Welfare delays - Stressful wait for support

TEN weeks will fly by in more or less the blink of an eye if you’re having a good time, but if you are one of the 6,000 families who have applied for the Family Income Supplement (FIS) for the first time you will have come to understand how long 10 weeks can be.

Because the Department of Social and Family Affairs is swamped with a whole range of applications from all sorts of people who never thought they might need the Department’s help delays are inevitable.

This means families who have gone through tremendous change and probably disappointment are facing the stress of having to wait for the support they imagined would be quickly provided once they established their eligibility. It must be hoped that this hardship is not exacerbated by industrial action because inflicting more pain on people in this position is utterly unacceptable.