Major change coming to Centrelink payments: Here’s what you need to know

A major change coming to Centrelink before Christmas will disproportionately affect Australians who prefer to pay with cash or cheques.

From December 19, foreign currency checks and money orders will no longer be accepted as a means of payment for Centrelink debt collection.

Retirees are informed about the switch to digital payment methods in Services Australia’s annual publication, Australian Pension News (APN).

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

‘There are no changes to how your Centrelink payment will be paid to you.’

Centrelink still pays some recipients with cheques, but it takes longer to reach them and could cost them interest payments.

According to APN, check payments to retirees will arrive at least two weeks after direct deposit payment.

However, the publication warns that these deliveries may arrive even later “due to mail delivery delays.”

Older Australians and those who prefer to pay by cash or checks will be affected (stock)

Check payments in general will also be phased out by 2030, the government announced last year.

The phased transition plan includes ‘working with (government) agencies and departments with high check usage’.

Commercial and government checks will no longer be issued from 2026, while the government will no longer accept payments by check in 2028.

Use of the payment method in Australia will end completely by the end of 2030.

In the 1980s, 85 percent of all non-cash payments were checks, but these have long been surpassed by credit cards, debit cards and direct deposit.

Those who still use checks tend to be elderly, many of whom have not been able to get to grips with digital alternatives such as online payments.

To make matters even more difficult for those who prefer cash, half of the ATMs in use in Australia have been demolished since 2019.

The 2023 Australian Digital Inclusion Index One found that one in four Aussies are digitally excluded due to the speed at which technology is developing.

To make matters even more difficult for those who prefer cash, half of the ATMs used in Australia have been demolished since 2019 (Photo: An ATM in Sydney)

It showed that online options are sometimes the only way to access essential services such as their finances, healthcare and education, to participate in cultural activities, to keep up to date with the news and to get in touch with family and friends.

In addition to the elderly, remote indigenous communities and people with the lowest incomes are at greatest risk of exclusion, the report found.

The Australian Attitudes to Getting Online 2024 report shows that 20 percent of people struggle to stay safe online and almost three-quarters of people with disabilities feel uncomfortable keeping up with technological change.

Australia is far behind many other countries in phasing out the use of cheques, with Denmark, for example, ending their use in 2001.