Services Australia reveals major change coming to Centrelink debt repayment methods from December

Services Australia has revealed a major change to the payment methods accepted during Centrelink debt recovery.

Foreign currency cheques and money orders will no longer be an accepted form of debt repayment from December 19 onwards.

Pensioners were this month alerted to the upcoming move towards more digital payment methods, in Services Australia’s annually published Australian Pension News (APN).

“If you need to repay a Centrelink debt you will now need to use a different repayment method, outlined in your debt letter,” the update said this month.

“There are no changes to how your Centrelink payment is paid to you.”

Centrelink still pays recipients with cheques, but the pension payment calendar shows that cheque payments are received by recipients at least two weeks later than payments delivered by direct deposit, according to APN.

It also noted cheque deliveries may arrive even later than that “due to delays in mail delivery.”

But cheque payments are also set to be phased out, the government confirmed in December last year when it released a potential staged transition plan “working with agencies and departments with high cheque usage.”

The issuance of commercial and government cheques will cease from 2026 under the proposed transition plan.

The government’s acceptance of cheques will stop in 2028 and the cheque system in Australia will be closed completely by the end of 2030, under the plan.

Boosting digital skills among those left behind

Cheque usage peaked in the 1980s, making up 85 per cent of all non-cash payments — but demand has since declined.

Increases in fraud, cheque processing costs, and digital payment technologies have since left cheques to become somewhat obsolete, but the ageing population is struggling with some of the alternatives.

As Australia’s banks simultaneously phase out cheque usage, noting international banks such as Denmark where cheques have not been accepted since 2001, they are also making moves to pivot away from cash usage.

More than half of the nation’s ATMs have been scrapped in the last five years, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

A concurrent push to boost the digital literacy of ageing Australians, and other vulnerable groups being left behind by technological advancements, is also underway.

One in four people are digitally excluded, and it has highly damaging impacts, according to the 2023 Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII).

Digital technologies are now sometimes the only way to manage health, access education and services, participate in cultural activities, organise their finances, follow news and media, and connect with family, friends, and the world, the ADII said.

Remote First Nations communities, older Australians, and people on the lowest incomes are the most at risk of exclusion, it said.

The 2024 Australian Attitudes to Getting Online 2024 report found that 14 per cent of Australians are struggling to pay their internet or phone bills, with 18 per cent required to choose between paying for internet access or essentials like food and housing.

In the survey of 2006 adults living in Australia, one in five said they struggled to stay safe online, and almost three quarters of people with disabilities did not feel comfortable keeping up with changes in technology and the internet.

Get Online Week, a national campaign from digital inclusion advocates Good Things Australia, runs from October 14 to 20.

Hundreds of free digital skills events across the country will be focusing on boosting digital skills, with a focus on practical uses like booking healthcare appointments, paying bills, using government services, and staying connected with loved ones.

To find an event near yourself or a loved one struggling with their digital skills, visit the Get Online Week website.