‘You are deceased’: Services Australia bungle results in woman losing bank accounts and pension

Eve’s husband was sent a letter by Centrelink notifying him of an overpayment after ‘her death’. She was very much alive. Composite: Supplied

The Centrelink officer on the end of the phone to Eve* was telling her she was dead. Eve, 74, who receives a carer payment, had called after she noticed an extra $3,000 from Centrelink in her 81-year-old husband’s account in May this year, and she was concerned they had been overpaid.

After calling multiple times, she reached someone from Services Australia who looked up her account history.