Politics Centrelink

[Proud SJW]

You're either writing racist shit or inane insults that a 10 year old could come up with.
I hate to break it to ya, but that ain't very creative and it just makes it easier to continue having nothing but contempt for your inane, racist musings.

Heh. You can't be a real person. Or, at least, I sincerely hope not.
If you are, though, I have a further suggestion for you - that keyboard you're banging away at has limits, you know. At least do yourself a favour and clean up the slather. I've worked in IT too, you see, and fluids are generally a no-no when it comes to keyboards.

Not that that was me "beginning to fight", I'm just trying to help with some constructive advice at this point.
It's all a bit like sex, really. Performance relative to inspiration.
Arguing with you and trying to be creative about it is a bit like finding yourself in bed with an ugly woman. At some point, you might as well just close your eyes and get on with it, and then quietly slip away hoping she hasn't got your number.

I'm at the slipping away point.

 

[Pie eyed]

Centerlink can certainly be privatized.
They don't produce the welfare.
Certainly the process of distributing the funds and welfare can be privatized. In fact it may be a big improvement if the company that distributed the funds was separate to those evaluating the individuals.

Much of DHS, (centrelink parent) is already privatised. One reason is is so clunky and shitful. A huge chunk of the budget is spent buying ergonomic chairs and outsourcing basic internal services.

 

[Number37]

Heh. You can't be a real person. Or, at least, I sincerely hope not.
If you are, though, I have a further suggestion for you - that keyboard you're banging away at has limits, you know. At least do yourself a favour and clean up the slather. I've worked in IT too, you see, and fluids are generally a no-no when it comes to keyboards.

Not that that was me "beginning to fight", I'm just trying to help with some constructive advice at this point.
It's all a bit like sex, really. Performance relative to inspiration.
Arguing with you and trying to be creative about it is a bit like finding yourself in bed with an ugly woman. At some point, you might as well just close your eyes and get on with it, and then quietly slip away hoping she hasn't got your number.

I'm at the slipping away point.

A lot of words, nothing to do with the thread.
How about you add something constructive to the thread instead of that inane rubbish?

 

[Proud SJW]

A lot of words, nothing to do with the thread.
How about you add something constructive to the thread instead of that inane rubbish?

Already have.

Go away, you've boring.

 

[Reynolds Number]

Keenan suddenly cares about racism because it was conducted by a patron at Centrelink. Perhaps he should look within his own workplace the same attitudes were on show from idiots like Dutton.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

We don't have austerity, the ALP's policies have more in common with austerity than this government does, this government has spent money like a drunken sailor spills their drink. The above story just shows how stuffed up the welfare system is and has been for years, not helped by this government being useless.

It's unAustralian to spill your drink. If you're in the Navy, it's almost impossible, no matter the conditions. It just doesn't happen.

 

[fleabitten]

Many, if not all, unis have Education Welfare Officers who can help your daughter deal with Centrelink. EWO's (or whatever they are called at your daughter's uni) usually have a direct contact at Centrelink.

Okay that person was no help at all. Basically told her that she might have to start the process over from the beginning and she probably won't be backpaid to the original date of her application. Even though she did everything asked and is clearly eligible. This woman said that she should have gone in and given them the tax file number as soon as that was done, even though no-one had said that was necessary at any point of the process.

It's amazing how many people get paid a salary to be utterly useless.

I'm about a bee's dick from ranting at them like the guy in the video above (minus the racism).

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Okay that person was no help at all. Basically told her that she might have to start the process over from the beginning and she probably won't be backpaid to the original date of her application. Even though she did everything asked and is clearly eligible. This woman said that she should have gone in and given them the tax file number as soon as that was done, even though no-one had said that was necessary at any point of the process.

It's amazing how many people get paid a salary to be utterly useless.

I'm about a bee's dick from ranting at them like the guy in the video above (minus the racism).

If your daughter has the TFN now, I'd go straight to your local centrelink location with your daughter early one morning and just politely refuse to leave until the problem is resolved or they can at least give you a straight answer on where your application currently stands. Don't even bother talking to them over the phone. If they want you to redo the application, take everything you may need in with you and do it right in front of them.

It sort of sucks that you need to need to force a government provider to give you decent customer service, but that's what happens when you don't fund your departments properly and create the worst environment in Australia to work in.

 

[twotooto]

Okay that person was no help at all. Basically told her that she might have to start the process over from the beginning and she probably won't be backpaid to the original date of her application. Even though she did everything asked and is clearly eligible. This woman said that she should have gone in and given them the tax file number as soon as that was done, even though no-one had said that was necessary at any point of the process.

