Centrelink works faster on student claims

Students are waiting a month less for Centrelink to process their welfare applications.

Human Services Minister Alan Tudge says processing times for Youth Allowance and Austudy have dropped from an average of nine weeks in 2016 to less than five weeks, due mostly to allowing incomplete or ineligible applications to be rejected earlier in the assessment.

Nearly two-thirds of students have told the government they find the new system easier to navigate and they do not need to contact Centrelink as much to finalise their claim with a new online tracker tool.