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All Governments will try to reduce their expenses on Social Security. The better Governments do it by making their services operate as efficiently as possible.
CentreLink’s 2 day notice system for Single Parents All pensioners in receipt of CentreLink payments are governed by the same laws. John Howard introduced legislation that allowed CentreLink to cease payments within 2 days. Howard also made it law that 2 days must pass before payments can be made or re-instated. However, this delay period for re-instatement really only affects pensioners that are required to lodge forms for payment. The only pensioner that is required to lodge forms on a fortnightly basis are single parents. CentreLink can/will cease your payment without informing you. (They will try and phone you they claim - But if your on dialup and online then they give trying to contact you and cut your payments off). The first thing you will know about it. Is when you get to the bank and find out that there is NO MONEY this fortnight. So if your payment is stopped due to not handing in a form, or missing a meeting, and its a Thursday you normally get paid. Under Current legislation (John Howard legislation) CentreLink will make you wait 2 working days before they will re-instate payments. Therefore making you wait until Monday. So from Thursday until Monday you (and your family) will go without. Unless you can borrow some money from a friend, Or attend one of the Aid organisations, your weekend will be pretty bleak. Then there is the fact that if you had organised your Telephone or Utility bills to be paid by direct debit from your Bank account. Then your Bank account will be overdrawn and you will have to pay a fee. ($30) I do not believe that this treatment of single parents is just. For example, NewStart payments can be made after only one day. Why specifically descriminate against single parents in this way? Don’t they have children to feed? Where is the compassion for hungry children? Single Parents shouldn’t have to wait longer than the un-employed for payments. Vote Link: Should CentreLink give more than 2 days notice of their intention to cease payment? Loans are available from CentreLink. You are allowed one loan every 12 months. Pensioners are allowed to have a $1000 loan. But not Single Parents. They are only able to access a $500 loan. However, your $500 loan must be repaid in 6 months. The deductions are automatically taken from your payment over the following 6 months until the loan has been fully repaid. Even though the Single Parent no longer owe CentreLink money. The Legislation makes them wait 12 months from the date of the initial loan. The repayment amount that CentreLink determines cannot be extended to cover the full 12 months. The Legislation (or CentreLink) determines that the loan must be repaid in 6 months and that you must wait 12 months between loans. Vote Link: Should CentreLink allow Loan re-payments to extent to 12 months? Vote Link: Should CentreLink allow Loans every 6 months? (Once a previous loan has been repayed) 2011-03-30 CentreLink
CentrelinkCentrelink is the governments nominated agency that helps to deliver services, support and financial assistance to those in need, for Australian governmental departments, all under one roof. It distributes nearly $87 billion in social security payments on behalf of those government departments. Nearly seven million Australians use Centrelink’s services. Public suggestion schemesThese Government departments allow suggestions from the public and they claim to encourage people to contribute ideas about improvements to the department’s policies, programs and services. Fix the System - ComplainI would suggest that if people are unhappy with Centrelinks performance. Perhaps some messages on how things could be improved should be sent to the following Australian Federal Government Departments. Click the LinksThe following links will directly connect you with the “complaints” or “suggestions” form of the relevant government department, if possible.