It's amazing how many people get paid a salary to be utterly useless.

I'm about a bee's dick from ranting at them like the guy in the video above (minus the racism).

As long as you/your daughter has proof of the initial application, she should still get back paid.

Agree with Swoon in that best way is just bite the bullet and go in there with her and hold firm until you get a resolution.

 

[fleabitten]

She went in there today already (I was at work) and after a 30 minute wait and explaining everything to the guy, he said they don't handle that in the office and she has to call the same number as before. But he said, wait until morning because she won't get through this afternoon lol.

 

[Bombermania]

She went in there today already (I was at work) and after a 30 minute wait and explaining everything to the guy, he said they don't handle that in the office and she has to call the same number as before. But he said, wait until morning because she won't get through this afternoon lol.

Not sure if your local MP is any good but maybe that is her next best option.

 

[Number37]

Okay that person was no help at all. Basically told her that she might have to start the process over from the beginning and she probably won't be backpaid to the original date of her application. Even though she did everything asked and is clearly eligible. This woman said that she should have gone in and given them the tax file number as soon as that was done, even though no-one had said that was necessary at any point of the process.

It's amazing how many people get paid a salary to be utterly useless.

I'm about a bee's dick from ranting at them like the guy in the video above (minus the racism).

That's a bummer.

 

[Proud SJW]

Okay that person was no help at all. Basically told her that she might have to start the process over from the beginning and she probably won't be backpaid to the original date of her application. Even though she did everything asked and is clearly eligible. This woman said that she should have gone in and given them the tax file number as soon as that was done, even though no-one had said that was necessary at any point of the process.

It's amazing how many people get paid a salary to be utterly useless.

I'm about a bee's dick from ranting at them like the guy in the video above (minus the racism).

So why didn't you give them the TFN?
I just had a look at the online application myself, it clearly states on the third page (for youth allowance) that a TFN is required under "financial requirements". So you knew you needed it, you knew you hadn't provided it, and at no point did it occur to you to ask "hey, is it possible you're still waiting for my TFN? Well I have one now, and here it is"?

I mean, this isn't rocket science. Get a job, you'll need a TFN. Get any form of Govt payment, you'll need a TFN. The only time you probably won't need one to get any money is when you get a carton for giving your neighbour a hand to build his shed.

I agree absolutely that Centrelink is understaffed and overworked. I get that, I've been there. On both sides.
But it's not going to help to go on ranting and raving and spraying the line workers. The system isn't their fault, they're getting a salary to uphold and adhere to it. Any evidence they have not adhered to it has consequences for them. So you may as well go and rant at a brick wall for all the good it'll do you.

 

[twotooto]

So why didn't you give them the TFN?
I just had a look at the online application myself, it clearly states on the third page (for youth allowance) that a TFN is required under "financial requirements". So you knew you needed it, you knew you hadn't provided it, and at no point did it occur to you to ask "hey, is it possible you're still waiting for my TFN? Well I have one now, and here it is"?

I mean, this isn't rocket science. Get a job, you'll need a TFN. Get any form of Govt payment, you'll need a TFN. The only time you probably won't need one to get any money is when you get a carton for giving your neighbour a hand to build his shed.

I agree absolutely that Centrelink is understaffed and overworked. I get that, I've been there. On both sides.
But it's not going to help to go on ranting and raving and spraying the line workers. The system isn't their fault, they're getting a salary to uphold and adhere to it. Any evidence they have not adhered to it has consequences for them. So you may as well go and rant at a brick wall for all the good it'll do you.

Not to be that guy but he said in an earlier post that she didn't have a TFN at the time but included proof that she'd applied for one, as instructed. See below.

So my eldest kid finished high school in 2017 and is now at uni. Our family receives the family tax benefit and as soon as my daughter finished school, we lost about $250 per fortnight and she had to move onto Youth Allowance. She applied on January 2nd and it was supposed to take until Feb 26th for it to be processed. About a week after that date, she's informed that her claim has been rejected because she didn't include her tax file number. The thing is, she didn't have one and had to apply for that at the same time as making her claim. She had been told to include the evidence of her application for a tax file number with her claim, which she had done. She went into their office and the issue was supposedly sorted and she was told to wait about a week and all should be good. Two weeks later, still nothing (her mygov account still telling her that her claim was rejected) so she goes in there again. They say they can't help her and she has to call instead. She spends the next few hours making over 50 calls, all getting a busy signal. Finally gets through and is told to ignore the mygov message, everything seems to be in the system and she just has to wait. No clue how long. Today she gets a mygov email message telling her to make sure she includes required documents with her claim....but as far as we know, she's already included everything. She's gonna have to go back in there tomorrow (or spend half the day on the phone) just to figure out what it is they need from her.

