What do you reckon would take longer: completing a full semester of an undergraduate Architecture degree, or processing a student’s claim for Austudy?

For 26-year-old student Alex, classes are over and final assignments have been handed in; his Austudy application, however, is still in the queue.

"I applied for Austudy just before I started semester, in mid-February," Alex told Hack.

The "estimated completion date" for Alex’s claim was 2 April. Now more than 12 weeks later, Alex is still waiting, with no indication of when he might get some news.

Are you still waiting for your claim to be processed? Get in touch: hack@abc.net.au

"I'm starting to get pretty desperate with money, absolutely. It feels very hopeless. It puts you in a very anxious position.

"The financial insecurity is really demoralising."

Two weeks after his estimated completion date came and went, Alex braved the hold music and got on the phone to Centrelink.

"The person on the phone was a little bit concerned, she said two weeks past seems like a bit too long, that’s unusual.

"She said maybe call us back in another two weeks if it’s not processed. Obviously she didn’t have much of an idea of what the real waiting times were.

I mean, two weeks over would have been great.

If Alex’s claim is approved, he’ll receive backpay from the date he applied.

Alex says he considers himself one of the lucky ones - while he’s living "just above the poverty line" while he waits for his payment to be processed, he’s been able to move in with his girlfriend’s family.

"A lot of people in this situation would be a little less fortunate than me...But even I’m getting to the end of my rope," Alex says.

Alex’s story comes after Hack reported on long processing times for student Centrelink payments in April, when students were struggling to afford food.

Centrelink: 'claim processing times are 4 weeks or less'

According to data provided by the Department of Human Services, which is in charge of Centrelink, Alex’s wait time has been over five times longer than the median wait time for Austudy.

In a statement, Department of Human Services General Manager Hank Jongen told Hack that the median processing times for all student payments was four weeks or less.

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Whatsapp Alex's Centrelink claim was estimated to be completed by April 2

"The department works hard to process student claims as quickly as possible. Some complex claims can take longer and we understand this can be frustrating," Mr Jongen said.

"As at 15 June 2018, the median claim processing time for Austudy claims was 22 days, for Youth Allowance Student claims was 28 days and for ABSTUDY claims was 18 days.

"The Department prioritises the processing of claims for anyone experiencing financial hardship and encourages any students in this situation to contact us."

The Department also added that they have offered to contact students who have spoken with Hack.

Compared to the figures given to Hack by the Department in April, call waiting times have also gone up.

In April, the Department told Hack that the average speed of answering a call last financial year was 15 minutes and 44 seconds.

As of 15 June 2018, that time had increased to 15 minutes 55 seconds.

Anglicare calls on better resourcing at Centrelink

Meanwhile, a landmark report by Anglicare Australia has prompted the non-profit to call on the Government for better resourcing at Centrelink.

The report found that increased automation of processes at Centrelink was having a detrimental impact on their clients' wellbeing - by inducing "stress and anxiety".

"It is becoming harder to talk to a human being. Staff in Centrelink service centres now direct people to phones and computers, rather than offering help," Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said.

"At the same time, people report spending hours waiting on the phone only to get cut off. And Centrelink’s online system can malfunction and is difficult to use.

"Centrelink might believe that it’s saving time and money, but what it’s really doing is shifting the burden onto its clients and the services that help them."

In a statement to Hack, Hank Jongen said extra resources are on the way to reduce call wait times.

"The department is engaging an additional 1000 staff to help answer busy phone lines. This is in addition to the 250 operators who were engaged late last year. $50 million was also allocated in this year’s Budget to further improve call wait times."