A 102-year-old woman from Australia was told to prove her identity or she would be cut off from her pension.
Centrelink – a welfare agency that delivers government payments and services for the unemployed, retirees, carers, people with disabilities, and more – has come under fire after ordering Anne Hawkins to provide proof of her identity.
But the pensioner from Punchbowl, Sydney, is bed bound and Centrelink wants her to prove her identity in person.
She would require special assistance to go to a Centrelink branch and provide evidence that she is Anne Hawkins.
Her family tried to show Centrelink her Australian citizenship certificate but the agency said they would require something like an NSW Proof of Age card.
They have tried to talk to every relevant worker at the welfare agency but nobody wanted to bend the rules.
In an interview with NCA Newswire, Mary Byrnes said Anne would “need to be taken there by ambulance and wheeled into the Centre in a hospital bed.”
Frank, Anne’s son, also explained how they tried not to tell their mother about the problem as they did not want her to worry too much.
He said that the welfare agency needs to understand their situation as it would be impossible for Anne to prove her identity in person.
“We’ve been locked down since the last week of June,” Frank told NCA.
“This letter arrived on the 30th of July. It arrived during lockdown. It is pretty unreasonable that Centrelink should be asking people to show up to a service centre in the middle of a lockdown.”
He has also demanded an investigation into why his mother was suddenly ordered to prove her identity.
Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds said that she is looking into the matter.
“I am also looking into the precise events to determine what exactly has occurred and any need for changes to the Services Australia’s procedures and communication,” she said. “The health and safety of customers and staff is Services Australia’s highest priority, and the agency is strictly adhering to the health orders set down by the relevant state governments.
“They have special arrangements in place to support customers who are unable to attend a service centre to prove their identity, and advise customers of this.”
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