2011-02-08 CentreLink
Centrelink LegislationCentrelink doesn’t seem to be able to locate the Social Security Legislation for customers when required. I know I have asked for it a few times and no one seems to be able to locate an internet link for me. I think that the Government and Centrelink rightly believe that its in their interest to keep this legislation (and most other legislation) just a little difficult to locate. So.. I searched for awhile.. I found these links with googles help and the knowledge that documents at comlaw.gov.au indicate current legislation. (That helped me to ignore many other similarly titled and referenced material on google) I hope you find the links informative. Social Security Act 1991Social Security Act 1991 (HTML,PDF) Social Security (Administration) Act 19992010-12-14 CentreLink
ContentsCentrelink ComplaintsHow to make a complaint against CentrelinkIt has been reported that there were about 100,000 complaints against Centrelink in the 2008-09 financial year. That is about 1 complaint for every 65 Centrelink Customers. Or about 1 in every 2,000 Centrelink transactions. SSAT & AAT AppealsData from the Social Security Appeals Tribunal annual report shows that the Commonwealth Ombudsman received a total of 7,224 approaches concerning Centrelink. Of these approaches, 20% were investigated, covering 1,733 issues. Centrelink also responds to applications for review by the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). When Centerlink gets it wrongThere were 16,319 SSAT reviews, of which 29.9% (4,606) were changed in the customers favour, and 70.1% (10,780) were held to be correctly administered by Centrelink originally. There were 2,639 AAT reviews, of which 2324 were finalised in the year, with 29% (667) were changed in the customers favour, and 71% (1,657) were held to be correctly administered by Centrelink originally. ConclusionOf this reversed decisions, Centrelink made errors in 33.1% of the decisions changed and incorrectly applied the law in a further 14.7%. See: Original Article 2010-11-01 CentreLink
It’s Monday. Wednesday we are due to go shopping. So I called 136150 to make sure that we are going to be paid on Wednesday. But.. 136150 was engaged.. Tried a few times.. So.. I called the Centrelink Customer Relations Unit on 1800 050 004.
Click the play key.. Seems to me that so many people are so angry with Centrelink. That Centrelink have restorted to the above message.. What does it say? “Centrelink reserves the right not to respond to customers who use abuse language, make inflammatory statements, or intimidate staff.” The fact the Centrelink finds the need to include this as a “standard statement” to people who are waiting for a staff member of their “Customer Relations Unit”, demonstrates to me that the system is failing. It is easy to conclude that MANY AUSTRALIANS are using ABUSIVE LANGUAGE, making INFLAMMATORY STATEMENTS, and INTIMIDATING STAFF. Now.. why would this be happening? Why is it happening now? all of a sudden? Just read my postings at CentreLink to find out.. 2010-06-17 CentreLink
Well.. I did it again. I forgot to lodge my 12 weekly form on time. It’s all my fault again. I must have some kind of mental block over it. I WILL lodge the next form on time!!!! Grrrrr This is getting stupid now..
Remember the soft CentreLink on hold music.. sigh dum de dum dah dah.. dum de dum dah dah.. dum de dum dee dahh dahh dahh.. dum de dum dah dah… (Auughh!! Screams) Ok.. All is good again.. Wednesday rolled around again. I drove to Millicent. $6.65 in the bank? Hmmm (Oh no .. I bet I forgot to lodge the form again..) Attend the CentreLink agency in Millicent. Staff there contact CentreLink. Get told it was because the form wasnt logged in time. So get a form faxed thru. Fill it out. 2 day delay till payment. Should be in bank on Friday. I will need to ‘make do’ until Friday. (Thankfully I can..) Friday morning. This time I’m checking my online bank ballance before heading to Millicent. Hmmm $6.65. The X is getting me to drive her (with the kids) to Mt Gambier today. So on the way through Millicent I recheck my bank ballance. $6.65.. Attend the CentreLink agency in Millicent and enquire as to what had happened to my payment? CentreLink agency staff in Millicent inform me that the CentreLink computer systems have been down all day. They contact CentreLink Mt Gambier for me. The staff in Mt Gambier have no idea when the CentreLink systems will be available again. I continue on my trip to Mt Gambier. When I got there I attended CentreLink. There were signs up everywhere saying that the CentreLink Computer System was offline. I spoke to a staff member who informed me that nothing could be done to assist me due to the fact that they were unable to verify my identity or entitlement without their computer system. The staffmember suggested that if I was to return after 3.00pm there would be a chance that their systems would be working by then. I was not very happy by this point. I can see the long weekend looming. Signs are indicating a very bleak existance till Tuesday. At 3.00pm I again attend CentreLink Mt Gambier to be greeted with the same environment as previously. It was quiet (like a library). Staffmembers indicate that their systems are still unavailable. I asked the staffmember what she expected people like myself to do faced with a situation like this? She suggested that I contact Family SA (State government aid agency). She advised me that she had sent quite a few other people there that day. I attended the Family SA office. Told them how stupid I had been in not lodging my form the previous Monday. The staff realized that I was at the end of my financial tether so they allocated a $50 woolworths ‘card’ so that we could get some stuff to last the next 4 days.
