If you ever need financial advice with regard to something to do with Centrelink or retirement, there are some free financial planners who are excellent at what they do.

The Centrelink Financial Information Service (FIS) is highly regarded in the business. They are gurus in everything to do with Centrelink payments and are surprisingly versatile with other financial matters as well.

FIS officers are nothing like the baboons propped up behind the counters that most people have to deal with, they are highly trained, highly professional and very helpful. If you ever have a pension query you can see a FIS person and they will be able to help you out.

I have a list of FIS contact numbers in my little kit I am putting together for my own reference. I often refer clients to a local FIS guy if they have a particularly thorny Centrelink question. (I can, and do try to find out the answer myself to the query, but it is usually a good idea to consult a specialist anyway, there is nothing "professional" about giving amateurish advice when you don't claim to completely understand a topic). FIS do not charge clients for their services and are paid a salary by the Government.

If you have an application for benefits knocked back and you suspect incompetence may be involved, set an appointment with a FIS officer and have them take a look at your case. The FIS people I have dealt with are definitely less bureaucratic and more helpful than standard case officers.

As a token of the esteem they are held in within the financial planning industry FIS offers are often aggressively poached by commercial financial planning dealer groups as consultants and authorised representatives.

There is usually a FIS officer at every Centrelink office. You usually need to set an appointment.

The FIS phone number is 13 23 00. Appointments can be booked on 13 10 21. These are local calls within Australia, mobile rates for mobiles.