hear anything until September. The good news is that if your application is approved your payment will be back dated to 2/5/18.
Thanks for your question about converting your Super into an income stream. Doing this will not affect your Age Pension application or Pension entitlement in the short term. Obviously as you withdraw money from your super and use it, your assets position goes down and you should be entitled to a higher pension over time.
Thanks Allyson for the advice as I have now converted my Super into a modest income stream, which has proved a wise move, given today marks 5 months since I applied for the aged pension and like so many others I am still awaiting my application to be processed. Looking forward to the next federal election.
November marks my 67th birthday, so like many others, I delayed my retirement age past the 65 years eligibility date.
Looks to me the department for ‘human affairs’ is headed by incompetent staff, they keep fiddling with old and new rules in fact muddling the system. Fife years ago a age 65 I applied for the age dole and was approved within 2 weeks, after a year I got off the old age dole and started working. Now I am 70 and applied for the age dole again and its just rediculous. Centerlinks public computers are from the ice age, logging on can be frustrating. .soooo slow, hello this is the 21st century! It took me the best part of the morning to get the Centerlink application working, who designed the ap should be ..na I wont say it. BTW now they changed the ap again..why fiddling with whats working ok?
Anyway I am in the queue, waitng for the powers to be to approve my claim, weeks, month? Its ‘yes minister’on a grand scale. Kinda sad, I think we can do better than that.
I met the person who helped design the Centrelink app, and I kid you not he is in a mental health clinic receiving of treatment.
Mmm…this is absolutely ridiculous….
Now almost 2 months I am still waiting too
Thought saving the government money by keeping working much more years longer…
But I am really disappointed now how they treat you…
Even not an acknowledgment with the process.
I recommend to adopt the Dutch government age pension scheme.
All working people do contribute part of their pay to the scheme.
It is compulsary.
Once you turn to the pension age..you just are entitled to it..according how long you were in the scheme.
No further question asked.
No bla bla…for huge time and staff consuming expenses, unnecessary delays and pensioners dispair…
Defenitely saves the government that way heaps of ridiculous expenses.
That scheme is already in place since the 50’s and they have almost the same population.
I am almost 70yrs and want to retire so I applied ‘intention to retire’ 13 weeks ago on the Centrelink MY GOV site. did everything needed and submitted all requested info. I checked my in box every week as I didn’t want anything to hinder my claim. On 17th Aug received an INBOX message saying rejected due to fact I hadn’t replied to their letters. No letters had been sent and in fact several texts said in progress do not not respond. I phoned them and was told Oh dear apparently we haven’t sent any letters but we need more info such as name at top of bank statement. It’s all so outrageous. I have worked 5 years longer than I need to have done and save the Gov thousands of dollars payments.
While waiting for the age pension to be processed will it be back dated from the time of application ?
Hi Judith. Your age pension entitlements will be backdated to the date your completed application was lodged with Centrelink
Like so many others I applied in April 2018 knowing I would be retiring at the end of June . I am 67 years of age and thought to simplify the process by registering early . After retirement date I went to Centrelink to find they had difficulty finding my information . All was updated and documents uploaded. At no stage have I been informed of a waiting period being told they could not tell me when it would be processed. I have returned twice since being told further documents were required as at no time was this requested on my online Centrelink app. I have made phone calls with long waiting periods to be told all documents appear to be correct and they are aware that the waiting period is lengthy but they are looking into it . I have worked since I was 18 with short periods off to have children and never imagined I would have to wait believing it should be a given there would be no waiting period as when I respond to my own bills etc. in the given time . I am living off my last pay ,which has now gone and withdrawn some super ,which is not much . In my working life as a single woman I have paid off my home and bought a car to suit in my later years planning for my future . So I have to ask why the Government elects to keep me waiting for my entitlements along with the rest of ageing Australians when we have contributed in good faith to our future . Very poor indeed. Yes I will be patient as I have no choice but knowing no amount of back pay will replace my savings or super which has taken my working life to gain. I have a former work colleague who had to wait 5 months using her savings to live while waiting and terrified at the prospect of going to Centrelink as she had limited computer skills until her daughter assisted her . The whole system needs to be not only reviewed but made user friendly and applications acted upon sooner. Not good enough !
