What Centrelink can do And what it can’t Robodebt, or to give it its full name, The Income Compliance Program, ended nearly 5 years ago in November 2019. The scheme was designed to recover money owed to Centrelink by people who had received more in payments...
Centrelink Age Pension Articles
Five worst reasons people delay their Age Pension application
A few years ago there was a terrific public safety advertising campaign developed by Metro Trains in Victoria called Dumb ways to die. It was designed to promote railway safety and became the world’s most shared public awareness campaign. It also spawned a...
Age Pension increase 20 September 2024
With Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Pensioner Beneficiary Living Cost Index increases (PBLCI) now published, we are able to predict the most likely increases to the Age Pension on 20 September 2024. We believe this pay rise for retirees will be $26.54...
How to ensure your Centrelink dealings go smoothly
Sooner or later you will probably have to deal with Centrelink. This statement shouldn’t strike fear into anyone’s heart, but it often does. Why? You will be dealing with public servants whose wages you, as a taxpayer, fund. Yet many individuals will run a...
Should the family home be included in the assets test?
A bold initiative from the Actuaries Institute proposes that the family home should now be included in the assets test. It’s far from the first time this policy has been suggested – and it probably won’t be the last. But is it an idea worth considering? A...
How the Age Pension is backdated…
And how to avoid ‘the gap’ Qualifying for an Age Pension is a process most Australians will experience at some stage in their retirement. Timing your application and knowing how back pay works is super handy to avoid missing out on much-needed income. Today...
Income and asset limits go up
But how will this work for you? As you no doubt know the income and asset limits for full and part-Age Pensions were increased on 1 July this year. This is good news for many Australians who may have almost qualified for the Age Pension. It also means a...
A younger partner?
Over the last few weeks we have received lots of comments and questions from customers wondering how their partner’s age and working arrangements can affect their entitlements. So this week we are going to answer some of those questions. I am 67 and retired...
Does Centrelink pay its way? Or is it time for a change?
Here are the facts The good news about Centrelink is that, as an agency of Services Australia, it is held accountable. The mechanism by which this occurs is through frequent Senate Estimates Committees which scrutinise Centrelink performance and its key...