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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2018 17:00:23 GMT 7
Seniors in revolt after Human Services Department swamped by flood of age pension applicants.
FRUSTRATED older Australians say they are “barely living” as they wait months to receive the age pension because the Human Services Department does not have enough staff to process a flood of applications. The Morrison Government is facing a grey-haired revolt as seniors reveal they have been forced to cut back on groceries and living expenses because they banked on Centrelink ticking-off on their age pension on time. Many have revealed horror Groundhog Day scenarios of Centrelink losing their paperwork requiring applicants to resubmit them, then after months of waiting, being told they needed to provide further proof of their finances. The Department has admitted it has failed to properly plan for eligibility changes that were announced in 2009. It has urged would-be aged pensioners to lodge their claim up to 13 weeks before they reach the age of eligibility of 65 years and six months, but it has not eased the backlog. It says the average time to process claims was 49 days, which is infuriating older Australians who say they have been waiting months and living off credit cards or dwindling savings. The Coalition generally views older Australians as “their base”. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wanted to maintain “dignity for older Australians” but many complain the age pension application is too complex, too driven to online services and Centrelink too understaffed. Ipswich’s Lyal Turvey, 65, submitted his application in June and is still waiting – four months later. The retired Air Force sergeant said be believed Centrelink had the wrong information about his wife’s super – which wrongly assumes it is in his name – but if he withdrew the application he’d have to go back to the start of queue. “That can’t be right. This is bulls---t,” Mr Turvey said. “We’re eating a lot of mince at the moment. Our living standard is not what it what before.” Play VideoPlay
Why has Morrison ditched raising pension age? - Linda Burnie
Hugh McDine, 66, who lives on Magnetic Island, said when he submitted his pension application on February 17 he was told it should be processed by April 7. He finally received his entitled in August – six months later. “(Centrelink staff) too seemed to be frustrated with the lack of resources available to them.” Every two years, the eligibility for the age pension increases six months. Human Services Department Secretary Renee Leon told a Senate Estimates hearing last week that, “there is … a back-up of demand of all people who would have in the normal course of events been able to lodge in July, they’re all kicked over to lodge in January. “So we get a spike of people and this will happen every two years, we’ll now have to adjust our models about how we plan and staff for the workload … (because it is) not quite working for age pension when we get that six-month delay.” Labor’s Human Services spokesman Ed Husic said older Australians were feeling the pinch from Government age pension stuff-ups. “(They) admitted they were understaffed and unprepared for so many age pension applications, which caused a backlog. What a shabby cop out. “They have the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a Census, various intergenerational reports and funded themselves to better predict demographic movements – claiming they weren’t prepared for so many pension applications is weak. “Scott Morrison talks a big game about maintaining the dignity of older Australians but he owes older Australians a massive apology for his government’s stuff up.” Member for Oxley Milton Dick blamed Coalition infighting, saying older Australians were paying the price for their dysfunction. Human Services Minister Michael Keenan said he instructed his Department in July to set up a taskforce to ensure pension applications were processed quickly. “As part of that taskforce, more than 100 extra staff were moved on to claim processing and I am pleased to say they are making good progress,’’ Mr Keenan said. “In the past week alone, more than 4300 pension claims were finalised – a 70 per cent increase on the same time last year. “It really is rich for Ed Husic to claim that we don’t support pensioners when Labor are the ones planning to pick the pockets of older Australians with their big, fat tax on retirement incomes.” CASE STUDIESHugh McDine of Magnetic Island had to wait six months for his pension to come through. Picture: Evan Morgan HUGH MCDINE, 66, MAGNETIC ISLAND ● Submitted the age pension claim online with the requested documents on February 17. The estimated date of completion was April 7. ● On July 15, he contacted the office of Federal MP for Herbert Cathy O’Toole about the delay and was told there were others facing the same circumstances. ● On July 25, Centrelink asked him to submit more documents. ● One document related to a property the McDines had sold more than five years earlier, which Centrelink believed they still owned. Mr McDine started receiving the pension in August. Lyal Turvey of Ipswich is still waiting for his pension application to go through. Picture: AAP/Josh Woning LYAL TURVEY, 65, IPSWICH ● Submitted his age pension application on June 29, but is yet to receive the entitlement, more than three months later. ● The former air force sergeant attended the Ipswich Centrelink office at least five times. ● He has waited more than an hour on hold to speak to a Centrelink staff member only to have his calls cut out, losing all his information. ● He has not been told if, or when, he will get the pension. Unfortunately the link only goes to the paywall! www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/queensland/seniors-in-revolt-after-human-services-department-swamped-by-flood-of-age-pension-applicants/news-story/1aee176b307c3cb0b4fb2e83360fa70c
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2018 17:10:26 GMT 7
I can only count myself very fortunate as I was only four weeks into the first month of the sixty-six and a half year olds. Cheers bear
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Post by nomadic on Oct 30, 2018 19:04:30 GMT 7
and that we long ago found out it is a better life in poorer countries. can you imagine how many would be here if they only knew. they either don't know or have a fear of the unknown and the gov don't like us informing them as it would mean no retirees in oz at all if they knew. I repeat who would have believed elderly Australians get a better quality of life in places like Thailand let alone Cambodia? Sci Fi stuff 20 years ago. And we aint gone backwards?
