The start of 2025 has brought significant changes to Medicare’s phone services<\/strong> and Centrelink policies<\/strong>. These updates aim to improve efficiency and accommodate evolving needs for Australians relying on these government systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Previously offering 24\/7 service, Medicare’s phone lines<\/strong> will now operate on a reduced schedule:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Medicare emphasizes its online self-service platform<\/strong>, which remains available 24\/7. The claims tracker tool<\/strong> has proven effective, with customers using it more than 1.8 million times, often completing inquiries in about 12 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The organization remains committed to evaluating its business practices to ensure efficient and effective service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A significant change for Centrelink users is the extension of the medical exemption period. The maximum period for exemption from mutual obligations due to illness or injury has increased from 13 weeks to 24 months<\/strong> for eligible job seekers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This update applies to individuals receiving:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exemption will be granted based on Services Australia’s assessment of medical certificates proving an inability to participate in suitable work or other activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
January 1 also introduced updated payment rates for several Centrelink programs, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additional payments, such as the Age Pension<\/strong>, JobSeeker Payment<\/strong>, and Disability Support Pension<\/strong>, are set to increase in March<\/strong> and September<\/strong> due to regular indexation adjustments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A major shift in Medicare services is affecting millions of Australians as new policies take effect. With changes to operating hours and a revamped approach to handling claims, the government aims to streamline efficiency. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":100131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100128"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100132,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100128\/revisions\/100132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}