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.

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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.

Centrelink Offices Are Copping Massive Lines & The Entire MyGov System Has Caved In

Centrelink Offices Are Copping Massive Lines & The Entire MyGov System Has Caved In

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.

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.

At the time of writing the system was still down, and people are unable to log in.

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Image: Zac Crellin