“It’s been really tough,” McAuliffe said. “For the past few months,we’ve had to borrow money from my family and my husband’s family because we’ve had mortgage repayments to pay off as well,and it’s just not been feasible on one income.”
Thousands of parents have experienced similar delays,which Services Australia attribute to a spike in applications for parental leave pay because of increased eligibility.
Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten in November said that the former government had “decimated Services Australia’s frontline” and the agency would recruit 3000 new staff.
When Bernadette was born nine months ago,McAuliffe received employer-funded leave. When that ran out,she applied for the government scheme on November 13,thinking it would come through by Christmas.
‘It just felt like teetering on this tightrope.’
Amy McAuliffe
Services Australia transferred the money on January 24,and then she had to wait for the next pay cycle for her employer to pass it on.
“We’ve got two feet slightly back on the ground again. It just felt like teetering on this tightrope,” she said.