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Post by pady on Oct 31, 2018 0:27:07 GMT 7
and that we long ago found out it is a better life in poorer countries. can you imagine how many would be here if they only knew. they either don't know or have a fear of the unknown and the gov don't like us informing them as it would mean no retirees in oz at all if they knew. I repeat who would have believed elderly Australians get a better quality of life in places like Thailand let alone Cambodia? Sci Fi stuff 20 years ago. And we aint gone backwards? Hi nomadic. I had a look at some numbers 🔢 and it looks like there isn't much benefit in 3rd world if you have 1st class medical insurance that is extremely expensive if even possible if your over 65 plus the cost of meds for some of us is astronomical but nearly free in oz In oz you get A higher pension Free Medicare Nearly free meds with pension card Rent assistance Travel concession Still need to crunch more numbers but the killer is medical insurance. Everyone I know in Thailand doesn't have any Plus the dollar has far better buying power in oz. The aud is getting smashed in Asia with no relief in site Happy to be proven wrong but I just don't see the overall benefit. |
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Post by onemore on Oct 31, 2018 3:50:07 GMT 7
This should be an interesting discussion, with a lot of variables depending on each individuals situation.
Personally, as I was approaching retirement I did not have a clue what I was going to do, being unattached and still in good health, do I:-
A. Buy the 4x4 and caravan and head off around Australia, and see the same tree every day, arrive somewhere set up, take down, and go again and that bloody same tree.
B. Rent somewhere cheap and become a member of the local bowls club and that is where I go every day, and listen to the same people bitching about the same thing every day.
That tree is looking good after that lot.
Where I am in Asia my medications cost the same as Australia, I did have to go to a hospital for a bad shoulder after a swimming thing caused some pain.
I arrived at the hospital car park, told security bloke what I was there for, he told me to wait for a few minutes, then down came one of those golf buggy things which took me to
admission, where I was allocated a nurse who assisted me in filling out the forms, then accompanied me to another wing where I waited to see the specialist, yes the specialist.
All over red rover in an hour, cost was a couple of hundred dollars.
Having had cancer five years ago, my doctor suggested I go for a follow up inspection just to see how things are, so off I go to the doctor to get a referal to see the surgeon, free on
Medicare, go to the surgeon who agrees to do the inspection, the total cost for his nod was me out of pocket for 75 dollars, no problem he is a surgeon, had to book 2 months ahead for
the inspection at the hospital, no problems this is Australia and there are a lot of people here now.
Come the day before the hospital appointment I thought I would give them a call just to check on the appointment
“Sorry Mr Smith there is a shortage of staff at that hospital, you can either wait another month, or we can do it at another hospital tomorrow but it is a private hospital”
No worries I thought I have been paying health insurance for nigh on 40 years, should be ok.
So in comes the bloke who knocks you out, he has a fancy name something like anathesisistist, he does his thing, I wake up after the inspection and get a cup of tea.
Went to pay the bill, $500 dollars for the 2 hour stay in the hospital, not covered by private health, another $500 for the excess on the health insurance, so that totals $1000
Then there was an extra charge because they found 6 polyps, the first 4 are free to cut but the remaining 2 were $4.50 each.
I didn’t ask what the cuppa cost.
As far as electricity goes, it is nearly the same as Australia, of course we have brownouts every couple of weeks while they do maintenance on the system.
Oops sorry, for those that don’t know, a brownout is really a blackout but they have to save face and not call it a blackout, make sense? People in Australia should get more acquainted
with these terms as the population swells and government can’t afford the infrastructure, or when they phase out call because Australia is in the Berlin agreement, something like that,
whereas here the government is building coal fired power stations to get the country out of poverty, because they reckon that manufacturing is the way to go, build things like cars, white
goods, ships, trains, sound familiar folks? I heard they used to do those sort of things in Australia but some government of the day participated in a United Nations agreement called the
Lima convention, which stated that prosperous countries like Australia should give up some of their industries to poorer countries, I am not kidding Google it folks “The Lima convention”
There is nearly no red meat here, so my diet is a lot of chicken, fish and vegetables,which should save me another trip to that surgeon.
