Fine print stops $1,000 bonus for thousands
Thousands of Australian families and pensioners have missed out on the Federal Government’s one-off $1,000 bonus because they earned more than officially allowed in the fortnight covering 14 October, 2008.
The Government’s legislation said the lump sum would only be paid to people who “received one of a range of social security and veterans entitlements qualifying payments on 14 October, 2008” when the economic security strategy was announced.
The Commonweath Ombudsman’s office received numerous complaints from frustrated parents and pensioners who failed to overturn Centrelink’s rejection of their claims. A spokesperson for the Federal Government said a cut-off date for the payment had to be applied and the normal date was the date of the announcement.
The spokesperson said that people could lodge an application for review if they believed they should have been eligible for the pension or regular government benefit in the week of 14 October.
