Aged pensioners in the Hunter are being forced to live without an income for months on end as they wait for aged pension applications to be approved.
A backlog of Centrelink claims is creating the wait period and Human Services Minister Alan Tudge is being called upon to explain just how large the backlog is and how long aged pension applicants will have to go without income.
Some are able to live on savings but many don't have savings. They have to rely on family or charity for day-to-day expenses.
Paterson MP Meryl Swanson says her office receives call after call from people who have been waiting up to six months for their aged pension applications to be approved.
"This government has made such savage cuts that we're now seeing some of our most vulnerable people having to wait months for something that they are entitled to; they've paid their taxes their whole life and now they're being told you have to wait over six months for a pension. It really isn't good enough."
This latest error follows a backlog which saw students who applied for Abstudy and Youth Allowance wait months to be processed.
