Delays in Centrelink clearances
In May 2019, a number of ALA members reported increasing instances of excessive Centrelink delays in providing refund clearances, therefore causing delays in finalising payments to clients who may be experiencing significant financial hardship.
The ALA has been engaging in ongoing advocacy in order to address these delays. A timeline of our work can be seen below. You may navigate to a particular date by using the below buttons:
20 June 2019 | 31 October 2019 | 21 November 2019 | 28 November 2019 | 9 January 2020 | 19 March 2020 | 9 April 2020 | 30 April 2020 | 4 June 2020 | 1 September 2020 | 20 November 2020 | 10 February 2021 | 15 April 2021 | 1 July 2021 | 2022 & 2023 | 15 June 2023 | 29 June 2023 | 21 September 2023 | 20 November 2023
The ALA will continue to update members of any responses to our proposals. We also invite ALA members to send in de-identified case studies that indicate recent experiences of delayed clearance periods (since 1 March 2020). Please send particulars of those matters to the ALA Policy and Advocacy team at enquiries@lawyersalliance.com.au.
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We have received a large number of responses from ALA members reporting that over the course of this year the turnaround period in which clearances are issued by Centrelink has significantly increased, with members reporting that delays of between 6–10 weeks are now commonplace. We received reports of over 30 instances of unacceptable delays, varying from between 3–10 weeks, the overwhelming majority of which within the range of 5–10 weeks. In many of these cases, the individuals concerned were not even receiving Centrelink benefits. Nevertheless, they could not receive their compensation payments until Centrelink had issued the clearance notice. We have written to the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, and also to the Secretary of the Department of Social Services, Ms Kathryn Campbell, asking them to advise as to what steps will be taken to address these disturbing and unacceptable delays. Read our letter to Senator Ruston here. |
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ALA representatives met in September with senior managers of the Department of Human Services (DHS) Debt Management Branch, Debt and Appeals Division, to discuss the ongoing delays with Centrelink clearances. Click here to read a report on the discussion and DHS response. |
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Following a meeting with representatives of the Department of Human Services Debt Management Branch, Debt and Appeals Division in late September, the ALA has again written to the Minister for NDIS and Government Services and the Secretary of the Department of Human Services repeating our concerns about the unacceptable delays in processing requests for Centrelink clearances, and the need to urgently increase staffing levels to reduce the turnaround period to an acceptable level. We have requested an urgent response and will inform members of any updates. Read our letter to the Hon Stuart Robert MP here. |
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Following on from recent ALA advocacy around the issue of delays in Centrelink clearances, we have also received reports from some ALA members of inordinate delays in obtaining Medicare notices of charge. Practitioners have reported that they frequently have to wait many weeks to months to get a notice of charge. Because the relevant legislation proscribes a compensation payer from releasing funds to a plaintiff until Medicare is paid, this is leading to long delays in clients receiving their compensation. The ALA has contacted the Medicare Compensation Recovery Programme within the Department of Human Services (DHS) to express its concerns. The Assistant Director of the Programme has advised that under the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Act 1995 (Cth), once an insurer chooses the advance payment option and provides the DHS with the settlement/judgment documents and a payment of 10%, the DHS has three months to complete the process. This includes:
If the DHS fails to meet its legislative obligation when processing an advance payment, the claimant will receive a full refund and interest for any time after the three-month period. The Assistant Director advised that the Department processes more than 97% of all cases within the legislative timeframes. The ALA is continuing to work with DHS to discuss the need to reduce the delays in the proces |
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On 14 November the ALA sent further correspondence to the Minister and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Human Services (DHS) confirming our discussions with representatives of the DHS Debt Management Branch, Debt and Appeals Division on 26 September, and repeating our concerns about the delay by Centrelink in issuing clearance recovery notices, and the need to urgently increase staffing levels to reduce the turnaround period to an acceptable level. The ALA received a response from the DHS on 5 December. Read it here. The Department advised that they have allocated resources to reduce delays in processing clearance requests, with a particular focus on priority compensation clearances. They confirmed their goal to reduce clearance periods to 14 days but advise that this may take some months to realise. The ALA will continue to monitor the progress of the DHS in addressing our concerns in the coming months. |
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We have received some feedback from ALA members that the clearance periods are now at about 28 days, which is roughly consistent with the aims set out by Services Australia (formerly DHS) last year for this time. |