It is tough going with Centrelink sometimes Christine and we are sorry to hear your about your financial situation. Based on our experiences with Centrelink it can take up to 4 months for them to pick up and approve Age Pension applications, hopefully you hear back from them very soon.
Well, I have been waiting since February 6th for my pension. Centrelink confirm all my documentation is correct and that it is being processed. Approximate date of completion 28th March. What a farce, it is now 30th August and coming up 7 months since it was due.
Friend of mine in New Zealand applied for her pension and received it within a week.
I rest my case. Perhaps if our politicians got of their backsides and started working on matters that affect the people we might be a little more tolerant.
Some of the replies to questions talk about people getting back pay to when the claim was lodged. Yet article above states this is not correct – is back pay to when claim was ACCEPTED.
Can you please confirm what is correct?
Chris, you will receive a back pay of your pension entitlement from the date that you submitted your completed application with Centrelink.
I was told by Centerlink that they back pay from the day the claim was approved and not the day that all of the documents were submitted wich all were done on the same day
My story is the same as all the above applied for the pension 17/04/2018 its now 5mths with no success and little communication from Centrelink apart from those SMS of which I have had many saying that my application is still in the process of being assessed. So the winter utility bills which I would have got a concession this year have been and gone, car registration been and gone so not only are we missing out on money which by the sound of it may or may not be back paid but if concessions as well. Also what happens if when they finally get to my application I am away visiting family and unable to access the required documents they may need to finalise the application. Are we expected to put our lives on hold until they get theircact together. Who do we speak to our local regional Centrelink just shrug their shoulders and say we don’t process here it’s out of our hands, you can call but expect lengthy delays getting through on the phone what can we do? Nothing takes 5mths to process.
I applied for the aged pension in January 2024 because I turned 67 in February. I decided to follow up my application in April then to be told I need to provide my identity which I did . Luckily I rang Centrelink otherwise I wouldn’t have known this. I hope this hasn’t delayed the process because we have no super and hardly any savings now
Our story is similar to the above. We currently reside overseas in the USA. My husband is 70 this year. He applied for the Age Pension in April though the USA Social Security Office. At the same time I put in a claim for a USA Spouse Payment to commence when I turned 62 in May. My USA Spouse Payment claim was assessed and processed at the interview and a first payment to arrive in July. All documentation was provided. The USA Social Security Office was a pleasure to attend, staff were friendly and courteous and the service was excellent. Now as to the Australian Age Pension claim, we received a further documentation request in July with a 21 day to provide or the claim would be rejected. We received the request at about 14days into the 21 day deadline. I immediately contacted Centrelink advising that the postal system would not be able to comply due to where we reside ( rural USA). Fortunately the alternative was to email the documentation, which we did. As of today we have not had any further communication with Centrelink as to the progress of the claim. Maybe Centrelink should look at the service provided by the USA Social Security.
I am still awaiting my pension as I was told it would be processed by 5th October, alas there has been no word ! How am I able to check the status of my application ?
You can check the status of your Pension application through your online myGov account or by calling them on 132-300.
I am still awaiting my pension ( or even some news on it’s status ) as I was advised by Centrelink it would be processed by 5th October, alas not boo has been heard !
For those waiting for their aged pension application to be processed, the following information may be informative.
Today, the 25th of October, whilst checking the progress of my aged pension application on line, it reported that my aged pension payments would commence on the 30th of October, as to, would the amount I would be back paid to my original application date of the 2nd of May. So basically it has been a 6 months process.
The complexity of my application is as follows:
It was for a single pension, as my wife is not eligible for the pension until 2024.
Our assets are basically some savings in the bank and a very small holding of Telstra shares.
Today I also received a call from a previous employer who has asked me to consider undertaking some work for them for the months of December this year and February next year, at quite a generous rate of pay.
My question to you Allyson, is that if I took this offer up, naturally my fortnightly pension payments would stop, but would they automatically resume once I had ceased work next year, and how would the amount of money I earned during this work period likely to be treated by Centrelink?
