A group of 15 people led by Member for Canberra Alicia Payne protested the potential closure of the Centrelink in Braddon on Thursday, calling it an "ideological crusade".
"The Morrison Government is on an ideological crusade against anyone who receives social security and the system itself," she said.
"Undermining access to Centrelink services is part of this. They also don't care about Canberra or see it as a community that needs government services."
Full-time social work student Josh Yeend attended the protest after sharing a petition online and being invited by Ms Payne's office.
The 21-year-old said the clinic was "essential" for him when he first moved to the ACT from Adelaide.
"I went there two days after I got here. It was an easy 20 minutes walk from my accommodation at the time and I was able to sort out [my payments] within 20 minutes," he said.
"If I have a payment taken away from me the last thing I need is to deal with is an automated phone number. So having one in walking distance and that was close to me was essential during those initial few days in Canberra, and meant I actually could afford my rent and groceries."
Mr Yeend said that as the child of a single mother, he had "grown up in and around Centrelink".
"I've not had the best experiences with them, but I've always had good experiences at Braddon and I can't always say that for other places," he said.
"I never felt judged, I never felt as if they were being condescending. I am worried that if the closure of one leads to a further understaffing and increase workload they wont be able to offer the same amount of time they already offer."
The lease on the building will run out on February 28 in 2022, and it is understood it will not be renewed by Centrelink.
A letter sent by Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds to Alicia Payne earlier this year confirmed Services Australia is currently considering its face-to-face service office for North Canberra.
The email broadly states that fewer clients are using service centres and are instead using telephone self-services and online self-serve channels such as MyGov and mobile apps.
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Minister Reynolds said telephone self-service is available for people who don't want to go online and if there were any changes proposed, the community would be "kept informed".
The three other Centrelink service centres in the ACT are in Belconnen, Phillip and Greenway. It is not known whether the Braddon office will close with the end of the lease or may emerge somewhere else around Civic.
Ms Payne said she believed the Minister had already decided to close the centre, adding she only knew about the lease ending because of a real estate ad that popped up on Facebook.
"I would have hoped that the government would consult with the community before advertising an office space on Facebook," she said.
"We've got older people accessing their age pension, people with disabilities, people in situations of domestic violence who might not be able to use a computer or phone at home or have access to that, people facing homelessness through experiencing homelessness."
