Come on Centrelink can't you get anything right

[newstart2380]

Story of young man with MS on a Current Affair, can not get a disability pension.

[cat_mioux]

My son was retrenched the day after Boxing Day (retail). He immediately applied for Centrelink payments. He was also told to go home and phone. He waited over an hour on the phone to be told they'll call him at a certain time and day and will be notified by mail.

He waited, waited ... waited for the call. I think it took 2 letters and 2 "appointments" by phone to apply. Then he had to bring in documents. A week later he was sent a letter to bring same documents back. Then he received a letter advising his request for payments had been rejected because he hadn't brought in the required documents.

6 weeks after he was retrenched he secured a job.  Centrelink managed to send him a weeks worth of unemployment benefits just before he started his new job. Luckily he moved in with me at the time and had some savings to cover his bank loan.

😐

[katydidthat]

Tell him to appeal, Cat.  

The information is in the above link, together with a form you can use (optional).  

[cat_mioux]

Tell him to appeal, Cat.  

The information is in the above link, together with a form you can use (optional).  

I suggested that to him Katy, because he was entitled to more than a weeks worth of benefit's but he was so disgusted by the whole process he doesn't want anything more to do with them.

I don't blame him 😐

[bella_again]

They use the Adult Disability tool, I'll find a link...

[topsidesoul]

The entire freaking system needs to be overhauled.

A friend of mine took her son to Centrelink to apply for the youth allowance. Thinking go to the source rather than phone calls they stood in line for 15 minutes. Upon reaching the counter they were told to go down the back and use the red phone, press 6 and they can apply that way. Off they trot, red phone tells them 'there is a one hour and forty five minutes' waiting time. So back to the line to ask for an appointment, no we don't do appointments you need to phone. So off home, sat on phone for 45 minutes (less than they had thought). Once answered son was asked 5 questions and told a form would be in the mail. Week later form arrives, fill it out, send it back.

Why could this form not have been simply handed out at the Centrelink office is beyond me.

Centerlink and medicare to my knowledge are in the same office and operate like this.

They remodelled everything and took out the chairs so workers do not sit.

They removed people and replaced them with a downsized phone system connected to call centers..

Then wonder why people start acting agro.

I guess if you make centerlink so hard to access , you will have genuine  people who just give up and go find all those jobs on offer.

[freakiness]

They need a classification for people with permanent disability so they don't need to reprove their disability all the time. At the same time they need to ensure the people have timely medical examinations for their own health and well being.  

In setting up the NDIS some of these issues might be addressed. They would surely be cross checking records and streamlining rather then creating more head aches for their clients.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

my wife suffered a stroke 12 years ago, she is hemiplegic - the left side. The Brain damage is PERMANENT. The Dr filled in the Centrelink application 'PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE' and she obtained a pension - after much investigation on Centrelink's part. Every 6-months we had to fill in another form, and the Dr had to submit his letter etc. A few years ago now, we received one of those please resubmit letters from Centrelink. By that time I was pretty fed up, so I rang Centrelink, told them her Pension number, who I was, who she was - and said "What part of 'PERMANENTLY DISABLED' and 'PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE' don't you people understand?". Strangely we haven't had another one since.

Having said that, I'll bet we receive one soon.

[bella_again]

http://www.workingcarers.org.au/images/stories/ADAT.pdf

[bella_again]

Rabbit it is supposed to be every 2 years but sometimes it can be every six months, I've been reviewed in less than that but was able to sort it out with the processing dept as apparently the medical info I had was recent.  Apparently they(the computer) picks a cross section of people and review them apart from the regular reviews.  It happened to me about a year ago and I had that much paper work to fill out.  I'd fill out one form and less than 6 months later get another, then another.

On the other hand sometimes depending on what year one went on disability, people are not reviewed under the same rules.  So there are a lot of people who don't under go regular reviews because they went on the DSP years before those rules came into play.

[katydidthat]

Yep, that's it, Bella.  And, someone at Clink enters the information into a computer and it adds up the points and gives a total score ... and it is on that basis that you are assessed as being - or not being - entitled to the DSP.  

And, it is completely ridiculous.