Also, would this have any effect on my income stream I currently receive from my Superannuation fund.
Reading the responses from Allyson Bailie makes one realise just how inept Centrelink really is. It has done nothing to simplify or improve the service , or show any compassion to how people are coping during the time it takes to approve a claim.
This surely isn’t good enough to fob people off, and expect them to wait up to 7 months for pension payments.
You also mentioned that another 1000 people have been employed to help improve the service, but sadly it hasn’t made the slightest difference.
Thanks for your note Malcolm. We are seeing a slight improvement on processing times of Age Pension Claims. Our customers are getting their applications approved on average within 7 weeks. We ensure our customers are well prepared, lodging all the required documentation to get a quicker approval.
I hope that Henk gets to read these emails so that he can see how badly run Centrelink is.
Maybe if he didn’t get paid for 7 months and had to live on meagre savings then he would see how tough it is.
My wife has been waiting 6 months which is just a joke .
It’s a waste of time ringing or going to Centrelink offices because nobody there is really interested in helping you.
Even letters don’t get replied to. Perhaps they are hoping you will die before payments commence.
Allyson I have the same story as everyone else ..I filled out my application on the computer in the Centrelink office under the guidance of one of the employees there on the 20th November …I was finishing off my LSL and was told to bring in my separation certificate in the first week of January which I did and was scanned and handed back to me and told I would get my pension card in around 2 weeks…I was also having to register my car and was told to hold off for that couple of weeks and then register when I got my card as I wouldnt have to pay for it. Thankfully a staff member at the Motor Registry told me to register my car and not wait for the pension, maybe she knew more than I did at that time.
In late January I got notified that I needed more documents so I took everything back with me to be told that I had to go back onto the computer and submit these documents … which to my knowledge were done in November so of course then my application was delayed to the 29th January and not earlier when I submitted everything.
On MyGov it indicated that it would be 19th March when my application would be processed ..of course many weeks later there is no date at all and I am unable to get anyone to answer the phones…after 23mins and 5 seconds exactly they switch you off….I got laughed at when I went back to Centrelink to enquire how much longer …I have a small Super and very little savings left now as I have rent, I had to move so all those costs, this week every bill has come in for electricity, gas and water… I have worked all my life and paid taxes and I think this is disgusting the way we are treated…possibly if this takes any more months I will have to leave this rental and live in my car as I cant afford to keep paying bills etc with no money…
You stated 7 weeks I WISH !!!!
If some people are getting claims processed in 7 weeks why are others waiting 7 months or longer? If there are delays in the system then everyone should be having the same experience. We have been waiting 6 months, it was a straightforward claim and everything was lodged via our financial adviser at the time of the application.
Hi Stephanie
Hopefully you are following up Centrelink on a weekly basis to get your claim processed ASAP – this is what we do for our customers who have been waiting for more than 11 weeks. Based on your current wait time you can now lodge a complaint with Centrelink. To do this please call 1300 132 468. Hopefully it gets sorted soon for you.
Hi
I have applied for Aged Pension a few months ago. I had $5,000 savings in my bank account at that time, and no other income, no job, nothing coming in. Centrelink said I would have a long wait and would not be bumped up the list due to hardship because I had too much savings. I can live with that, sort of…but what bothers me is that once my pension has been approved I will get backdated, great, but what about all the expenses I have paid out on in the meantime that I would have been entitled to a waiver or concession?
Am I able to have those amounts refunded or something? After all, if I am backdated, then I was eligible from my application date. But I spend alot on medications and it is costing me heaps without any concession.
Thank you kindly..
PJ
My Husband has the same story as everybody else unfortunately. He is 67, worked past retirement age thinking he was doing the right thing! He lodged his claim, with all the required paperwork on the 3rd of August 2018, nearly 4 months later he still hasn’t had any news. Last week he rang the complaints department and was told the usual hogwash about pensioners on hardship are prioritised, 21000 claims on that list alone…..!
This delay in the processing of Aged Pensions is disgusting! Why isn’t something being done about this, why aren’t people making a noise, why aren’t our MPs taking a stand? Time to start causing a ruckus I think because this disregard & disrespect is deplorable!