Car rego, about $250 a year, if I remember to do it, which isn’t a problem because there are no police doing rego checks and getting me to blow in a bag here, which doesn’t matter
because there is nowhere to go and drink, so we have beers at the house at 75cents a can, overlooking the river from the 2 acres of land that cost 35 thousand dollars and the house
that cost 90 thousand to build, no rates to pay because there are no services.
The build quality of the house is disgusting, deplorable or whatever word describes poor quality of finish, but there was no insurance to pay for protection of the builder going broke, who
declared bankrupt and then went and started a new business under another name, nor is there some council man coming around to tell me that the nails I used aren’t the right quality for
the job, and I didn’t have to submit a plan for x amount of dollars to some council that invent new rules to qualify the 6 figure salary and government provided car to drive around in.
The water costs 10 dollars a month, which comes in from the street to a tank, then gravity fed to the house.
The next addition to the house is going to be a swimming pool, which will once again be a terrible job, but there won’t be any permits, regulated fencing, trees too close to the pool, gates
that open and close a certain way, because there won’t be any strangers coming anywhere near the pool because I have 3 dogs that keep people out and get this, I don’t need a licence
to have 3 guard dogs, they are really quite timid but the locals don’t know that.
So I lose my energy supplement from my pension after I have been out of the country for 6 weeks, then I will lose my seniors card, which saves me 4 dollars on a train to the airport.
But I will make that up after a couple of years as my savings dwindle, you see there was this Prime Minister of Australia who made a recession happen because we had to have one, he
reckoned. Another thing he legislated is a thing called DEEMING, which is where your savings earn a specfific interest rate, and if you have more than 50k in savings it goes to a higher
rate of interest, now there is nowhere in Australia where you can get this interest on your money, I could be wrong but even if you could get that interest it would be counted as income,
which of course would be not a good thing.
Keep your views coming.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 4:49:37 GMT 7
Just become a politican and you get a $200,000 pension plus you can also earn as much as you like on top
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Post by onemore on Oct 31, 2018 5:59:14 GMT 7
Just become a politican and you get a $200,000 pension plus you can also earn as much as you like on top Wombat, after reading that I am Really needing to take my blood pressure medication. One of the pollsters should take a survey on who to trust, on a level of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest etc. you all know the drill. here are the choices:- 1. Used car salesmen 2. Financial advisers. 3. Bankers 4. Politicians 5. The clergy Now number 5 is a new one because of the latest revelations, including a certain grammar school down from Melbourne. number 2 is from the outcome from the Royal Commission, of course no one will do jail time for what they did but if any of us committed fraud you would be locked up |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 6:23:11 GMT 7
I'll enjoy the input and do my own when I have the time!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 7:10:16 GMT 7
Just become a politican and you get a $200,000 pension plus you can also earn as much as you like on top Joe Hockey multi millionainire look his $200,000 pension plus got a huge salary on top of that with A nice job as Ambassador to the USA, he also claimed travel allowance for sleeping at this wifes mansion and once said he enjoyed attending $50,000 taxpayer funded dinners and then he accused people on centrelink payments of being ' leaners' |
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Post by latindancer on Oct 31, 2018 10:54:56 GMT 7
It seems that the game-changer between living in Asia (or another cheap place) and Australia is the travel / health insurance.
When I was younger I did not have any when I traveled, but I have read so many horror stories about people getting huge bills after accidents or sickness.
Of course it is possible to minimise the accidents by simply NEVER riding a motorbike....EVER....and I have no problem with that. Having a few prangs when I was younger showed me how dangerous they are. But that leaves sickness and as we get older, it is a worry.
With no health insurance you could easily cark it from some condition which might be fixed if you DID have health insurance and then last another 10 or 20 years...
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Post by onemore on Oct 31, 2018 11:03:05 GMT 7
I personally worry about where this health insurance con is going, will the premiums ever stop rising, somehow I doubt it.
Of course my current health insurance conperson, said I could decrease my premiums by discarding knee, hip and shoulder replacements, they graciously cut the pregnancy cover.
