Govt streamlines age pension forms
The Minister for Human Services, Chris Bowen, has announced the Rudd Government is cutting unnecessary paperwork for existing Centrelink customers transferring to Age Pension as part of its service delivery reform agenda.
“Streamlining Centrelink’s Age Pension transfer form will make it easier for more than 50,000 Centrelink customers a year to switch from an income support payment to Age Pension when they reach the qualifying age,” Mr Bowen said.
“The new form is expected to take less than half the time of the previous form to complete as it makes better use of information already held by Centrelink.”
Existing customers receiving Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension and Newstart Allowance no longer need to provide full descriptions of their income and assets to Centrelink again if they are already receiving a payment when they reach Age Pension age.
Instead, Centrelink will now only need to assess the impact of superannuation, accommodation and confirm residency requirements for existing customers.
“This ‘tell us once’ approach is another way the Rudd Government is simplifying people’s dealings with government through service delivery reform,” Mr Bowen said.
Forms started to be sent automatically to eligible customers from 14 June 2010 so customers don’t need to request a form.
Customers are still required to advise of any changes to their income and assets to avoid the risk of being overpaid by phoning 132 300 or visiting their local Centrelink office.
For more information on service delivery reform visit http://www.worksforyou.gov.au