My wife and I applied for a part pension and submitted the joint claim at a Centrelink office in April. I have a mygov. account on line, so I was able to follow its”progress”. On four occasions requests were made for documents already supplied.So I traipsed back to Centrelink with the information. In November a request was made for yer another bank statement. This time,however,my wife was helpfully advised that she might like to submit her own claim. The joint claim was only being processed in my name! Not in her name. For couples about to make a claim, I would advise you complete two applications and follow progress on line, as not all requests come by mail.
Very much a similar story here from me. Started my application in Oct 18. Did all that mygov web application requested – received – as I chose my preferred contact choice my mobile phone – three times a notification: “you’re claim submitted on 8 October is progressing. You will be notified once we have processed your claim” then the following notification on 26 November: “The estimated completion date is a guide only. Your claim is progressing. Processing times depend on demand and complexity of individual claims. You do not need to contact us, we will contact you as your claim progresses.” and then on the same date: “You need to provide more information so we can progress your claim.”
When I checked the website, there were “tasks” to fulfill and I uploaded more documents that I believed were asked for. After that, all tasks had a green approval tick, so I thought all is well. Then I received a letter in the mail box (I did not chose contact vial mail box!) informing me that my application was rejected! because I did not respond to Centrelink letters?? I never received any letters prior to the rejection letter…my visit to Centrelink office in December clarified that the documents that I had uploaded were not the correct ones, so I found out the different forms were required which I submitted on 5 December. I asked if she was sure that this was definitely all that Centrelink needed for processing to which I was assured:” yes, this is all” …since then I haven’t heard anything 🙁 and the website says: “Sorry we are taking longer than expected to process your claim. We are working hard to complete your claim as soon as possible. You do not need to contact us, you will be advised when we have made a decision.” Really?? How do I know that I’ve not fallen “through the cracks” of bureaucratic complexities?? poor buggers who don’t have any savings at all – it makes me very anxious and frustrated 🙁
Wow just wow reading all the above comments, what on earth is going on with Centrelink. My husband lodged a claim Oct 25th 2018, he got rejected for not responding to a letter he never received, I rang them and was told to submit more information, reading from the above comments we will be given the runaround for months to come. How disappointing of our government treating people who have worked for 50 years this way. Shame on every politician running this shambles.
I also have been waiting lodged 28th February for aged pension till now no payment 1/06/2019 I am 67 worked hard for 40 years worked past retirement age and treated like I owe them something I’m living off my savings and they have dropped considerably I wanted to have savings for my old age will en up with nothing what’s going on centre link the government needs to review their set up fo all retired people especially if they are suffering With illnesses like diabetes making life difficult wake up Australian polititions.
Denise I think it would be worthwhile calling Centrelink on 132300 to check on the progress of your application – you have been waiting longer than the standard wait time for an approval.
What is the cost of the service?
Hi there Carol
Our service helps older Australians to apply for their Age Pension. We provide the required helping hand in lodging your application and then dealing with Centrelink to get your approval. The service costs $330 which is charged in two instalments – $165 when you apply online with us and then $165 when Centrelink approves your Age Pension application. We’d love to help make it easier for you to get your Age Pension entitlements. To get started with your application you can either call us on 1300 527 727 Mon-Fri 9-5pm (AEST) to speak with one of our Age Pension Specialists, or visit our website wwww.retirementessentials.com.au
I retired in October 2018 and applied for the age pension. I supplied all documents required to the local Centrelink office and was assured all was good. 6 weeks later a text message received stating that I had to submit more paperwork. when I rang and finally spoke to someone ( after 50 minutes on phone) I was told by an extremely rude person that I had to submit again and that I had superannuation I could live on. So much for working 50 years and supporting my family all this time with only ever receiving basic family allowance. This is still going on and today received another text message requiring more documentation that I have already submitted. This time a very helpful lady on phone.When I originally applied was told it would be about 13 weeks what a joke. As I supplied everything in the required time frame am I going to get any back payment I still have rent to pay and bills to pay. Very disappointed at the whole process
