i was going to keep out of some of these debates but its hard to sit back and not have a say ,well the welfare , is a big question ,it covers so many boundries ,it would be very hard to put a person out in the work force if they have mental issues as their conertration is not fully on the job at hand as i sigle comment could change a persons reaction if they are unstable that is why some people are on disabilty pensions if it i a risk of the employer who employs a person who has to be placed into a job yes slowly persons can do things gradually but things still wonder in their minds not everyone is the same ,a person whom just bluggers of the goverment with no problems of health they should be in the work force as for victims like me that was raped and abused as a child i tried and worked for years until a break down happed now my life is more difficult than beofre ,so thats my answer some may agree some may not ,and hello to all the forgotten australians and all on the site here i hope this year becomes a year for the truth with all goverments and our contry and to stop all the cover ups that have occurred in the past kind regards micheal a forgotten australian victim ,

And the world goes around once again! Your story is touching, but wipe your poor me tears away. I don't know what you have been through, but what is done is done. The people of the pasted have been through a thousand time more than you have, and I hope you will find strength in this.

Welfare is a system that has been put there to help all those who cant help themselves.

Just be careful what you put on here, cause people are very quick too judge. Half of people in the world, wouldn't know a hard time, and maybe, I am totally wrong, but let me leave you with this!

NO retreat, No surrender!

I am in my early fifties, unfortunately due to my profession as computer programmer I am out work as the project has been completed. I am stuck in the merry go round with my job network provider deciding which box they will put me in this time. My wife is on the age pension, so any income I receive is halved by Centrelink to calculate my fortnightly Newstart Allowance payment. What this means, is that I need to earn twice as much income for my Centrelink payment to be reduced to nil. During 2007, I worked 30 hours a week for 6 months under a wage assist subsidy. During this period I still received a part Centrelink payment. If they did not have a partner on the pension my Centrelink payment would had cancelled after 13 weeks from when I started working. This would mean I would start at the beginning unemployment cycle not classified as very long term unemployed. When my wages assist subsidy ceased, I immediately started voluntary work for a local community organization so that I would not get bored while looking for work. I have been working over 30 hours per week for the last six months. At a recent meeting with my job network provider, I was offered three choices, telemarketing for a charity, cleaning or full-time work for dole for 12 months. Not a great choice of options I must say. After much protest on my part, I accepted the full-time work for the dole option as I could continue working for the community group I been volunteering for the last 6 months. Apparently referral to full-time work for the dole is for job seekers who deemed to demonstrate a history of work avoidance. I do not understand why the job network provider has put into this box (Not chocolate).

Has anyone else got any similar experiences with this crazy system?

Possum54, I'm so sorry for the soul destroying runaround that you've received.I have a friend who has been given the same treatment.

If you have a 'valid'!! grievance, contact Hank Jongen who heads Centrelink on hank@centrelink.gov.au

(I hope the link works; that's what he gave out on radio!)

It's worth a shot. I have heard repeatedly of folk being told different things by different staff.

__________________

Evolution: You're not wrong people are quick to judge!!.........

Possum - I have Centrelink stories up the yin yang, but here's a real doozy:

Even though a journalist/writer/playwright etc. for 20 years and having owned my own business and been Director of my father's, I was classified as unskilled because my first time round at Uni I didn't sit my Finals.

The only jobs I was ever offered were as a kitchen hand or cleaner. I did them but considered it a waste of what I could do so was working full time - no pay - for Mental Health as well.

Kept up the Mental Health lecturing, suicide intervention, support group counselling and made two doco's, but went back to Uni at the same time (as well as trying to raise two boys as a sole parent)and did a double degree with Honours.

Went back to Job Network with the ink on my little piece of paper still wet so they could change my classification to skilled. However, the guy interviewing kept me waiting over an hour (I was due to deliver a lecture that afternoon so was pushed for time), did not apologise and kept referring to me as "luv" and "darlin'" . I called him on it.

Three months went by and still the only offers were kitchen hand or cleaner so I went to investigate.

Seems my attitude to him had been "cheeky" so he hadn't bothered to enter my four years of hard slog at Uni into the system but continued to list me as unskilled "to teach her a lesson"!

how hard would it be to have a point system from your tax records,
the more you have worked the less likely you are deemed a bluger
there must be a way of weeding the cheats out from the genuine
as usual the system treats everyone as trying to get money for nothing
so people like me that have worked there ass of for forty years are treated the same as a twenty seven year old that has never worked an has no intention to do so and don't tell me that it would be to hard
to do as the information from government records on everyone in australia can be easely linked to the welfair system and they have plenty of staff at all there offices to do so this way they could increase pensions, war veterans payments look after the mentaly ill
an so on an still save money.