We're pretty poor (I'm working only part-time at the moment and my wife is a full-time student), so losing $250 per fortnight has made things pretty tough. I was going to get my daughter to pay some board out of her youth allowance to make up a bit of the shortfall, but 3 months later and she's still not getting it and we have no idea when it will be processed. I hate complaining about stuff like this, because I already feel shitty about getting welfare and don't want to look like a jerk bitching about not getting free money fast enough, but...it's really a joke and they are ******* with people's lives.

 

[Proud SJW]

Not to be that guy but he said in an earlier post that she didn't have a TFN at the time but included proof that she'd applied for one, as instructed. See below.

Um hmm. That would have been proof that one had been applied for, that the Centrelink worker had advised the customer they needed one, and that the customer had been advised they needed one. Checks and double checks.
I seriously doubt that at any point the Centrelink worker said that would be all that was required. Still means you have to give it to them when you get it.

You can also check your application online at any time and see exactly what is still required for it. Until it's been so long its noted as rejected, of course.
Mine got rejected not that long ago for something I'd failed to provide, and it was annoying that I couldn't see what it was after the claim had been rejected. It was quite easy to check online to see what was outstanding before that happened though.
And quite easy to get backdated, even though I was the one who'd screwed up. A half-reasonable excuse coupled with a smile goes a loooooong way, even if you aren't a hot female. Or hot at all, as the case may be. But I digress.

Having been on both sides of the desk, I can assure you that the way the conversations are presented here is not necessarily the way those conversations actually went.
Which is essentially why most government service departments now record those conversations, and why a significant proportion of Ombudsman complaints go in favour of the service provider. Those recordings often give a completely different picture to what is presented on an internet forum.

 

[fleabitten]

So why didn't you give them the TFN?
I just had a look at the online application myself, it clearly states on the third page (for youth allowance) that a TFN is required under "financial requirements". So you knew you needed it, you knew you hadn't provided it, and at no point did it occur to you to ask "hey, is it possible you're still waiting for my TFN? Well I have one now, and here it is"?

Okay, first, it's not me. It's my 18 year old daughter. I wasn't standing over her shoulder the whole time, but she says that they asked for the TFN OR evidence that she had applied for one. She gave them the evidence. If she was supposed to contact them again and give them the TFN once it was issued, that was never made clear. It seems pretty stupid that she would have to act as the middleman between two government departments, but if that's what they wanted her to do, they never made that clear to her.

I mean, this isn't rocket science. Get a job, you'll need a TFN. Get any form of Govt payment, you'll need a TFN. The only time you probably won't need one to get any money is when you get a carton for giving your neighbour a hand to build his shed.

No-one is saying she shouldn't need to provide it. She didn't have one as she has never worked before. She just didn't realise that the two different branches of government on her mygov account needed her to pass messages between them. No-one told her she had to do that.

I agree absolutely that Centrelink is understaffed and overworked. I get that, I've been there. On both sides.
But it's not going to help to go on ranting and raving and spraying the line workers. The system isn't their fault, they're getting a salary to uphold and adhere to it. Any evidence they have not adhered to it has consequences for them. So you may as well go and rant at a brick wall for all the good it'll do you.

No-one has ranted at them. We're talking about a mild-mannered 18 year old in her first interaction with the government.

 

[Crankyhawk]

Have you got a definitions section in which that "behavior" line is expanded on?
My experience has often been that in many of these cases, a further committee is required to interpret and define the legislation passed down by the first.

Either way, I have no problem with that. Other than that I think it'd be extremely difficult to invoke or enforce.
My guess at this stage would be that the number of times anything like that actually has been enforced would be far lower than the number of times it probably should be.

Any attempt to do so would be met by howls of outrage and factually-threadbare social justice stories in the media, leading to a reversal and punishment for all involved... other than the perpetrator.

Don't know about that, all it would take is a suitably stubborn centerlink officer who after having copped abuse/ physical violence decides that they won't reverse thier decision. And can then use the security footage to show what happened.

 

[fleabitten]

Um hmm. That would have been proof that one had been applied for, that the Centrelink worker had advised the customer they needed one, and that the customer had been advised they needed one. Checks and double checks.
I seriously doubt that at any point the Centrelink worker said that would be all that was required. Still means you have to give it to them when you get it.