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Following on from the update to members on 19 March regarding the continuing delays by Centrelink in issuing clearance recovery notices, and in light of the current health crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ALA National President has written to the Minister for Government Services, Stuart Robert MP, expressing concern that the current overwhelming demand for Centrelink services may result in further delays in issuing clearance recovery notices. The ALA has proposed that the Minister consider temporarily removing the requirement of a Clearance Recovery Notice, as it would have the effect of freeing up Centrelink staff to focus on direct service provision, and provide much needed funds to injured people sooner. The ALA identified five options for consideration by the Minister to address the current situation, including the waiver of statutory refunds during the current crisis — i.e. a moratorium on recoveries. You can read the correspondence to the Minister here. |
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The ALA has again written to the Hon Stuart Robert MP, Minister for Government Services, restating our proposal to temporarily remove the requirement of a Clearance Recovery Notice as a matter of urgency in light of the current COVID-19 crisis. You can read the correspondence to the Minister here. We will continue to pursue the Minister for a response to our proposal. The ALA has also written to the Department of Human Services highlighting the issues relating to Medicare’s current reliance on hardcopy documents and the lack of electronic signature capabilities. The ALA particularly raised concerns about the capacity of current systems and processes to deal with the challenges associated with increased pressures on those working in health-related fields and/or remotely, and movement restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. You can read the correspondence here. You can read the response from Services Australia (formerly DHS) here. |
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Services Australia (SA) has recently advised that it is endeavouring to review and assess documentation received from compensation payers and customer legal representatives as quickly as possible, prioritising vulnerable customers and those in hardship. Click here for a summary of the strategies that SA has recently introduced to reduce delays, as well as some recommendations for members to help reduce the potential for delays when requesting clearances. |
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We are continuing to press Services Australia (Centrelink) to address the reports from our members of excessive delays in issuing clearance recovery notices Most recently, the ALA has been advocating for some short-term measures to address the problem in the current COVID-19 environment. In the past week, we have taken the following actions:
We will continue to call on Services Australia to address this problem. Support for cases of hardship We have previously advised some strategies Services Australia has recommended to expedite the process and this includes a system of triaging and prioritising cases in which there is evidence of significant vulnerability or hardship for the client. If your client is vulnerable and/or will experience hardship if payments are delayed, contact Services Australia and seek an escalation of their request. Contacts for escalation of these cases are as below and either Assistant Director can be contacted if the other is unavailable:
Examples and case studies If delays are continuing in relation to clients who are experiencing significant hardship or disadvantage, please send de-identified case studies to ALA’s Policy and Advocacy team at enquiries@lawyersalliance.com.au. Examples that demonstrate serious delays will assist us with further correspondence with Services Australia. |
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In early September, ALA members were updated on the recent actions undertaken by the ALA in relation to the excessive delays by Services Australia (Centrelink) in issuing clearance recovery notices. The ALA has received a response from the National Manager of the Debt and Appeals Division of Services Australia in response to our correspondence raising our continuing concern about these delays. The National Manager advised that delay periods have steadily decreased over recent months and that the agency’s current compensation work on hand is the lowest it has been since January 2019. In order to further advocate on this issue, it is necessary to have strong, case-based data that provides some evidence of the length of delays that clients are currently experiencing. We have therefore created a very brief survey on SurveyMonkey. If you have clients for whom you have experienced significant delays in obtaining Centrelink clearances, we would be grateful if you could complete this short survey. Access the survey here. The survey will remain open until 7 December. If you have any difficulties accessing the survey, please email enquiries@lawyersalliance.com.au. |
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Following on from the ALA's survey last year and our continuing advocacy with Services Australia (SA), we have received several reports from ALA members and large law firms that there has been a noticeable improvement in the period in which Centrelink is providing refund clearances. The reports we have received from several members are that clearance periods are now approximately at 14 days, which accords with the target that was set by the Department of Human Services (DHS) Debt Management Branch in October 2019. The ALA has also received correspondence from the Minister for Government Services, The Hon Stuart Robert, who advised that as at January 2021, compensation settlement waiting periods were being finalised within two weeks. This accords with the reports we are receiving from several members. You can read the correspondence here. ALA member and President of the ALA Queensland Committee, Greg Spinda, has helpfully prepared a guidance note for ALA members as to the most appropriate process for expediting requests for clearances from Centrelink. You can read this guidance note here. In addition, as per previous advice, the ALA recommends as follows:
The ALA will continue to monitor the experiences of members in terms of delays in receiving refund clearances. If after following the process outlined in the guidance note you are still encountering unreasonable delays, please email the details to the Policy and Advocacy team at enquiries@lawyersalliance.com.au. |
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In February this year the ALA wrote to the Director of the Medicare Compensation Recovery, Services Australia to highlight concerns raised by several ALA members in relation to delays from Medicare providing a valid notice of charge. You can view this correspondence here. These delays have meant that funds from settlements of statutory compensation claims could not be disbursed to clients until a valid notice of charge was provided by Medicare to the defendant lawyer representative. Several ALA members had reported significant delays, with the average turn-around for a notice of charge of approximately ten weeks, with some taking as long as four months. These delays were causing considerable stress and anxiety to clients in desperate need of securing their compensation. Services Australia responded on 9 April (view the correspondence here). In its correspondence it stated that it is aware of the problem and is implementing strategies in hopes of minimising the delays. The Acting Director of Medicare Compensation Recovery has invited the ALA to meet with him in three months to monitor the progress in addressing the delays. In the weeks prior to the meeting with the Acting Director, the ALA will seek reports from members to get an update as to their experiences and to ascertain whether there have been any improvements. |
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In February this year the ALA wrote to the Director of the Medicare Compensation Recovery, Services Australia to highlight the concerns raised by several ALA members in relation to delays from Medicare in providing a valid notice of charge. You can view this correspondence here. These delays have meant that funds from settlements of statutory compensation claims could not be disbursed to clients until a valid notice of charge was provided by Medicare to the defendant lawyer representative. Services Australia responded on 9 April (view the correspondence here). In its correspondence, it has stated that it is aware of the problem and are implementing strategies which it hopes will minimise the delays. The Acting Director of Medicare Compensation Recovery invited the ALA to meet with him in August to monitor the progress in addressing the delays. We are now seeking reports and case study examples from ALA members of what the current situation is, and whether there has been any improvement in the significant delays that had previously been reported by ALA members. If you have noticed any improvements with the time period in which Medicare provides a notice of charge please advise us. Alternatively, if you are still experience significant delays, please provide specific de-identified case studies of the delays, including the dates upon which the notice of charge was requested and the time taken for the Notice to be provided. Please email these details to the Policy and Advocacy team at enquiries@lawyersalliance.com.au. |
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After Labor’s victory in the 2022 Federal Election, the ALA contacted the Hon. Bill Shorten MP (Minister for Government Services) to discuss a number of matters, including Centrelink delays. ALA representatives met with Minister Shorten on 15 February 2023 and raised the following two (related) issues with the Minister: 1. In catastrophic injury claims, settlements for large sums inevitably do not equate to loss of earning capacity components constituting 50 per cent of the total settlement. The deeming then automatically precludes all future Centrelink benefits for very long periods and sometimes for life. Current “special circumstances” provisions do not enable Centrelink to modify the 50 per cent deeming rule where it can be demonstrated that the rule operates to create disproportionate preclusion periods. Action proposed: Centrelink be directed to meet with the ALA National President or nominee within six weeks to identify a solution to that issue. 2. Where Centrelink has issued a s1184 Social Security Act Preliminary Notice (of intention to recover benefits) the Defendant/Insurer must notify Centrelink of a settlement and must not release any of the settlement. There have been lengthy delays in processing the recovery amount, which leaves large sums “in the bank” for insurers and creates significant stress on claimants, who think they have settled and wish to make plans for the future. The other aspect is when no Preliminary Notice has been issued. It means that Centrelink has no interest and the settlement funds can be paid out. Some insurers – for example the motor vehicle division of the Insurance Commission of Western Australia – have been told that Centrelink does NOT require notification in that situation. Other insurers claim that they have no directive from Centrelink to that effect and will notify Centrelink and withhold the settlement funds only for Centrelink to come back 4-8 weeks later to state $0 recovery. Action proposed: Centrelink needs to have a public statement to all defendants/insurers in personal injury claims that in the absence of a Preliminary Notice, the defendant/insurer is NOT required to notify the settlement and no claim will be made by Centrelink against then for failure to notify. Minster Shorten accepted that those issues needed further exploration and his office is currently arranging a meeting between the ALA and Centrelink. We invite ALA members to share with the ALA any experiences or ongoing issues with Centrelink via enquiries@lawyersalliance.com.au. |