I completed all my online application at Charlestown Centrelink on 20th November 2018 and the following week took all my documentation in to be lodged and photocopied or scanned. At this time I was told to bring my separation certificate in when I finished my long service leave in December and this was supplied to Centrelink in the first week of January 2019… I was told everything was ok and I would receive my pension card in a few weeks. Two weeks later I got a notice to say that I hadnt supplied all my identification paperwork so I took everything back up and was told that all the paperwork was fine but I needed to go onto the computer and submit again. I was never told that I had to do this and was under the impression that had been done on the 20th November under the guidance of one of the employees at Centrelink. I have been back to Centrelink several times to find out how long this is going to take and was told to use my Super until my pension came through…Accessing my Super also took about 4 weeks and I only have a small amount which I am having to use to pay rent, bills and food. I also had to move late December which has really hit my small savings with having to pay bond & moving expenses etc… On my Gov it said my pension would be finalised on the the 19th March 2019 ..now it says nothing only that it is being processed. I went back to Centrelink this week and the gentleman just laughed at me when I said it had been 3 months, telling me it will take longer than that. He transferred a number to my mobile for me to speak to someone but after 30 mins it rang out …this has happened several times and I am at my wits end trying to contact someone who can tell me how long it will take… I am considering that I may have to go back to work as I am going to run out of money but not sure if I would pass medicals these days with my back & knees etc.. It is either that or I will be living in my car I think ..
Hi Brenda
Sorry to hear this. Perhaps we can help you sort this mess out with Centrelink? We have a team member who specialises in dealing with Centrelink to push applications through to approval. For a small fee we should be able to fix this up so you don’t have to go back to work. Give us a call if you’d like to know more.
Regards
Allyson
Hi,
Do you do simple activities like calculating the amount people are due from Centrelink under the Age Pension under various scenarios?
Also has anybody had trouble updating their assets on the Centrelink web site?
We’ve tried to update them, but they never change. This is despite uploading documents and letters.
As a result we think that we are being underpaid. Does Centrelink back pay people on the Age Pension if the data is provided and they (Centrelink) haven’t made the adjustments?
I submitted our application documents for the aged pension on 15.8.2019 at Richmond Centrelink. All seemed good. I then received a letter saying they wanted my official cancellation form (evidence) for my ABN number which I duly sent. On the same day I received an email saying “My application was successful and that I can follow (track) the progress on mygov account!” When I trying “tracking” it is hard to find anything useful. Certainly it gives no idea of when I can expect my payment. Can you help me and tell what I should expect from here.
Phil
I applied for the aged pension mid-February 2019, I was eligible on the 28 of March 2019, that made me 65 and 6 months old, it is now mid-December 2019 and I haven’t heard a word. I’m running out of money and it has been 10 months since I applied. I applied at a Centrelink office, the staff were very pleasant and helpful, but I have had no paper mail, email or phone calls, absolutely no contact from the government what so ever
Hello
I am eligible to apply for the aged pension from today, March 6,2020. It even says that on the centrelink website. However, when I go to the make a claim site the message comes up…youcannotapplyfor the aged pension until March 6, 2020. That’s today. Is there an issue with the centrelink site or does it actually mean I can apply AFTER March 6…tomorrow onwards.
Regards
Kayleen
My Wife and myself applied for Pension back in Early this year and submitted paperwork to local branch. They said sending paperwork to Canberra. They even scanned our passports. Guess what.? They now tell me they dont have and recall of this.
Later on they tell us that they have all items needed to process claim. Then a week or two later get a letter saying they needed bank records which they already had. They appeared to have lost those as well. As they then said to re submit. Which we did. They still dragging the chain as we are now about 5 months since our first contact with them. They now saying we are entitled to our Pension.
But keep getting stupid texts from them saying still processing claim every 10days or so.
Ringing up them they just say to you are you destitute. We are still processing claim. Havent you got money in bank etc?
Appears they just want to keep you waiting with no proof as if they will ever give you a pension or leave you on the scrap heap.
I would of expected to get our pension in a timely manner which clearly not the case here.
What other options do I have to get actioned.? As appears they dont care at all.
