<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/07/centrelink-call-waiting-time-processing-delays-wait-jobseeker-income-support-payment>
"When Maryanne Watts applied for jobseeker earlier this year, she knew it
wouldn’t be a smooth process. She had been a Centrelink worker in the 1990s and
had received income support in recent years.
But even she was shocked at how difficult it was to get her application
processed – even when she was about to run out of money.
Watts, 60, lives on acreage in rural Queensland about 110km from Bundaberg.
Prior to Covid, she participated in Workforce Australia’s small business
assistance program while on jobseeker, working on an enterprise to help
regional artists put their work online.
When Covid hit, she accessed her superannuation early and dropped off income
support. But within 18 months the super had run out, so she applied for
jobseeker again.
“The first time it got held up was because they had asked for bank account
details from the 23rd of February,” Watts says. The earliest date on the bank
statement she had provided was 9 March.
“I hadn’t actually had any transactions between the 23rd and the ninth. But
because the date of the 23rd wasn’t on it, they didn’t accept it. So I had to
go further back.”
Watts only knew this tiny administrative technicality might have delayed her
application because she called Centrelink to follow up on its progress.
The Centrelink worker told her they had marked the application as urgent and
said it would be processed as soon as possible, Watts says. Otherwise, she
could be waiting for more than three months for her first payment.
After another couple of weeks, she called again. This time, she was told to
supply an extra mortgage statement. Despite its size, Watts’ property is worth
significantly less than the maximum allowed under the jobseeker assets test.
Amid this, she had mortgage repayments looming at a time she couldn’t afford
the fuel to drive to the nearest town and back.
“Every day, you try not to think about money, you try to get on with other
stuff, whatever,” Watts says. “But it’s always there. It’s this tension that’s
always in your body.”
Centrelink staff told her three times that they were marking her application
for urgent processing due to financial hardship. There were text messages
telling her that someone would get in contact with her about her application.
“But they didn’t,” Watts says."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