We had such a great time on their generosity. It was a weekend to remember!! (Who says life is tough on low income? Bah humbug!) Finally Tuesday rolls around. $6.65 in the bank still. sigh Trying to call CentreLink on 136150 is hopeless. Engaged all the time. Eventually I decide to call their Customer Relations number 1800 050 004 (Burn that number into your head. Its the only one that isnt engaged all the time!!) Customer Relations staff had a record of the form being faxed to the Millicent CentreLink agency. But they had no record of a form being returned. So as far as they were concerned. I hadn’t lodged my form on Wednesday. Therefore I didn’t deserve payment. There was nothing wrong with the system at all. If I wanted payment. All I needed to do was lodge a form. (and wait another 2 days..) I asked if they now expected me to travel to Millicent to relodge the form before I got paid. They informed me that was the only way that they would pay me. Even then I would have to battle the ‘Emergency Payment’ section to obtain payment within 2 days. I went to Millicent and lodged the form. (what else can I do?) While there I called 1800 050 004 (cos all other numbers were busy still) To ask them what to do next to obtain payment asap. The told me that the form hadn’t turned up and to call them back in 1 hour. 1 hour later I again attended CentreLink agency Millicent. Called 1800 050 004 and was informed that the form still hadnt turned up. (By this stage.. I’d lost all my fight. I would have agreed to anything if they would just pay me) So they asked me to resend the form to a different fax number. They stayed on the phone while this was done. They then called the office where the fax machine was located to ensure that they had the form. They then keyed the form into the system. Finally the on hold music stopped and they told me I was back on the system and due for payment in 2 days. Another 2 days delay? Isn’t there another way around this? Well yes.. I am told they will put me in the cue for ‘Emergency Payments’ but that I will probably not be offered a full payment. I will probably have to wait the full 2 days before I can obtain the rest of the payment. (Another trip to Millicent to pickup half a payment?? More wasted fuel.. More wasted money.. Eventually the ‘Emergency Payment’ staff member takes my call. He asks me what the emergency is? I inform him of my circumstances. So he says he must ask me exactly why I need a payment. So I tell him for food. And he says that needing food isnt considered an Emergency and that I am not eligable for an emergency payment. My internal reactor goes supernova. As demand to speak to his supervisor. The Supervisor’s programming is less severe than his underling, so I am able to obtain full payment immediately into my bank account. Finally its over. I can pay Rent. Buy Food. (Some) Debtors got paid. After speaking with CentreLink staff. I made accusations (thate were denied) that many people hadn’t been paid due to their system fault over this period. Aparently extra staff was employed on Friday to ensure that people were paid their entitlements. (So I was informed) Therefore this case shouldn’t be considered as typical of what happened to CentreLink customers on Friday 11th June. 2010-04-22 CentreLink
Well this started out Political but ended up in Centrelinks lap.. So I stuck it here.. Anyway.. I already done a Political entry for today.. So I will fake it and stick it here.. See: Tony Abbott wants to cut the dole for the under 30's and send them to WA to work in the mines Hmmmmm… (Gosh I love baiting Neo-Libs..) So its the same dribble from the Neo-Liberals is it? Neo-Liberal Mode On: We (as a government) would rather put billions in a bank account. Than support those of us unfortunate enough to be out of work. We believe that everyone has a personal responsibility. If you cannot make it on your own. We dont care. We would rather keep billions in the bank than spend a penny on training or even a system that provides decent support for the unemployed. We will come up with the most draconian laws that we can. To force people into low paid positions thousands of miles away from their families.. Neo-Liberal Mode Off: Look.. I think its simple. I’m not religious. But MOST of you claim to be.. So… see what I see.. The Neo-liberal way of making people do it tough or die is ancient. This is what they used to do to the sick and old in ancient societies isn’t it? Is isn’t a Christian approach is it? More modern approaches have favoured a much more lenient attitude. Well the facts are.. The people by using unions and other such methods have forced these lenient changes onto the employers. But Neo-liberals are the mostly the employers. So Neo-Libs would like to have the old ways back.. (cost less.. more profit for them) Neo-liberals dont want to spend a penny on anything. (if they can avoid it..) Neo-liberals would like to turn the clock back to when they could employ children for cleaning chimneys and other such duties for a few cents a day. With the Motto of.. Do it alone.. Do it tough.. Dont expect any help from us.. Meanwhile we