Centrelink processing times for Age Pension claims have almost been cut in half, according to the latest government performance data.
It’s the first release of what will be quarterly Services Australia performance data, which the Albanese government says is being done to increase trust and accountability.
The performance figures show that between January and March, the average processing time for Age Pension claims was 84 days, but this has now been cut to 49 days for most claims.
Processing times are also down 35 per cent from the same period for Disability Support Pension claims, and down a whopping 80 per cent for Carer Allowance claims, with most finalised in under 10 days.
Applications for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card are being processed in an average of 18 days, down 64 per cent and around 80 per cent are processed within 28 days.
Bill Shorten, minister for government services, says the improvement shows that the Services Australia’s investment in service delivery and staff is paying off.
“Our record investment of 3000 extra staff means that in recent months the first task of lancing the 1.35 million claims backlog has been achieved,” he says.
“As today’s data shows, thanks to these staff, the agency is now processing claims 60 per cent faster compared to the first three months of 2024. Getting on top of claims processing is vital to supporting Australians at their most vulnerable and through significant events in their life,”
Processing times for virtually all Centrelink payments have improved. Wait times for the JobSeeker payment are down 78 per cent from 27 days to just six and the Carer Payment is down 83 per cent from 76 days to 13.
Call wait times also improve
Getting through to Centrelink by phone has been nothing short of a nightmare for close to two years now – if you can get through at all. The data shows an improvement, but there is still more progress to be made.
There has been a 7.5-minute improvement in the average call wait time, but that wait time is still almost 29 minutes.
Still, at least most calls are getting through now. Between January and March, Centrelink was forced to deploy more than four million ‘congestion messages’ – the annoying automated messages offering a callback in some cases, or simply ending the call in others.
The latest data shows this number has dropped to under one million (929,824 to be exact), a 79 per cent reduction. Again, definitely an improvement, but almost a million people still unable to get through to an essential service means there is still work to be done.
“I’m pleased with the progress being made but it doesn’t stop here,” Minister Shorten says.
“When people know their payment is sorted, they can get on with their lives and don’t need to call to chase it.”
Have you been able to get through to Centrelink easier recently? Would you say your claims are being processed quicker? Let us know in the comments section below.
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