George Flack, Centrelink specialist and director of Charter practice Flack Advisory, has objected to the Government's plans to stop automatically mailing out Centrelink statements.
Senator Kim Carr last month announced that although statements would no longer be automatically mailed to people from 1 July this year, people could request hardcopy statements to be sent at no charge. Carr encouraged people to access their statements online, and said they would be able to request free hardcopy statements over the phone or in person at the closest service centre.
Flack pointed out that not all pensioners have online access, and added that phone calls and site visits could represent indirect costs.
The Government was abdicating its primary responsibility of keeping pensioners informed of their entitlements and what was being counted in their pension assessments so that any discrepancies could be detected and rectified quickly, thus avoiding excess payments, he said.
Some pensioners rely on others to do their business due to ageing and failing health, while some reside in aged care facilities and are severely disabled, Flack said.
The decision to withdraw automatic mailing of statements amounted to setting a "trap" for pensioners by placing the entire onus on them requesting a statement, he said.