will bank/squander/waste your tax dollars. The country is a shambles.. Whatever corrupt political party is running it. Everywhere, people are asleep at the wheel. With the Departments failing to do their jobs correctly. The Ombudsman system then fails to accept valid complaints. The system is designed (by both sides) to be token representation. No changes due anytime soon. Most of the public never realize it. Because most of the public have a job and don’t have to live in a system that is designed (by the last Neo-lib government) to force them into anything by any means. I’m currently an enemployed single parent. I live rurally. Luckily I have been given an exemption (on medical grounds) from keeping “job seeker diarys” and “Fortnightly Lodgement of the Claim Forms”. However, I have been placed on “Intensive Assistance” which means I must have a monthly interviews. But none of that saves me from the residue of John Howards meddling with Social Security law. Mr Howard introduced a system where Centrelink are unable to re-instate a payment until 2 working days have passed. So if (for any reason.. like forgetting to lodge a 12 weekly form) you default on the claim lodgement. Centrelink (via Howards legislation) will make you wait 2 working days before re-instating your benefit. So what you Neo-Libs say? Well for a family that is surviving on such low income. To have to go without for at minimum 2 days.. (Imagine not lodging your form on a Thursday.. So Friday is one day.. Saturday and Sunday dont count!! and Monday is day 2. But you actually had to go without from Thursday until Monday. Good law hey.. So now.. Because your without food. You attend “Smith Family” or “Anglicare” who will only provide 2 days worth of food. Because that is how bad this country really is. These agencies are at breaking point because of this very ammendment to Social security law. If you need more than 2 days food. You have to re-attend (after 2 days) to aquire another 2 days food. Yes life on the dole is great. It’s a real party. I would love some of you people who say that the unemployed shouldnt be trained to go through it. I struggle and fall futher behind every week. Selling off possession after possession (over the years) to stay afloat. Because I used to work. I clocked up 9 years consistant with one employer. So I know what I’m missing by not being able to have a job. You numbskulls who think people on the dole are bludgers who are there because life is wonderful. Better have another look at what the real situation is. If someone is long term unemployed. They have a reason. Perhaps finding out that reason and fixing it would be less expensive in the long run than leaving them to work it out themselves. Mental Illness is an example of why there are so many unemployed. (no.. I’ve never been diagnosed as mentally unwell.. Just in case your wondering.. But I know a few who have..) They say that mental illness is as high as one in 5 in the community. The only way they deal with it is by directing the Doctors to provide SSRI drugs. I would suggest that a more compasionate government that provided more resources to such things would actually see a decrease in many crimes and drug abuse within the community if they provided real support (read psychiatrists) to those who are mentally unwell. What I am saying is that it would cost less overall to properly take care of Mental Health in this country. Well.. in closing.. Let me throw down a challenge.. Live 1 month on the dole you big mouths. I recomend it as a learning experience to you Neo-Liberals.. Try surviving on it for.. 1 month.. Go on.. You know you want too… Dont forget to budget for Car Rego, Tires, Electricity, Rent, School Fees, Clothing for 3, and if you have any money left.. food. Do your job seeker diary. attend your appointments. Forget about any kind of luxury items. Ohh.. and dont forget to STRESS about how your going to pay for it all again next week. (As long as you dont get cut off..) No wonder people go crazy on the dole. Didn’t Paul Keeting try living on the same system as the dole?? I remember seeing something way back in the early 70’s on 60 minutes? It showed exactly how hard it was to survive. The money expired way too quickly.. In the end.. He was unable to afford even a newspaper.. and he gave up ahead of time.. (If my memeory serves me correctly) hehehe Oh thats right.. “Life wasn’t meant to be easy”.. ;) But as I always said in response.. Wasn’t meant to be this f^%$ing hard either.. U want more??? See: http://lazerzap.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Blog Excuse typos and spelling mistakes please.. I am always in a hurry.. 2008-09-19 CentreLink
