The Department of Social Services has made an estimated $5 billion in inaccurate payments to age pension recipients over three years, according to an Australian National Audit Office report. A 97-page performance audit was conducted to provide assurance to the parliament on how DSS administers the age pension, given that pension payments account for 8.4% of the total federal budget and 42.5% of social security payments in 2024-25. Key findings from the review point to DSS administration and oversight failures that led to both underpayments and overpayments to pensioners.