Fixed! Georgette Fishlock’s carers allowance re-instated after ‘bureaucratic bungle’

UPDATE

The mother of Tyler Fishlock says her carer’s allowance has been re-instated after it was cancelled due to a bureaucratic bungle.

Georgette Fishlock cares for her 16-year-old son, who lost his eyes to cancer and is now battling his third bout of the disease.

She told Neil Mitchell her her allowance was cancelled by Centrelink while waiting to be reviewed, months after she submitted the necessary paperwork ahead of his 16th birthday.

3AW Mornings took up the case with Minister Michael Keenan’s office this morning.

She said at the end of the program, it has all been resolved in a few short hours.

“I received a call from a customer service team member that handles complaints through the minister’s office,” she said.

“They couldn’t explain why no one had looked at my paperwork, they had looked at it within the time we had spoken.

“They are re-instating me, and back-paying me and it will be in my account by Wednesday.

“It was a stress I didn’t want to cope with, to have it resolved, I really do appreciate your time.”

Neil said it was a great result it was sorted.

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EARLIER

Georgette was told her allowance, $60 a week, would be reviewed as Tyler’s 16th birthday approached.

After lodging the paperwork back in May, well ahead of the September deadline, it wasn’t until recently she realised the payments had been cancelled when she received a letter from Centrelink.

Georgette was stunned at the response from a staff member.

“She came back with well ‘Basically, nobody has looked at your paperwork’,” she said.

“The point is, nobody has bothered to look at my review and that’s insulting to me. At the end of the day, that is my income for looking after my son, and not working full time.

“It’s basically saying what you’re doing for Tyler is really not important to us, we are not even going to look at the review.

“How many months does it take, Neil? It was submitted in May.”

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