ContentsLife on a CentreLink PaymentLife is getting tougher in 2008. While pensions and welfare payments in general have risen. It is not consistant with general price rises. Therefore we are again worse off. Supermarket and Petrol costs more every weekPetrol prices and their impact on the weekly tab at the supermarket checkout has become obvious. (Either that or the Woolworths Corporation are going to post higher profits again this quarter..) CentreLink REDUCE support for low income peopleCenterlink contacted me to inform me that due to the increases in the cost of living.. (Im thinking they are going to give a pay rise..) They have determined that the MINIMUM rent someone on welfare must be paying to recieve rent assistance has risen. (So no pay rise.. in fact a pay cut for some) Let me explain this to you. People who have previously been in reciept of Rent Assistance are no longer eligable because it costs more now to live.. Rudd Government doesn't help usWhat the…??? Are they insane? They just made it a lot worse for many many people.. Rudds way of forcing up Real Estate prices?Hey not only that… But they force the people who own the houses to increase their rent. Many people on welfare will now approach the owner and ask them to increase the rent so that they are again covered by rent relief. Many Owners will (happily) respond by doing just that.. Lets increase the cost to rentSo.. Mr Rudd basically inflates the rent prices (overall) for those who (already) can ill afford it. Why dont politicians help us?Politicians really smell off dont they? The more you know about a politician the less you like em. Im waiting for some employment initiatives to come from this Federal Government. Work from Home?I would like to see them tackle unemployment with an aim to getting people to work from home. Over their computers. Maybe get them to key punch phone books or something. (I havent given that idea much thought because its out of my control what they do - Maybe I should come up with some ideas?) ATO EmployeesI know… OMG Im so evil.. Get everyone of welfare to do the Governments Job. Make them ATO employees. Get them to look up how someone else is cheating the system. Give them access to only look up the records of ALL the government departments data bases on the people on their roster for that day. Make sure that you have proceedures in place to disallow records from anyone they know. (Make penalties for them knowingly doing this.) Basically get them to operate an automated electronic surveillance system and report on any found cheats.
Make it co-operative like seti with data matching on shared key field searches across the system which then creates secure master listings of suspects which the system allocates to each operator. Operator can select or generate a new suspect.
Work for the Dole?Do it on their home computers for 6 hours a day and get paid a reasonable amount for it. An average of how many frauds are normally detected per 100 cases. If the participant doesnot detect their average (+/- whatever percent to make it fair) They get paid less. No incentive to become an idiot. In fact idiots who detect everyone of fraud should be dissallowed access. lol 2007-10-24 CentreLink
Busy Busy BusyShopping day again. In to Millicent. I need to do that Interview. Did the interview. Was granted the exemption. I have to attend other interviews as well of course. Uh oh.. CentreLink think I'm a crazy drug addictIm going to be placed on intensive assistance. I wonder what that will mean? I ‘HAVE’ to have a ‘MENTAL EVALUATION’? I also have to attend a ‘DRUG REHAB CENTRE’? CentreLink must think I’m a drugged out nutter. Hmmmm.. Personally I never saw much wrong with smoking some grass occasionally. But typical of Government Departments who have a Zero Tolerance policy towards untaxed (illegal) drugs. Aparently I am now considered a druggy in need of a Drug Rehab Centre. This is what happens if you actually tell em the truth. sigh The mental evaluation will be interesting. I don’t think I’m ready to be considered crazy. But I am easily upset lately. Maybe they are trying to discredit my comments on the net? Who knows?? So I agree to everything they want. Lets see what happens next. I really don’t have a choice do I? They already beat me with the financial stick. I don’t want to be ‘Breached’ for not agreeing with them. Short in the BankAfter the interview I go across the road to the bank. Hmm I seem to be maybe $140 short? Whats going on now? The 'Sneaky' Rent Relief FormSo back to the CentreLink office. They contact Mt Gambier CentreLink. Im now told that I needed to contact CentreLink advising them within 14 days of moving house and prove to them what my current rent is. They have now withheld the rent assistance I was receiving. So I ask If I can get a form so that I can get it re-instated. Now I am told that these forms are special. Well they must be. The CentreLink office in Millicent is ‘NOT ALOWWED’ to have copies of that particular form. I ask for a copy to be faxed to the Millicent CentreLink. Now I am told that this form cannot be printed out. It ‘MUST’ be mailed. This is again the Government making sure that all us ‘thieves’ dont rip em off. But in the process slowing down the system to a crawl and frustrating those that are forced to use the system. Are they 'trying' to make us angry?Why does this form have to be mailed out? Too piss us off. Make us wait. Plain and simple. So now to get this form. I will have to wait for it to turn up. The next time I will be in town will probably be next Wednesday 31st. So i cant fix it before then due to their system and my remoteness. Oh Great! - More delays in paymentHmmmmm I wonder if they backdate it? I am not gonna be too surprised to find out they dont. We shall see.. Fixing the CustomlinePayed $50 more on the Customline. Picked up the finished driveshaft. Went and asked a friend to help me get the Customline home tomorrow. Didn’t pay rent. Due to being short about $140. *sigh Put more petrol in than normal and only really did a light shop. The money ran out too fast. I got $30 left in my wallet for Naracoorte on Friday. 2007-10-19 CentreLink
