Centrelink Pension Advice in Brisbane

by Steve Wilkinson

This week, at our Business Leaders forum, I talked about the importance of correctly preparing and lodging Centrelink pension applications.

Most people that we help with Centrelink Pension applications have never applied for welfare before, and so not surprisingly find the process, even the concept, quite alien. After almost five decades of working and paying tax, now may be the first time they have ever claimed some back. 

For a "do it yourselfer", Centrelink can be tough to deal with, not because the staff are rude or disinterested but because the front line Centrelink folk are not there to provide advice. Strange but true. The Centrelink model is for front line staff to provide a "collection and forwarding" service. If you want information, "it's all on the website". That is usually correct, but we all know that being able to find something on a website is one thing, whereas understanding the meaning and intent behind the text is often something else.

It's important to understand what information Centrelink want, especially when filling in a questionnaire about assets, liabilities, incomes etc. If you don't have a financial background it's easy to misinterpret and accidentally misreport. Trouble is, the information provided is used to calculate pension entitlements. Get too much, and be faced with a big claw back bill in years to come, get too little, and do it tougher than needed.

At Delport and Anderson Financial Planners, we offer centrelink pension advice in Brisbane to anyone who is getting ready to claim their aged pension. Not all financial planners will want to help with Centrelink issues, and still fewer will help folk complete their application forms, talk to their accountant, or go into the Centrelink office with them on claim day, so it often pays to shop around a bit and make sure to get the sort of practical help that we offer.