Hi Paul. Many people get extremely frustrated dealing with Centrelink because of issues such as this. It is a major reason we set up Retirement Essentials. Our service includes liaising with Centrelink on behalf of our customers. It sounds like you are already a long way down the path with Centrelink so it may not be worth your while paying for our support now but we are happy to help if you do.
my husband applied for the aged pension back in April and we still don’t have an answer. He has called and attended services Victoria office still no decision. he can’t get an answer from them as to why it is taking so long. he is getting frustrated as to why we cant get answers. Does anyone have any ideas as to who we can call to see what is going on ?
Hi Lyn, I’m sorry to hear of your struggles. CLICK HERE to see the phone number for Centrelink’s complaints line and also for your options to escalate the matter further via the Commonwealth Ombudsman if you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint.
reading all these comments and experiencing some of the difficulties and hurdles to jump through to receive an entitled pension. obviously, the system in place is failing!
with the technology today , surely the government has the ability to be more efficient with processes?.
to admit it takes 4 to 5 months is ludicrous. The Tax office already has most information needed to complete application.
and of course all payments should be backdated to eligibility date. Whoever created that rule in 2018 should embarrassed!
I have just applied for a full pension and am assured by a financial consultant that I am eligible and will get full pension. But until my submission is approved, in the mean time, I cannot get all the pensioner discounts now, such as free rego and cheaper rates. I should be able to back claim for these discounts later as I will be eligible from today. Is it possible?
Hi Jason, thanks for getting involved in the conversation! You are correct that you can back claim for discounts such as rego once your claim is approved and you receive your card. You will need to contact each business/provider to request it though, it is not automatic.
You can get a Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card that will give most dicounts and cheap prescription medicine (max $7.30 per script). Once your age pension s approved then that pension card takes over. I applied for both the age pension and the CSHC on the 16th January 2023. The CSHC was approved in 10 days. Still waiting for the pension to be approved though.
Hi Neal, thank you for your response to a fellow reader’s comment! You mentioned that you applied for the Age Pension and CSHC at the same time. Our experience has been that Centrelink will only process one claim at a time, not two at once. Given the CSHC has been approved but 3 months later your Age Pension is not, I would encourage you to call Centrelink on 132 300 because there is a good chance your Age pension claim is not being progressed at all and will need to be re-lodged.
Hi
I applied for age pension 26/04/2013 still not approved actually no answer
every 10 days at 10:37 I get massage from mashin
still in progress .
I never thought the older Australian just became nobody over night
I’m 67 years of age can’t work any more
Went to see the doctor this morning he gav me a cortisone injection is $160 because I can’t mouve my shoulder and I need one but can’t afford
Skin check for cancer $120 I can’t afford
I don’t have the answer can I get pension card and when
where should I go or what should I do
it is disappointed but just hope for better days
I believe that CentreLink deliberately stall pension age applications by at least 5 months based on algorithmic projections that more people will die within 4-5 months of lodging an age application than others in the 2-4 months…Furthermore, CentreLink create unnecessary circus acts by pursuing frivolous details such as super accounts of under $500 and in my case were relentless in their following up of a closed bank account of less than $2.00 … we are not talking about huge sums of money or multiple investment properties with complex spouse shared assets here. I am sure there are many single individuals such as myself who have worked hard and paid their taxes and perhaps own a modest home with a small amount of savings in the bank… how hard can it be. ?
Remember this next time you vote. We the growing retired public don’t need to take this rubbish. Bill Shorten thinks he rectifies it by putting on more staff. It’s the damn system itself. Change it so older people can apply easily and get paid quicker. As you imply, we have contributed to the development of this country paying taxes for over 40 years and now treated just like numbers. Disgusting service but don’t blame the staff, they’re overworked, blame those who develop this system.
Its is so disappointing for all us retired aussies who some have worked for over 50 years paying tax and contributing to the development of this country to be treated like this. I’m also waiting now 3 months for my age pension without contact from anyone. Just totally disgusting the way we are treated. Meanwhile the money I saved for years for gap medical bills and for replacement household items is dwindling away so I’m just about to cancel my private health I’ve had for 30 years just because we need the money to live on. Its not the fault of staff. The whole system needs to change to allow older people better treatment to apply and get a response quickly.