CentreLink created StressGetting serious here. I need to get some cash. Called CentreLink. I feel like I’m hitting the wall now. CentreLink decide that they will contact St Vincent de Paul to assist us through the weekend. But I will have to get into Millicent and home again without cash. Thank goodness I started this horror week with an almost full tank of petrol in both cars. The 92 Ford has a full tank of Gas too. I also have a ‘Jerry Can’ with 20 litres of petrol. But due to the Customline breaking down I had used up some extra fuel going to work on it. Go to a Welfare OrganisationSo I go into Millicent again. sigh I attend the St Vincent de Paul outlet. The lady there is highly critical of John Howard and I’m just too depressed to care. So I get some UHT Milk, a small Bread, a small Butter, etc a few greens. I go and borrow some money from some friends. Promice to pay them back when I get paid. Get some ‘fresh milk’ so I can at least enjoy a coffee. Get some smokes cos I’m stressing and If I dont get a smoke I will explode. Get some cat food for the cat. Put some petrol in the car. Whoops $50 gone. :( Warning Lousy Weekend AheadWhen the kids get home from school. They see what we have been given to survive on. They decide that they can go to Mums and avoid a horror weekend with no goodies at home. So I take them to their Mums (Greenways) for the weekend. (Thank goodness for having the foresight to maintain sufficient fuel for emergencies) 2007-10-18 CentreLink
Here we go again!The Kids go off to school. 9am rolls around and I hit the phone. I’m determined to find out what went wrong with the CentreLink payment and fix it ASAP. What I think has happened to stop paymentI had been contacting CentreLink complaining about the expenses I was suddenly exposed to due to their requirement that Single Parents lodge Fortnightly forms. I had been informed by CentreLink, after numerous complaints (as the weeks went by) that I would no longer be required to lodge fortnightly forms. I was told by CentreLink that I would be given an exemption to lodging these forms. So as a result. I didn’t lodge the form they normally would have required on Monday. I had been told that I had been granted the exemption? What CentreLink said had happenedObviously I only thought I had an exemption. According to the CentreLink system. I did not. Or could not have an exemption. The reason for this is due to the fact that I had not been initially correctly processed by the job search provider. Due to my house move my file had been returned to CentreLink unprocessed. Only the job search provider, according to CentreLink, can grant the exemption. So although CentreLink agreed I should have an exemption. I needed to be granted this by the job search provider. Or so it seems. I missed an Interview with my Job Search provider?But CentreLink and my Job Search provider knew I was in a highly unstable situation at the time they set the ‘appointment’ date. They knew I would be out of contact for a few days. I had told them my situation so as to avoid exactly what had transpired. AUGH!! CentreLink Reinstate PaymentCentreLink agreed to re-instate my payment immediately. But demanded that I attend an interview on the 24th in Millicent with my job search provider for payments to continue. CentreLink instructed me that my payment had been re-instated and would be in my bank on Monday the 22nd. Payment delayed by 5 daysI protested that I needed some money before that date. They said that legislation will not allow them to process this any faster as 2 working days are required. Today is Thursday. Im out of the basics. The weekend is coming. I don’t know how we are gonna do this. No milk. No butter. No bread. I’m pretty angry about the fact someone at the Mt Gambier CentreLink had granted me an exemption. But then hadn’t made it happen. StressThey knew my situation. They gave no concession for the fact that I had just moved house. They knew (or should have realised) that I would be at my lowest financially at this time. This is how much CentreLink care about your circumstances. At my weakest they make my family go without for 5 days. So I rang the Ombudsman. The Commonwealth Ombudsman is a complete pawn of John Howard. The Ombudsman will not lift a finger to help me. Emergency PaymentBut I am instructed that I should apply for an emergency payment and that due to my situation It should be ok. I asked the ombudsman to directly intervene but I was instructed basically that I had created enough work for them. (Still ongoing) So.. Go away..
