Carer payments cut off due to ‘bureaucratic nonsense’ after child turns 16

Carers of teenagers with disabilities say their Centrelink payments are being cut off and that some parents are going without support for months while paperwork is assessed.

The federal government requires people who are receiving the carer allowances to transfer it to an adult payment when their child turns 16.

Carers have to submit forms that prove their child’s identity and place of residence, detail their caring routine and their child’s cognitive function and behaviour and submit a new medical report from the child’s treating health professional.

Adelaide mother “Tanya”, told ABC Radio Adelaide she was notified in May that she needed to make the transfer for her child.

She tried unsuccessfully to fill out the forms online and instead attended a Centrelink office in person to fill out the paperwork.

Tanya was told at Centrelink that she did not need a medical assessment for her child but felt that did not “sound right” and, after following it up later with Centrelink over the phone, confirmed that she did.

“So I downloaded that form, went to the psychologist, and got all this paperwork put in,” she said.

“But then I got a letter saying I was going to be cut off on August 10.”

She was also told she could apply for JobSeeker with “mutual obligations” (i.e., to actively seek work), but did not consider that an option as she already had a job and caring responsibilities for her child, which included transporting him to National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) therapy appointments.

Issue widespread

A carer named Louise said she had endured a similar experience while undertaking what the government calls the Child to Adult Transfer (CTAT) process.

After filing the required paperwork she still lost her payments for nearly two months, despite being on the phone with Centrelink regularly while maintaining a part-time job among her caring responsibilities.

“I was getting mixed information on what they didn’t have and what they still needed,” Louise said.

“Every time I rang, it was just because they were waiting for approval from someone else up the chain. 

Louise said she took her difficulties to the Commonwealth Ombudsman but it was “completely useless”.

“The only person who was any help was our local member (Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie) who took it to the Centrelink liaison officer,” she said.

A ‘hostile’ system

Ms Sharkie said existing carers were being forced to “jump through all the hoops again” in a process that could take months, during which time payments for many were getting cut off.

She said unpaid, or low paid carers, for people living with a disability were saving the government massive amounts of money but were enduring unnecessary anxiety and hardship for their troubles by “bureaucratic nonsense”.

She said Centrelink bureaucracy was also difficult for people going onto the Age Pension, or single parents whose main income support stopped when a child turned eight, a change she said happened under the former Labor government.

“I don’t think it was always that way, but it has become that way.

“I think when we make it so hard, particularly for carers, what we’re doing is we’re saying as a society, ‘We don’t value what you’re doing.'”

An ‘appropriate’ review

A spokesperson for Federal Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said it was appropriate for the carer’s payment to be reviewed when a young person was transitioning to adulthood because their needs could change over time. 

“In some cases, young people become independent in the management of their care and, accordingly, may no longer require the level of assistance that would qualify for a carer payment,” she said.

She said a carer could submit paperwork at any time between the child being aged 15 years and nine months, and 16 and three months, and no one who had submitted it during that timeframe would be cut off until the reassessment was completed.

She said they had not been provided information about any individual cases that had contacted the media, but if an individual wished to contact the Minister’s office they were “happy to look into their case”.

‘Disgusted’ with treatment

Tanya said her sister too had been cut off from her carer’s payment for three months despite putting in the paperwork for her own son and regularly ringing Centrelink.

“They’re just like, ‘Well, it hasn’t been processed yet,'” she said.

“His disability is lifelong and I’m kind of disgusted with the government for treating carers this way.

The ABC understands that both cases have since been resolved after Tanya spoke with ABC Radio Adelaide’s Mornings program last week.

Proof of identity

But a caller called Rose said she also had difficulties with the system last year, pointing out that “kids don’t get better at 16”.

“We had to put extra paperwork in to keep his Health Care Card because he’s on constant medication that adds up pretty quickly without it,” she said.

She found it hard to supply the required proof-of-identity points because her son did not have a driver’s licence or passport, and eventually had to open him a new bank account just to pass the identity threshold with Centrelink.

Ms Sharkie said it was “ridiculous” that a child living with a disability should be expected to prove their identity.

“Even though Centrelink would have had records of them for many many years, they have to go through the whole process again as if they’ve never interacted with Centrelink,” she said.

Mr Ruston’s spokesperson said Services Australia contacted families when a child turned 15 and nine months, and they were encouraged to seek further information about the types of support they were eligible for into the future, including the Disability Support Pension (DSP).

“The reassessment is also aligned with the eligibility for the DSP, which may be accessed when an individual turns 16, where they are unable to work for 15 or more hours per week, for at least the next two years, because of their impairment,” she said.

The spokesperson said the CTAT application process was not as extensive as a new claim and did not require carers to provide income or asset details for assessment.