Member for Canberra Alicia Payne has taken her campaign to save the Braddon Centrelink shopfront to the streets. This morning, the Labor MP held a street stall outside the Lonsdale Street shopfront, the only one in central Canberra, but which the federal government may close when its lease runs out in February; Centrelink customers gathered to tell the public how they would be affected should it shut.

• For the background to this story, read: Payne’s petition to keep Braddon Centrelink open

Since starting a petition nearly two weeks ago, Ms Payne says she has been inundated with responses – particularly from older people; people with complex issues that can only be solved by coming in to talk to a person; and carers who work in Civic but who cannot go to Woden or Belconnen, the nearest shopfronts, on their lunch break.

“It’s been a really strong community response saying they want, they need, a shopfront within the central area or the Inner North,” Ms Payne said.

“People need to access face-to-face service. Not everything can be done online, and not everyone can use the online service.”

The pensioner

Judith Pabian visits the Braddon shopfront for Centrelink and Medicare. Her severe vision impairment makes going online or using a phone difficult.

“I am functionally monocular, which means that to navigate around the website, especially if it’s a complex or cluttered one, takes more of my day than I can afford, because I can’t focus,” Judith said. “I wouldn’t even attempt to navigate something as important as Centrelink on my phone because I can’t see it.”

In Judith’s experience, Centrelink staff are “brilliant”: they give her great peace of mind if she has a complex issue or needs to make a special claim.

“It’s really important to get things right if you’re dependent for your income and for your health benefits on Medicare and Centrelink.”

If the Braddon Centrelink closed, she would have to take a long tram ride into Gungahlin or a bus ride out to Belconnen or Tuggeranong. “Spending most of my day trying to get to another office.”

“I want [the government] to keep it here, and show they’ve got some dedication to the kinds of people like me who rely on these services,” Judith said.

“I’ve got a vision problem; they’ve got a bigger one. They can’t see the big picture, and neither can they get down to the detail of individual people’s lives – and their anxiety.”

The carer

Rebecca Scouller is the primary carer for her mother, who has dementia; she also works full-time.

Rebecca can’t do her Centrelink business online because most forms are hard copy, and must be handed in or posted.

The Braddon shopfront is the only Centrelink office in central Canberra, and Centrelink doesn’t open on weekends.

“If this office closes, that essentially means I’ll need to use more of my lunch break or more rec or personal leave to go out and find an office.”

She can’t use her phone for Medicare because her mother isn’t on her Medicare card. “Really, I have very limited options how I can get anything processed by Centrelink for her.”

Using another shopfront would be difficult. “With no weekend option, essentially, it’s time out of my day that I need to make up. Other carers who work full-time may not have that flexibility; if they work in health or retail, they can’t necessarily take an hour or two out if they’re on shift.”

The student

Max Cleversley is in his fourth year at ANU, and uses the Centrelink shopfront once a month to claim Youth Allowance.

Accessibility would be the biggest issue if the shopfront closed, he believes. “We wouldn’t have a Centrelink in the Inner North or in the city at all. People who don’t have a car will only be able to go to Centrelink by public transport. It will just make it extremely inaccessible.”

At the moment, Max walks 15 minutes from campus into town.

“To go to another shopfront, I would have to really plan out my day. If you’re doing full-time study, trying to balance work, and make an appointment with Centrelink as well, it would just make it difficult and inaccessible for a lot of university students.”

Commonwealth “out of touch”, says Labor

Nearly 600 people have signed Ms Payne’s petition to keep the Centrelink shopfront open since Friday 2 July. She will present it to Senator Linda Reynolds, Minister for Government Services, once people stop signing.

“We need them to commit to [Centrelink] if not here, somewhere else in this vicinity,” Ms Payne said. “We will keep campaigning and raising awareness of just how important this shopfront is for Canberrans.”

The Coalition, Ms Payne claimed, is “out of touch” with the needs of Canberrans who access Centrelink and Medicare.

“This is part of the government’s withdrawal of services for Australians,” she said. “The government is shirking their responsibility to Australians to have somewhere to access Centrelink.”

Centrelink offices have recently closed around Australia, including in Newcastle and in Melbourne. Ms Payne considers this a deliberate deterrent.

“They want to cut costs, and they don’t think it’s important for people to be able to access these services,” she said.

“I’d go as far as to say they actually don’t want people to access these payments, and they’re making it as hard as possible in the hope that fewer people will access Centrelink payments they’re entitled to.”

Ms Payne was particularly concerned the government was closing shopfronts during a global pandemic, when they had introduced further mutual obligation requirements on JobSeeker.

“This government is obsessed with demonising JobSeekers and anyone who receives social security. Making it harder to receive it is part of that ideological crusade against vulnerable Australians that we see from the Liberal / Nationals government.”