John Howards pawns. What would you expect? Justice? Fairness? Not likely.. So I called back CentreLink. Waited in the endless que. Listened to the plastic symphonys (designed to calm, but don’t) Eventually I got to ask for an emergency payment. Back on hold. That hated musak again. Finally a reply. Not an Emergency? Going without for 5 days?No.. I am not eligable for an emergency payment. Because I am ‘responsible’ for the breach I’m told. Responsible for the breach?? How? I ask. CentreLink explain to me that I have failed to respond to mail that they have sent c/o the post office at Millicent as I had nominated. True. I had missed the mail the week due to the post office being closed. So now they are claiming that they had breached me due to not responding to a ‘request’ for me to attent a job provider interview that I knew nothing about. They hadn’t ceased payment because I hadn’t returned the ‘form’ on Monday which under normal circumstances would have ensured payment on Wednesday. (That’s 2 Working days later) Today is Thursday - You will be paid on Monday!So the official CentreLink attitude after all this is… CentreLink doesn’t care that you and your kids will now go without essentials for 5 days. They say “This is your fault for breaching our rules. Contact a welfare organisation every 2 days to sustain your lives. You will be paid 2 working days after we received your ‘request’ to be reinstated. We received that request today. Therefore you will be paid on Monday the 22nd”. What does this 'cost' me to comply with CentreLinkBut wait. Lets workout what CentreLink have ‘cost’ me so far over this:
Note: Welfare Organisational policy at breaking point dictates only 2 days food per visit to be provided. Now do you see why I get angry? Do you see the impossible situation? I am expected to have all this disposable income for fuel to run my car so I can comply with their ‘requests’. Otherwise… Well.. Lets just say the alternative is bleak. So I end up borrowing money from people who need it back stright away when I get paid. :( Just to run my car. And then do it extra tough next week because of all the money CentreLink made me waste. This BS really stresses me out. Howard is a Coward - He attacks the weakest members of our societyThis is how Howard ‘manipulates’ legislation. Social Security Law clearly states that the Government are not allowed to create laws that place ‘undue financial preasure’ on people who are trying to comply with those laws. Now do you see why I harp on about this? What I and many other rural people are going through with CentreLink, is exactly what that paragraph in the Social Security Act is supposed to protect us from. I have told this to the Ombudsman. That office has no interest in it. Heartless SystemSo. At the end of it all. After all the BS and stress and rules and regulations. After the Ombudsman and being granted exemptions from lodging a forms. I still have to “Go Away. Wait till Monday for your cash.” If it wasn’t for the Welfare Organisations my little family would starve for 5 days. Hey this ‘intensive assistance’ thing for people doesn’t seem to work at all. Does it? Nah.. Not for me.. It doesn’t matter what you tell CentreLink. They will follow their program. It doesn’t matter what CentreLink tell you either. Because that could be changed by the next person you speak to. So welcome to CentreLink and welfare under John Howard. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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