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Amid receipt of further and numerous reports from ALA members regarding ongoing Centrelink processing delays (especially clearance delays), the ALA wrote to Services Australia on 15 June 2023 to reiterate our deep concern and to enquire as to what measures are being or will be implemented within Centrelink to address these processing delays. The ALA noted that we have continued to receive these reports from our members even after the introduction of Centrelink’s new business hub. A copy of the ALA’s letter can be accessed here. The ALA will discuss this matter, among others, at a promised meeting with Services Australia. |
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ALA Immediate Past National President (then-National President) Genevieve Henderson, ALA Queensland Branch President Sarah Grace, and ALA Policy and Advocacy Officer Elenore Levi met with eight representatives from Services Australia on Thursday, 29 June 2023. The primary purpose of this meeting was for the ALA to raise ongoing concerns on behalf of ALA members about delays in Centrelink processing clearance requests. Services Australia acknowledged that customers, including ALA members and their clients, were experiencing processing delays. The ALA also raised teething issues which members have been experiencing with Centrelink’s Business Hub. As a result of this meeting, Services Australia has committed to a number of actions with a view to changing or clarifying their processes, some of which have already been completed. The details and deadlines for all actions attributable to Services Australia are outlined in this table. The ALA will be following up with Services Australia about their actions, as and when they fall due, and will communicate those further outcomes with members. If ALA members have any feedback or further questions on these actions, as well as ongoing experiences with clearance request processing delays, please email elenore@lawyersalliance.com.au |
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As above, the ALA met with representatives from Services Australia in June 2023 to advance our advocacy on matters raised by ALA members in relation to Centrelink and Medicare, including but not limited to:
Services Australia has now completed their action items, including sharing external resources for ALA members. Services Australia’s updates, responses and external resources in relation to Centrelink matters can be accessed here. Importantly, we refer ALA members to the ‘Centrelink Compensation Recovery - Key Information’ guidance sheet, which clearly sets out when Centrelink clearance is not required and we encourage you to be communicating this document to Insurers at settlement time to reduce unnecessary Centrelink clearance requests. A clearance is only required where a compensation recipient has received a compensation affected payment either at the date of injury or after. Clearances are not required in these circumstances or where the compensation component does not include a claim for loss of earnings or lost capacity to earn. We know that many insurers insist upon a clearance when they need not, which adds to delay in the system and payments to our clients. Please assist in educating insurers so that unnecessary Centrelink clearances are not sought. Additionally, Services Australia has committed to communicating directly with the ALA on future process announcements and changes, to ensure ALA members receive that information directly and in a timely way. The ALA also remains in contact with the Hon Bill Shorten, Minister for Government Services, and his office on these matters, including what short- to long-term solutions the Federal Government should progress. If members have any questions regarding the above, or wish to share further delays or other experiences with Centrelink for the ALA to raise with Services Australia, please email Elenore Levi (ALA Policy and Advocacy Officer) at elenore@lawyersalliance.com.au |
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Shaun Marcus (ALA National President), Sarah Grace (ALA Queensland Branch President) and Elenore Levi (ALA Policy and Advocacy Officer) met with representatives from Services Australia’s Compensation Recovery, Media and Communications teams on Monday, 20 November 2023. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss communication and education about Centrelink and Medicare processes, including how current processes and requirements could be more clearly presented on Services Australia’s website. The ALA reiterated our recommendation that the current Centrelink compensation recovery processes and requirements outlined in the document entitled Centrelink Compensation Recovery Key Information should be published on Services Australia’s website. We also emphasised again the importance of Services Australia ensuring that insurers and the broader legal sector are aware of those current Centrelink compensation recovery processes and requirements in the interests of addressing over-reporting and reducing delays. If members have any further feedback regarding this matter, please email elenore@lawyersalliance.com.au.
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