Where will it end?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 17:02:48 GMT 7
I don't have any Health Cover; I do however have Travel Insurance. Here:- Departure date: 11/05/2018 Return date: 10/05/2019 Major destination: Other Asia Excess: $150.00 Travel plan: C Travel Plan $793.00 Existing medical conditions: No $0.00 Less discount: $-237.90 Premium: $550.15 Stamp duty: $4.95 GST: $0.00 Payment type: Visa 625236 Total amount paid: $555.10 This has very comprehensive cover, is not a multi trip and can be renewed overseas for one year at a time. The price is equivalent to roughly a months worth of Expat Health Cover. As with any insurance, as this thread shows, you will only find out if it's worth the paper it's written on at claim time. Benefits Per Adult Available for Australian Residents Yes Available for Non-Australian Residents Yes Excess $150 Maximum duration you can extend the policy 24 Months Cooling Off Period 21 Days Cancellation or holiday deferment costs $5,000 Emergency travel arrangements and accommodation expenses $5,000 Medical and dental expenses Unlimited Medical evacuation and repatriation $250,000 Luggage and personal effects (item limits apply) $2,000 Personal computer individual item limit $250 Camera & video individual item limit $250 Set of Golf Clubs individual item limit $250 Smartphones individual item limit $250 Watches & jewellery individual item limit $250 Dentures or dental prosthesis individual item limit $250 Individual item limit $250 Emergency luggage $150 Personal liability $1,000,000 Accidental death $5,000 Funeral expenses overseas or repatriation of remains $15,000 Dental expenses due to sudden and acute pain $1,000 Travel delay $200 Agents cancellation fees $1,500 Hijacking $5,000 Replacement passports and travel documents $500 Cruise Cover I am in no way, shape or form associated with the following website:- travelinsurancesaver.com.au/ctm/?START=01/01/2019&FINISH=31/12/2019&MAJOR_DEST=Thailand&ADULT_AGE=65&ADULT_AGE_2=0&product=International%20Comprehensive%20(No%20Excess)&partner=ctmOK....I have a retirement visa! Perhaps I'm splitting hairs here but; I can never be a resident here so, therefore I must be a traveller. OS living costs me a little over half of my reduced payment. I am saving enough to almost cover yearly Expat Cover, as well as maintaining the usual utilities on a home in Australia. Perhaps selling up at some future date will somehow upset the applecart but, it will also double my savings. My life here is much like my life in Oz where I lived in an isolated environment; where the majority of the time I wouldn't see a solit ary soul from on pay to the next; but here is without the stress, worry and incessant media BS associated with the political climate, as outlined by onemore above; but unlike in Australia, I live in a room above a massage & small goods store in a village environment surrounded by happy friendly souls, who seem to accept me as I am. What more can I say; not a lot unless provoked! Cheers bear P.S. I also happy as, and feel freer than I have for maybe three decades! |
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Post by pady on Oct 31, 2018 17:07:08 GMT 7
I don't have any Health Cover; I do however have Travel Insurance. Here:- Departure date: 11/05/2018 Return date: 10/05/2019 Major destination: Other Asia Excess: $150.00 Travel plan: C Travel Plan $793.00 Existing medical conditions: No $0.00 Less discount: $-237.90 Premium: $550.15 Stamp duty: $4.95 GST: $0.00 Payment type: Visa 625236 Total amount paid: $555.10 This has very comprehensive cover, is not a multi trip and can be renewed overseas for one year at a time. The price is equivalent to roughly a months worth of Expat Health Cover. As with any insurance, as this thread shows, you will only find out if it's worth the paper it's written on at claim time. Benefits Per Adult Available for Australian Residents Yes Available for Non-Australian Residents Yes Excess $150 Maximum duration you can extend the policy 24 Months Cooling Off Period 21 Days Cancellation or holiday deferment costs $5,000 Emergency travel arrangements and accommodation expenses $5,000 Medical and dental expenses Unlimited Medical evacuation and repatriation $250,000 Luggage and personal effects (item limits apply) $2,000 Personal computer individual item limit $250 Camera & video individual item limit $250 Set of Golf Clubs individual item limit $250 Smartphones individual item limit $250 Watches & jewellery individual item limit $250 Dentures or dental prosthesis individual item limit $250 Individual item limit $250 Emergency luggage $150 Personal liability $1,000,000 Accidental death $5,000 Funeral expenses overseas or repatriation of remains $15,000 Dental expenses due to sudden and acute pain $1,000 Travel delay $200 Agents cancellation fees $1,500 Hijacking $5,000 Replacement passports and travel documents $500 Cruise Cover I am in no way, shape or form associated with the following