MyGov crashes, lines around block at Centrelink as people seek welfare amid pandemic

The Federal Government’s online welfare services portal MyGov has crashed and people are queuing around the block at local Centrelink offices as people try to access welfare payments amid the coronavirus pandemic.

People lining up along the street at the Centrelink office on Knuckey St in the Darwin CBD. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

THE Federal Government’s online welfare services portal MyGov has crashed and there are queues around the block at local Centrelink offices as people try to access welfare payments amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Darwin’s Knuckey St centre had about 50 people lined up just after midday on Monday, while the Casuarina and Palmerston Centrelink offices were also bringing people out of isolation to ensure they didn’t miss out on benefits.

A picture of the Centrelink Palmerston office taken on Monday morning showed a queue of people outside the door and along the street as people tried to access welfare payments, especially those who have found themselves unemployed due to the coronavirus crisis.

People lining up around the block at the Centrelink Palmerston office on Monday morning. Picture: Jarrod Goldoni

Both the Centrelink app and the entire MyGov portal fell over shortly before 9am AEDT, with users unable to log into their accounts to update their information or register for allowances including Newstart.

Some users on DownDetector said the MyGov portal had been suffering outages since Friday and had stopped accepting file uploads.

Social media users also reported being unable to get through to Centrelink over the phone, instead met with messages to call back later.

“There is unprecedented demand for the service right now, but Australians need to be patient. Try logging on later today or even tomorrow,” Government Services Minister Stuart Robert told AAP on Monday.