Why is Centrelink penalising me for shares I cannot sell?

April 15, 2026 — 5:01am

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I am an age pensioner. Apart from my home and super, my only other asset is a parcel of shares in Corporate Travel, which I bought for $30,000 some years ago. The shares were suspended last August and were then worth about $26,000. I have not been able to find any class action to join and, as I have never been in this situation before, I am unsure what to do. Centrelink is still counting them as an asset, which is reducing my pension. I seem to be in a catch-22 situation – I cannot access or sell the shares, yet I am being penalised for holding what is effectively a worthless asset.

Centrelink normally assesses shares using ASX values, which are updated in March and September, although you can request a revaluation at any time. If shares are suspended or even delisted, they are still treated as a financial asset and may still have some value.

Where an investment has effectively failed, it is usually assessed at its last recorded value until a receiver or administrator provides an updated figure. If the ASX valuation no longer reflects the true position, Centrelink will require supporting documentation to justify any lower value.

In your case, the difficulty is that while the shares are suspended, there is no reliable market price, so Centrelink will continue to use the last available valuation until better evidence emerges. My broker tells me the true value may not be known unless the........

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