website:- travelinsurancesaver.com.au/ctm/?START=01/01/2019&FINISH=31/12/2019&MAJOR_DEST=Thailand&ADULT_AGE=65&ADULT_AGE_2=0&product=International%20Comprehensive%20(No%20Excess)&partner=ctmOK....I have a retirement visa! Perhaps I'm splitting hairs here but; I can never be a resident here so, therefore I must be a traveller. OS living costs me a little over half of my reduced payment. I am saving enough to almost cover yearly Expat Cover, as well as maintaining the usual utilities on a home in Australia. Perhaps selling up at some future date will somehow upset the applecart but, it will also double my savings. My life here is much like my life in Oz; without the stress, worry and incessant media BS associated with the political climate, as outlined by onemore above. What more can I say; not a lot unless provoked! Cheers bear Yes that's the best option. Oz travel insurance but the only catch is you need to be in oz to take out the policy |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 17:19:57 GMT 7
I don't have any Health Cover; I do however have Travel Insurance. Here:- Departure date: 11/05/2018 Return date: 10/05/2019 Major destination: Other Asia Excess: $150.00 Travel plan: C Travel Plan $793.00 Existing medical conditions: No $0.00 Less discount: $-237.90 Premium: $550.15 Stamp duty: $4.95 GST: $0.00 Payment type: Visa 625236 Total amount paid: $555.10 This has very comprehensive cover, is not a multi trip and can be renewed overseas for one year at a time. The price is equivalent to roughly a months worth of Expat Health Cover. As with any insurance, as this thread shows, you will only find out if it's worth the paper it's written on at claim time. Benefits Per Adult Available for Australian Residents Yes Available for Non-Australian Residents Yes Excess $150 Maximum duration you can extend the policy 24 Months Cooling Off Period 21 Days Cancellation or holiday deferment costs $5,000 Emergency travel arrangements and accommodation expenses $5,000 Medical and dental expenses Unlimited Medical evacuation and repatriation $250,000 Luggage and personal effects (item limits apply) $2,000 Personal computer individual item limit $250 Camera & video individual item limit $250 Set of Golf Clubs individual item limit $250 Smartphones individual item limit $250 Watches & jewellery individual item limit $250 Dentures or dental prosthesis individual item limit $250 Individual item limit $250 Emergency luggage $150 Personal liability $1,000,000 Accidental death $5,000 Funeral expenses overseas or repatriation of remains $15,000 Dental expenses due to sudden and acute pain $1,000 Travel delay $200 Agents cancellation fees $1,500 Hijacking $5,000 Replacement passports and travel documents $500 Cruise Cover I am in no way, shape or form associated with the following website:- travelinsurancesaver.com.au/ctm/?START=01/01/2019&FINISH=31/12/2019&MAJOR_DEST=Thailand&ADULT_AGE=65&ADULT_AGE_2=0&product=International%20Comprehensive%20(No%20Excess)&partner=ctmOK....I have a retirement visa! Perhaps I'm splitting hairs here but; I can never be a resident here so, therefore I must be a traveller. OS living costs me a little over half of my reduced payment. I am saving enough to almost cover yearly Expat Cover, as well as maintaining the usual utilities on a home in Australia. Perhaps selling up at some future date will somehow upset the applecart but, it will also double my savings. My life here is much like my life in Oz; without the stress, worry and incessant media BS associated with the political climate, as outlined by onemore above. What more can I say; not a lot unless provoked! Cheers bear Yes that's the best option. Oz travel insurance but the only catch is you need to be in oz to take out the policy Initially yes ...but in the PDS; unless I was delusional at the time this particular policy can be extended whilst still OS for up to 24 months. See benefits for adults above:- Maximum duration you can extend the policy 24 Months Whether that's original + 12 months or 24 months, making it 36; I'll find out in April when I call to extend and make it my business to be in town when I have to renew. |
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Post by pady on Oct 31, 2018 17:29:51 GMT 7
Yes that's the best option. Oz travel insurance but the only catch is you need to be in oz to take out the policy Initially yes ...but in the PDS; unless I was delusional at the time this particular policy can be extended whilst still OS for up to 24 months. See benefits for adults above:- Maximum duration you can extend the policy 24 Months Whether that's original + 12 months or 24 months, making it 36; I'll find out in April when I call to extend and make it my business to be in town when I have to renew. Sounds like the way to go. Keeps us posted on the extension. I have travel insurance from Bangkok bank but it's expensive at 6k and the coverage is only about 300k.. Enough for some broken bones It's worth going back to oz in low season, cheap flight and get the travel insurance |
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