CENTRELINK says it has bolstered the number of staff dedicated to processing students’ claims.

This follows concerns young Tasmanians are struggling to pay for food and rent because their Youth Allowance payments are still outstanding.

Department of Education staff, who are gagged from talking publicly, have told the Mercury the number of young Tasmanians not getting their allowances in a timely manner has grown.

And a Rosny College student says she now owes $3000 in rent because of a backlog.

The issue has prompted calls from federal Labor regional development spokeswoman Julie Collins for federal Human Services Minister Alan Tudge to intervene.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health and Human Services told the Mercury Centrelink had increased the number of staff dedicated to processing student claims.

“This includes establishing a team dedicated to overseeing this priority and allocating resources on a daily basis, so that we can finalise the remaining claims as quickly as possible,” she said.

Complaints about Centrelink services have grown.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s latest annual report, for 2014-15, shows complaints about Centrelink increased by 36 per cent in 12 months. Call wait times to Centrelink averaged 14.5 minutes, up from three minutes and five seconds in 2010-11.

The Rosny College student said she had ­applied for Youth Allowance at the start of the school term, but found out only last week her application had been rejected.

The young woman, who was living in a share house at New Town to avoid having to travel every day from Cygnet where her mother lives, said the delays had been a financial strain.

“I moved out, but then didn’t hear from Centrelink,” she said. “I haven’t been able to pay rent at all.”

She was now $3000 in debt.

A Centrelink spokeswoman said factors such as the complexity of claims and seasonal demands could delay processing “but we are doing everything we can to process claims as quickly as possible”.

“Students facing financial hardship are a priority,” she said.

“Hardship claims can generally be processed within one to two days.”

Ms Collins said a national backlog of 80,000 Youth Allowance applications and 16,500 Austudy applications and a lack of resources were delaying approval of payments.

“Centrelink processing times are getting longer, calls are going unanswered, complaints are rising and young Tasmanians are being left with no support,” she said.

Mr Tudge was contacted for comment.

matthew.smith@news.com.au