SCOOP ON CENTRELINK : Melbourne Indymedia

SCOOP ON CENTRELINK FOR JULY

A KICK IN THE FACE TO THE DISABLED...
In midst of all the attention around industrial relations reform in recent months a key plank of the government’s plan to make the rich even richer has been largely ignored. As flagged in last year’s budget as of July 1st all new applicants for the Disability Support Pension will have to prove that they cannot work more than 15 hours a week. If they are unable to prove this then they will be put on the lower paid New Start with all of its attendant hassles such as work for the dole, dole diaries, regular reporting, etc.

Despite forcing these people into the workforce the government has made no effort to create new jobs for the disabled, to force/entice employers to take on disabled workers or to provide financial assistance to make it easier for the disabled to look for and attend a job. Irregardless of employer discrimination and the fact that many workplaces are not set up to cater for the disabled Centrelink and Job Network workers will no doubt still blame the victim forcing the disabled into the same pointless job clubs and work for the dole schemes that the rest of the unemployed currently face.

Even if they are able to find part time work very few disabled people are likely to be able to survive working the 16 hours a week the government has deigned means they are no longer eligible for the pension. Costs associated with being disabled- such as medical bills, medical equipment, taxi fares, etc will also rise for those who have lost their pension card and Centrelink subsidies. Obviously this change is going to cause all sorts of problems for many of Australia’s most vulnerable, but so long as it cuts welfare costs and creates more desperate competition for badly paid jobs the government and their big business sponsors are laughing.

AND A KICK IN THE FACE FOR SOLE PARENTS...
Similarly sole parents have seen their benefits savaged and their children victimised this month. As the following press release from the Council of Single Mothers and their Children points out single parents and their children face income cuts from July 1 as government changes to income support, child support and family law take effect.

"Under Welfare to Work changes, single parents whose youngest child is 8 will be forced to claim the lower rate Newstart Allowance and meet work tests, or face loss of payment for 8 weeks. Parents with part-time work will also lose an extra 20 cents per dollar in government clawback compared to those claiming Parenting Payment Single. Income cuts for families will range between $20 to $50 per week on average, as the changes take effect.

Under Child Support Scheme changes, parents with high earning ex-partners will face cuts in child support as the income cap on payers’ income is cut from $139,347 to $104,702. The new rules mean that a mother of one with an annual income of $20,000 per annum and a payer earning more than $139,000 will lose $118 per week.

Under Family Law changes, children of separated parents will be required to be regularly divided between their parents’ households to the maximum extent possible. The definition of family violence will be narrowed and there will be new penalties for not attending contact or alleging family violence, if it cannot be proved to the court’s satisfaction.

Convenor of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children, Dr Elspeth McInnes, said the changes would make life harder for most single parent families. ‘Single parents claiming income support will get less financial support, extra requirements and increased penalties which will hit the most disadvantaged and vulnerable families the hardest’, said Dr McInnes. ‘Dr McInnes said income data consistently showed that single parent families faced the highest risk of poverty of all family types, but the July 1 changes would increase the severity and incidence of financial hardship.

‘Family law changes will mean that more children of separated parents will be required to live in two households, and families fleeing violence will face new risks and penalties’, said Dr McInnes. ‘Currently Australian homicide data shows that around 100 mothers and children are killed every year by partners and fathers around family breakdown, and this can be expected to increase as the changes make it harder for mothers and children to be protected from violent men.’ "

For more information check out the NCSMC website at http://www.ncsmc.org.au or listen to Radio Mama on 3CR 855AM.

YET MORE CENTRELINK CRUELTY

A story run by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph this month underlined the cruel logic behind much of Centrelink’s day to day decision making when the welfare body took away a woman's pension and hit her with massive repayments for making a minor bureaucratic error.

"VAL OPPEL is now struggling to make ends meet as she fights to stop Centrelink taking her home despite a tribunal ruling in her favour. The frail 80-year-old widow, who worked hard all her life as a seamstress, has had no income for two years since Centrelink stopped her fortnightly $470 aged pension. She needs $80 worth of subsidised medication a month to control her advanced Parkinson's disease but now has to pay the full cost after Centrelink also took away her pension card. "It's a very sad story. They don't care whether she starves or dies because they get the house anyway," NSW Justice Advocacy Centre advocate Eric Wilkinson said.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph Ms Oppel said her problems began in August 2004 when someone told Centrelink she owned another house at Casula. Mrs Oppel told bureaucrats she had inherited the fibro house from a friend in 1989, given it to her son Eric and received no income from it. Unfortunately her son, who suffers mental problems, never lodged the transfer with the Land Titles Office. The Titles Office has since accepted the backdating of the transfer to 1989.

However within a month of being told about the house Centrelink cut Ms Oppel's pension and she was forced to mortgage her own house for a loan. In October 2005 she won one review against Centrelink's decision and was granted a reduced pension – but never saw a cent. Centrelink had calculated she owed them $51,471, the pension they said had been overpaid after taking into account the $100,000 value of the Casula house in 1989. Instead of recovering it a little at a time from her pension, they kept the whole $90 a fortnight.

Mrs Oppel then appealed to the independent Social Security Appeals Tribunal, which ruled in her favour. The tribunal found there was an oral agreement between Mrs Oppel and her son from at least 1994 that he owned the house – and they set aside Centrelink's decision.
Centrelink appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, arguing Mrs Oppel owned the property until late 2004. Records show the tribunal upholds more than 80 per cent of SSAT rulings.

"Mrs Oppel is clearly a victim of her son's inability to manage his own affairs," Mrs Oppel’s lawyer said. "Centrelink has spent more than $200,000 in legal fees to recover a $50,000 debt they are not even entitled to."

A spokesman for the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs said it was inappropriate to comment on matters before the AAT."

ST VINCENT DE PAUL'S GET IN ON THE ACT

In the meantime one of Darwin's largest charities has decided to also sink the boot into the poorest of the poor by charging for the meals it has always provided for free. The move has outraged the organisation's volunteers who perhaps should now demand to be paid for their work for the so called charity. St Vincent de Paul has been serving up meals to Darwin's most needy for more than 30 years, but is now introducing a fee of $1 for each meal, which can be debited directly from a person's Centrelink account.

Volunteer and tropical medicine specialist Malcolm McDonald told ABC Radio that even $1 is an obstacle to people who rely on the organisation for nutritious food. St Vincent de Paul chief executive officer Col Burden would not be formally interviewed by local media but did say people will not be turned away if they cannot afford the fee. He also claimed that charging the money will help people learn to manage their finances. Maybe reducing his no doubt huge salary to the level of the dole would teach the patronising bastard the difficulty of make ends meet on a pittance.

For more news and views from the Centrelink queues tune into the SUWA show every Friday from 5-30 to 6-30pm.