FINANCE CENTRELINK ONLINE STEVE BLIZARD
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To take advantage of the new process, it is necessary to be registered for a Centrelink online account via myGov at my.gov.au. Where a family member receives the Age Pension, and plans to travel overseas, they may need to find out if their travel will affect their entitlements. Human Services has simplified the process, so that pensioners can now notify the department of their overseas travel using their Centrelink online account through myGov, avoiding the inconvenience of having to visit a service centre. Pensioners can add, view, and update overseas travel details at the website and by answering a few simple questions, information is tailored to their circumstances about how travelling outside of Australia may affect their payment. The site will also recommend action that they should take before departure. There are some exceptions, including if a pensioner is paid under the terms of a social security agreement with another country or has returned to Australia within the last two years after having lived overseas and became a recipient How does the Online system work? Within nine weeks of Age Pension eligibility, of the Age Pension during this period. they will receive a letter from the Department, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders can travel overseas for up to nineteen weeks either in the mail or online, if registered. The letter will include an invitation to apply before their card is cancelled. for a transfer to the Age Pension online. App bug caution This should be a simpler process than having to initiate a new paper-based claim from scratch. As part of the new online solution, Human If the recipient is already over sixty-five years Services has also developed twelve applications of age before this new process was introduced, for smartphones. and they are eligible for the Age Pension, they can But the phone apps, which are linked to the MyGov portal, have been panned by some users still complete the transfer online. To check if they are eligible, log onto with the Express Plus Medicare and Express Plus humanservices.gov.au/agepension. Job Seekers coming in for the worst of the online The eligible income support payments include complaints. Austudy, Carer Payment, Disablity Support The apps are so bad they are getting claimants Pension, Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment, kicked off benefits, according to complaining Partner and Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit, users. Widow Allowance, Widow B Pension and Wife But Human Services defended its apps saying Pension. 3.7 million versions had been downloaded and they had been used to process over thirty-six million Centrelink and Medicare transactions. The department says the apps are the first of their kind in the world and, despite criticism, were constantly being improved. So for pensioners planning to use the online ontinual legislative changes by the Federal Government to the Aged Pension and other family benefits is resulting in a growing number of Australians requiring direct access to the relevant agency service. However, with new legislative changes that will impact up to 300,000 self-funded retirees after 1 January 2017, the government’s poorly designed policy measures will ultimately see an even greater number of retirees become reliant on the Federal Aged Pension. Despite claims made to the contrary in the May 2015 Federal Budget, the drift to ever bigger and broke government continues. In anticipation of the coming deluge of inquiries, the Department of Human Services has introduced more online options to communicate with Centrelink. For example, if benefit recipients are currently receiving an eligible income support payment, they will be able to simply transfer to the Age Pension without needing to complete the full claim form.
solutions while overseas, it is probably a good idea to give the system a good trial run before heading off. For more information about overseas travel and the obligation to notify the Dept. of Human Services, visit humanservices.gov.au/ paymentsoverseas or humanservices. gov.au/olderaustralians to learn about services available for seniors. Iceland jails their GFC bankers Since the global financial crisis of 2008, Iceland has so far sentenced twenty-six bankers to a combined term of 74 years in prison. While Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve at the time of the 2008 crash, now says U.S. prosecutors should have followed suit rather than simply attacking corporate wrongdoing, Iceland, with a population of only 330,000, is showing America how to put the bankers behind bars. In the events of the global meltdown that came to a head seven years ago, the financial damage in Iceland dwarfed the impact that hit the financial centres of New York and London. The implosion of the Icelandic financial system was the equivalent of 300 Lehman Brothers collapses in the U.S. Without a bailout forthcoming from the Iceland government, the entire financial industry in that small Arctic nation would have collapsed. While the wheels of justice turn, Iceland's economy has recovered remarkably well without the help from the banks. However, in a new development, every Icelander may now receive a payout from the sale of one of its three largest banks, namely, Ă?slandsbanki. If Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has his way, Icelanders will be paid kr 30,000 after the government takes over ownership of the bank. Ă?slandsbanki would be second of the three largest banks under State proprietorship. Because Icelanders took control of their government, they effectively own the banks. Benediktsson believes this will bring foreign capital into the country and ultimately lead to a revitalised economy. Courtesy of Roxburgh Securities
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