Centrelink offices around the country have woken up to massive lines stretching out of the building and down the street, as scores of people suddenly find themselves out of work due to various shut down measures put in place as part of a broader response to the growing coronavirus crisis.
Yesterday, both Victoria and New South Wales announced a rolling shutdown of various “non-essential” services – including pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafés, gyms, and casinos – over the next 48 hours. That was followed by a Federal Government decree along similar lines, forcing tens of thousands of Australians onto the unemployment line virtually instantaneously.
That announcement was preceded by the Federal announcement that the Jobseeker allowance – formerly Newstart, colloquially the Dole – would be effectively doubled in a bid to keep people housed and supported throughout the crisis.
The lines at various Centrelink offices are truly massive, with people – some appropriately spaced out, some not – waiting for hours just to get into the building itself. Reports suggest security staff at Centrelink doors are operating on a “one out, one in” system to avoid waiting areas from becoming crowded.
At the Leichardt office a short time ago, lines were seen snaking around on themselves, out of the building itself and extending well down the street.
On social media, people have been reporting similar lines at other offices, including Marrickville, Newcastle, and the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, as well as Brunswick and Prahran in Melbourne, and various others around the country.
Line outside #Newcastle #Centrelink office in King St. Security letting one in one out. One woman lost her job at a local bar yesterday. Another man runs his own travel agency 😕 pic.twitter.com/q1r0BNwW4p
— Liz Farquhar (@lizfarquhar) March 22, 2020
Big lines at Centrelink this morning. #coronavirus #COVIDー19 📸 Michael Clements pic.twitter.com/c7925n4szr
— Leah MacLennan (@lmaclennan) March 22, 2020
Zoom in for the line down the street this morning at Marrickville Centrelink #Covid_19australia pic.twitter.com/xjzp5HrdaB
— Joshua Gynther (@joshuagynther) March 22, 2020
This is the line for Centrelink in Moreland Road, Brunswick. There is zero physical distancing (except at the end) and only one person I saw was wearing a mask. The line goes around the corner. pic.twitter.com/qCrjtfDVGY
— Karen Sweeney (@karenlsweeney) March 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/cruticus/status/1241843019856281600
Centrelink line. 8:45am QLD. More thank 100 Mtrs long and counting. The most vulnerable R leaving the line. Elderly, wheelchair bound. Its taking hours to see some1 inside. I only have to drop off forms. An absolute debacle.They R letting ppl in 4 at a time. pic.twitter.com/5tvhY87lA4
— Mads (@MadsPandemia) March 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/dankgolding/status/1241845665405128704
Line for centrelink in the Eastern suburbs………em maybe time to do online applications guys #SocialDistancing pic.twitter.com/fUTyjNNekm
— Cillian (@Cillian_____) March 22, 2020
So it begins. Here we go. The line at CENTRELINK! Exactly what Government wants, people begging for mercy after stripping away the only thing we have, our jobs. One block and further back she goes. pic.twitter.com/OmsY0orYY4
— 𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙀𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙇𝙏𝙃 (@riseinhealth) March 22, 2020
There was a line snaking around the block at @Centrelink Wollongong this morning. Some say they’ve been unable to access the services online because the website kept crashing. #COVID19Aus pic.twitter.com/yrsC9OgihG
— Tim Fernandez (@TimFernandezz) March 22, 2020
Thousands of people outside @Centrelink offices across Victoria this morning. This was just half of the line at Abbotsford. Many have been queuing since 8am… @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/tXlV6gl44E
— Kristina Costalos (@kcostalos) March 22, 2020
This is the view outside the Centrelink office at Ryde. Many of the people in this line have never been here before. Absolutely unbelievable. #coronavirus @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/MjuHny3vXA
— Roshai Murdoch (@roshaimurdoch) March 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/frannatical/status/1241865863310921728
JUST IN: This is the line at Centrelink Burwood as people wait to register for #coronavirus relief measures. @Danielle_Post #9News pic.twitter.com/QkOmIZCdzp
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) March 22, 2020
People trying to access Centrelink payments who have never claimed one before need to be assigned a Customer Reference Number before filing a payment claim. However, a CRN can only be issued in person at a Centrelink office, meaning the vast majority of people lining up today – often well before offices opened – have likely never had to access a Centrelink payment before.
More to that, the Government’s financial rescue package yesterday has caused an avalanche of requests on Centrelink’s online services, causing the entire MyGov service to crash a short time ago.
https://twitter.com/jpwarren/status/1241862243756552192
At the time of writing the system was still down, and people are unable to log in.
