Thousands of vulnerable Australians including child abuse survivors who have already been waiting months to access their medical records to receive compensation will face further delays after Services Australia revealed it plans to scrap backlogged requests.
The federal government agency wrote to 2,400 people this week advising it would be closing any personal information release requests submitted more than six months ago, citing staffing limitations.
These requests provide people with access to their health and payment records held with Centrelink and Medicare and are critical for completing insurance claims.
They are also used in court proceedings and can be voluntarily submitted to the National Redress Scheme in support of applications.
A spokeswoman for Services Australia said it provided more than 90,000 personal information releases each year and had written to those who had older outstanding requests to "better prioritise" what was still needed.
"We encourage anyone who still requires their information to let us know, as outlined in our correspondence, and we'll action their request as a priority," the statement said.
Abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon Stephanie Brown said the further setbacks would have a "huge impact" on their clients, who were already facing months-long delays to access their details.
"They will have to resubmit those requests, which basically means claims for all of these very vulnerable Australians will be delayed, and there'll be further costs incurred," she said.
Ms Brown said the process of making claims already "takes a huge toll on people" and this would further compound their suffering.
"When we're talking about people who are terminally ill, they don't have this time to wait for these sorts of records," she said.
"Claimants who have suffered childhood abuse, sometimes this is the first time they've told someone about it and to be waiting six months … it really serves to re-traumatise them."
Months-long delays 'a disgrace'
Mike Alexander, who is a survivor of institutionalised sexual abuse in Queensland, experienced constant delays throughout his claim, and said being forced to wait longer due to resourcing issues was "just wrong".
"The delay with Medicare, it seems as though that is part of their DNA," he said.
Mr Alexander said it felt like the government wanted him to "give up" and urged them to do more to help survivors.
"It's horrendous and I can see where some people could well go over the edge waiting," he said.
"It really is a disgrace to a country that's supposed to look after its people."
Ms Brown said resourcing issues within the department were having a "real-life" effect on people who need access to compensation urgently, and "should have been addressed years ago".
"It's been something that has been brought up with Services Australia again and again, this should be a really simple thing," she said.
"The ATO addressed their delays by implementing a portal, the idea that Centrelink and Medicare haven't done that as yet is just beyond belief."
