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I Hate Centrelink

Which Story Of The Hundreds Should I Post About Centrelink , Hmmm....

By: Kanook
Written on March 31st, 2011
Ok I will post my latest Centrelink drama ! I had my usual 6 week appointment last Monday at 9:40 AM. My wife wasnt working that day so she came along. Arrived in the front doors of centrelink 9:30 AM , now Centrelink here has this new idea that allthough you have an appointment and its on the computer , you have to notify the Centrelink staffer at the front door who then ticks your name on a sheet, then you sit at the assigned seats for appointments. Well we walked in at 9:30 and I noticed straight away the seating you have to sit in was gone ?? I then said to my wife I normally am supposed to see a staffer on entrance and then sit there, we both looked around and found no one to notify. I said to my wife "Well the seats are gone so maybe they changed their ways of doing things AGAIN!!!! So we sat at the other end of Centrelink that had the only seating.

9:40 came and went, at 9:50 I noticed a sign that said if you are not called my your allotted time then contact an staffer, I really dont know why that sign was there as I have never been called at my allotted time, EVER! I then stood up and noticed a staffer at the front entrance now, so i went over and explained I had been here since 9:30 and my appointment time has come and gone and I have not been called. Another Centrelink Staffer walked over to us and asked what was going on and I explained the story to her, she then proceeded to lecture me that I was to report to staff at the entrance on arrival, I explained that there was no staff at the entrance and that I even made mention of it to my wife. the other staffer said "Well, Ive been here the whole time!" I said "No one was here", they then said "In Future notify the staff member at the door", It was just going around and around, they just couldnt understand the fact that there was no one there,  they then ticked my name on the list and said that the computer system was down so I will have to come back another day.

Wasted trip I thought to myself, but I have come to expect this from centrelink. Today is Friday and in the mail I get a letter from Centrelink saying my payment has been "SUSPENDED" because I didnt attend the interview, the interview I was 10 minutes early for, the interview that they said I cant have because the system was down, the interview that they ticked me off the list as attended !!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I have to go back in next week and do battle to get my payment restarted, believe you me I am going to let fly as I have never ever missed or been late for an appointment ever and I will not have this crap on my record! This is just one of many times that I have had to put up with Centrelink Incompetence and laziness, and lets not forget their Patronising tone they take with you at every chance!
By: Kanook
Age: 46-50
1,184 people have read this story

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    fangle
    fangle

    Here is another shining example!!!



    http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/8418654/victorian-man-wins-10k-over-lost-centrelink-form

    Feb 14, 2012
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    unemployedperson
    unemployedperson

    The above story is barely the tip of the iceberg. Centrelink provides money simply to grease the wheels of the economy and to keep death, sickness, crime and stresses down which is a good thing no doubt. And more to the point children can be kept alive and groomed for the workforce and as some people say, slavery. Yes, I say this to, unless you are smart enough to not be programmed.



    The other side of the coin is jobseekers provide jobs for the many who work in the system, as without compliant jobseekers there would be no people to feed off, hence Centrelink redundancies would add to the unemployed automatically doubling or tripling the numbers.



    Furthermore, it has been my experience they are not interested in getting you a job through job agencies, despite the public thinking this is what happens. They are only interested in compliance and participation according to their rules, not what is good or needed for you, or what job agencies or govt depts are not doing, ultimately making your life harder. When you are wanting to get back to work and get off the system, they don't want to provide any real help or a smooth transition for this. It's as though they don't want you to leave. And don't be fooled by their propaganda which leads people to think that Government will help you.



    After over 20yrs on and off dealing with Centrelink and its former misnomer Social Security has both its good and bad sides. The good is certainly some cash to help with your daily needs, rent, mortgage, bills, food and expenses especially if you have kids. But after all, this money simply pours back into the economy, with you holding it for just a mere moment absorbing some fringe benefits. With this view, you are not really getting alot, now are you?



    The other side is its failure to recognize when some bad stuff is happening in other govt arenas connected to Centrelink. such as public job agencies, their head offices and places like DEEWR.



    The most annoying part is when they ignore you giving you no responses, explanation or understanding and make you out to be the bad guy, when yet, you are doing everything in your power to get the system to do what it says it will do, or if possible, break away from the system completely. One story going into more detail can be found on F4Joz titled "Welfare System Abuses the Vulnerable — Our Long Term Unemployed ".





    The other point of Centrelink is its welfare dependency which is hard to break and even Centrelink themselves do not help with this in a gradual way. Unless you are on a pension of some type, you will be there for the system's benefit - not the other way around as you may have first thought.



    Furthermore, Centrelink accomodates the rich and uses the poor. The wealthy have trusts setup where beneficiaries can be the recipients of Centrelink payments, on top of all there other income sources. It seems quite unfair and unjust in contrast with the poor who struggle to even gain the bare necessities. There are many more issues to canvass, so perhaps more if peeople wish. Good luck and open your mind!

    Jun 15, 2011
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