Our Wonderful Centrelink

[Greynomad]

Friend had her Widow's Pension (or whatever it's called now by Scott from Marketing) stopped.
Went to local Centrelink office to ask why.
After a 90 minute wait, finally saw a human, who explained that they stopped her pension (without notifying her) because she had failed to submit a form they requested.
Not only had she submitted it, she had a receipt from the PO for her Certified Mail posting.
Centreperson went off to see Manager.
Came back two minutes later and informed friend that they acknowledged they had received the form, but no-one has yet been assigned to look at it!!

Because of their inefficiency, she was left without income!!

Similar thing happened recently to another friend on Work-For-The-Dole scheme. Claimed she hadn't submitted form signed by employer that she was working for a charity. Said charity's chief rang Centrelink to confirm that they had posted the form for her, and gave Centreperson an earful. Payments were reinstated in 24 hrs.

Other friend is still waiting for pension payment as of last night.

AAAARRRRRGGHHHH!!!

[Grandad]

It's not good enough, is it?
And it would appear, there are many more similar instances.

Jim

[T1 Terry]

The local pollie's office is the best place to get any action. Generally the pollies secretary rings the person at the top, gives them a back hander, that increases in intesity as it goes down the line to heads rolling and severe arse kicking .... and the problem is solved in minutes not days.

T1 Terry

[Noggins]

If possible I always start from the top, that way the kick gathers intensity as it travels down the line.

Many years ago I had a problem with C'Link regarding pension.
They were asserting I hadn't supplied papers, which I had, and received receipts for.
This went on for a while till I showed up at the Local Office with ALL My Papers in a milk crate on a small luggage trolley.
The "officer" in charge, when asked to go through and copy every paper and give me a receipt suddenly found a solution, right there on her computer.
Sometimes the sheer mass of Bull##it does weigh the argument in your favour when presented in live form.


Ron

[dapope]

I started to apply for the aged pension, but in the end was overwhelmed by the bullshit I was required to declare.
Back to work Monday.

[Greynomad]

Maybe the answer is to make some of these people apply to their own department to receive their wages...

[T1 Terry]

Maybe the answer is to make some of these people apply to their own department to receive their wages...

This is actually part of the problem. The public facing staff must apply for their contract to be renewed each employment period .... can you imagine the paperwork involved there ..... then there is a limit to how many times that can apply/hold the same position .... this one seems to be aimed at not allowing the staff member to actually fully understand just how the system really works so they can not offer a smooth path through the maze.

The maze is there to weed out those who haven't the patience to jump through the hoops multiple times without loosing their cool.
A tactic that might work, "I've just spent 12 mths in cycling lockdowns, this is entertainment to me so you won't wear me down that way, but I'm sure those above your bosses boss will no appreciate the kick in the arse if this dept has got it wrong .... are you sure you don't want to double check that there wasn't a stuff up at this end, like asking for the wrong form to be filled out because that form was superseded by another form and there was a form or meeting that was or should have been that explained this ....."
All said in a hushed tone, not a raised voice, so they have to strain to hear what you said .... then they might actually have a better look or just pass you on to someone higher up so they avoid getting their arse kicked .....

T1 Terry

[Dot]

I never stand in their lines, I have on occasions had to drop a bit of paperwork in so with paper in hand I go towards the office peoples desks. When someone walks past I say "excuse me, I was asked to drop this off" hand them the stuff and turn tail and run for it. Works every time.

[supersparky]

I recently applied for a health care card, as we had wandered in when I first retired to see if I was eligible for anything.
At the time I was told to come back in late September, because everything took so long to process and birthday in January. Took all the relevant paperwork in, in late November only to get a reply 3 days later stating not eligible, not old enough. So I had to resubmit everything again last month as nothing was kept on file, because I wasn't old enough at the time. Anyway, I now have a health care card. Dont know how I can use it yet. I was told by a rello that is a public servant that they usually change staff at Centrelink on a regular basis, but havent had the high turnover this past year because of Job keeper or whatever the $1500/fortnight was called.