She didn't apply with a centrelink worker, she filled out the online claim form which told her to submit her TFN OR evidence that she had applied. When the claim was rejected and she contacted them again, she gave them the TFN and everything was supposed to be cool. But it wasn't.

You can also check your application online at any time and see exactly what is still required for it. Until it's been so long its noted as rejected, of course.
Mine got rejected not that long ago for something I'd failed to provide, and it was annoying that I couldn't see what it was after the claim had been rejected. It was quite easy to check online to see what was outstanding before that happened though.

There were no updates about her claim until it was rejected with the reason of no TFN. Since that rejection, her account has displayed the same rejection message ever since even after several visits to the office and phone calls where she was assured it had been straightened out.

And

quite easy to get backdated, even though I was the one who'd screwed up. A half-reasonable excuse coupled with a smile goes a loooooong way, even if you aren't a hot female. Or hot at all, as the case may be. But I digress.

She's a very kind and polite young woman. They told her it was sorted and they needed nothing else from her when she went in there after the rejection. And then again when she called a few weeks later.

Having been on both sides of the desk, I can assure you that the way the conversations are presented here is not necessarily the way those conversations actually went.
Which is essentially why most government service departments now record those conversations, and why a significant proportion of Ombudsman complaints go in favour of the service provider. Those recordings often give a completely different picture to what is presented on an internet forum.

Bring on the recordings. She's just a kid trying to do the right thing. She is clearly eligible for the payments and has done everything asked of her.

 

[Proud SJW]

Don't know about that, all it would take is a suitably stubborn centerlink officer who after having copped abuse/ physical violence decides that they won't reverse thier decision. And can then use the security footage to show what happened.

I do know about that, and you're either going to believe or not believe it when I say your scenario as given above happens very, very rarely.
There are at least two levels of appeal beyond your average Centrelink worker, not counting their immediate supervisors, who will often take the path of least resistance.
Those levels above aren't on the workers side. They're public servants who bow to government directives or insinuation, because that's what they're paid to do.

People are abusive and disrespectful not only because they're frustrated, but because it works.
Justice and politics don't mix.

 

[Proud SJW]

fleabitten
I might get back to you later. It's hard knowing both sides of the story (and maybe even a third and fourth), and that there are no easy answers.
But for now, when you say "She's just a kid trying to do the right thing" don't think I don't believe you.

Unfortunately though, the world we've created for ourselves is fast making that irrelevant.

 

[Crankyhawk]

I do know about that, and you're either going to believe or not believe it when I say your scenario as given above happens very, very rarely.
There are at least two levels of appeal beyond your average Centrelink worker, not counting their immediate supervisors, who will often take the path of least resistance.
Those levels above aren't on the workers side. They're public servants who bow to government directives or insinuation, because that's what they're paid to do.

People are abusive and disrespectful not only because they're frustrated, but because it works.
Justice and politics don't mix.

I think (from working in health sector now - so agree not the same industry) that the public service in general has had enough of abusive and violent treatment by customers. We call on security to kick out even violent patients who are drunk/ drug affected to prioritise staff safety.

 

[fleabitten]

Possible breakthrough this morning. She called nice and early and got someone sympathetic. They assured her that things are still being processed, that she doesn't need to provide anything else and that she will be backpaid to the date of the original application. It could take up to 42 days more but she thinks 2 weeks is more likely and to call back if nothing has happened by then.

 

[Number37]

Possible breakthrough this morning. She called nice and early and got someone sympathetic. They assured her that things are still being processed, that she doesn't need to provide anything else and that she will be backpaid to the date of the original application. It could take up to 42 days more but she thinks 2 weeks is more likely and to call back if nothing has happened by then.

It is just plain wrong that you needed to find someone with a sympathetic ear to advance your case.

 

[fleabitten]

It is just plain wrong that you needed to find someone with a sympathetic ear to advance your case.

Yep. And the fact that it could take up to 7 more weeks to process when it has already been about 11 weeks. Other than the TFN muck-up, it seems a pretty straight forward claim.

Unless they're still struggling with the last issue that came up regarding her. A while back they claimed we owed them a bunch of money because my daughter was not a resident of Australia. We'd left the country for a month a few years ago and somehow they'd decided that when we came back my eldest wasn't Australian anymore. No problem with other daughter or wife (both also born outside Australia and now citizens). That was sorted out with a phone call, but wouldn't be surprised if some trace of it was complicating things now somehow.

 

[NSWCROW]

https://independentaustralia.net/bu...-youre-being-told,11329#.WrV47-N5hJE.facebook

Australia's unemployment: It's worse than you're being told