Trouble with centrelink (2 Viewers)

[dancingskeleton]

Hey. I was wondering if anybody else has been screwed around by centrelink?

I need to move out next year so I'm closer to Tafe. But It will be really difficult to work as I'll be travelling 4 hours a day, and there aren't many jobs in wollongong.

But I'm pretty sure I won't be elligible for Youth Allowance because my parents """earn too much"""". It pisses me off that on paper they may look like they earn a lot, but centrelink don't take into account that they also owe a lot, and that I don't see any of these alleged riches my parents have.

Has anyone else been rejected youth allowance because of their parents income?

Has anyone found a way to fight it?

 

[unluckyinlove07]

yes

you have to become independent of your parents by working for 18 months after finishing school, and earning a minimum of 18k in that time

so maybe in order to get centrelink you will have to delay your education by 1 year

thats what heaps of people do; i know i had to

 

[dancingskeleton]

that seems like such a waste of time though. Because I'm doing tafe this year because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, and I'm doing tafe next year to get into uni, which will take 3 years. I just wanted to get started as soon as possible.. I guess I could do the course part time.

 

[Boxes]

stupid centrelink! bunch of thieves!

 

[chicky_pie]

man don't bother with centrelink, back then when I was 16, everyone around me was like 'i got free money' which made me jealous, so when i tried to apply for youth allowance, i wasn't eligible at all, because of my parents income, so instead I had to work for the money as a 16 year old with shitty pay rate, while everyone gets free money

 

[Hagaren]

Centrelink is shit it is part of what is wrong with today's society. i mean hmm... i could work harder and get more money or i could just keep being a lazy fuck working fuck all hours a week for minimum wage in retail and get money from the government to piss away at the pub on saturday.

The fact that you get given money for being a lazy prick who contributes nothing to society is beyond me. Why should I or anyone else be marginalised due to the fact that they or their parents have worked harder to earn more money than those around them.

Something even worse than this is the assets test, if your family worked hard and payed off their homeloan and/or invests their money as opposed to people who has chosen to rent their whole life you are punished again.

The system is backwards, it effectively punishes people for making the most out of their life. Another point is that the goverment (like many people) are under the impression that just because my parents earn over the income threshhold, that they are actually willing to give any of that money to me.

This injustice extends to the taxation system, tax rates should be the same for all people regardless of their income after the tax free threshhold. Why should you be made to pay $22,000 in tax for earning $90,000 as opposed to someone who earns say $40,000 and only has to pay $6,600 in tax, it's not even an equivalent percentage of each persons respective wage.

Similarly with the luxury car tax, If you work hard enough and are good enough at your job to earn enough money to go and buy an expensive car as opposed to some poor cunt who owns a 5 year old Hyundai Getz, you shouldn't automatically be slapped with a 25% luxury car tax.

Another example of the australian governements discrimination of those who choose to work can be scene in the green energy rebate scheme, where some money is refunded to those who invest in green energy such as solar panels. However if you have a household income of over $100,000 you are ineligible for this rebate. So effectively if your parents are say a nurse and a policeman who have worked in the service for a few years now, it is quite likely that your household income would be above this, yet recent studies have shown that people working and serving the community in these fields can barely afford the costs of living in the areas which they serve. Smart move Mr. Garret.

End of rant.

 

[Boxes]

Centrelink is shit it is part of what is wrong with today's society. i mean hmm... i could work harder and get more money or i could just keep being a lazy fuck working fuck all hours a week for minimum wage in retail and get money from the government to piss away at the pub on saturday.

The fact that you get given money for being a lazy prick who contributes nothing to society is beyond me. Why should I or anyone else be marginalised due to the fact that they or their parents have worked harder to earn more money than those around them.

Something even worse than this is the assets test, if your family worked hard and payed off their homeloan and/or invests their money as opposed to people who has chosen to rent their whole life you are punished again.

The system is backwards, it effectively punishes people for making the most out of their life. Another point is that the goverment (like many people) are under the impression that just because my parents earn over the income threshhold, that they are actually willing to give any of that money to me.

This injustice extends to the taxation system, tax rates should be the same for all people regardless of their income after the tax free threshhold. Why should you be made to pay $22,000 in tax for earning $90,000 as opposed to someone who earns say $40,000 and only has to pay $6,600 in tax, it's not even an equivalent percentage of each persons respective wage.

Similarly with the luxury car tax, If you work hard enough and are good enough at your job to earn enough money to go and buy an expensive car as opposed to some poor cunt who owns a 5 year old Hyundai Getz, you shouldn't automatically be slapped with a 25% luxury car tax.

Another example of the australian governements discrimination of those who choose to work can be scene in the green energy rebate scheme, where some money is refunded to those who invest in green energy such as solar panels. However if you have a household income of over $100,000 you are ineligible for this rebate. So effectively if your parents are say a nurse and a policeman who have worked in the service for a few years now, it is quite likely that your household income would be above this, yet recent studies have shown that people working and serving the community in these fields can barely afford the costs of living in the areas which they serve. Smart move Mr. Garret.

End of rant.

oh man, you live such a sheltered life. the reason why the government gives out welfare payments is to improve our distribution of income, which in turn makes us more internationally competitive. same thing applies to the progressive system of tax.

also, if the government gave you, who is seemingly well off welfare benefits, there'd be less to give to those who deserve it more than you.

 

[Hagaren]

oh man, you live such a sheltered life. the reason why the government gives out welfare payments is to improve our distribution of income, which in turn makes us more internationally competitive. same thing applies to the progressive system of tax.

also, if the government gave you, who is seemingly well off welfare benefits, there'd be less to give to those who deserve it more than you.

-I'm not saying i should necessarilly be given welfare benefits.

-My Mum is a nurse and my Dad works in a factory.

-I criticise the system because i see so many people getting welfare payments that don't either deserve or need them.

-As i said before, the system doesn't account for people who support themselves yet have parent/s earning over the income threshold.

 

[Boxes]

-I'm not saying i should necessarilly be given welfare benefits.

-My Mum is a nurse and my Dad works in a factory.

-I criticise the system because i see so many people getting welfare payments that don't either deserve or need them.

-As i said before, the system doesn't account for people who support themselves yet have parent/s earning over the income threshold.

so, what you're saying is you're unhappy with those who defraud the government into giving them tax benefits? if so, i agree.

however, the government has rigid tests in place to ascertain whether somebody deserves welfare payments or not.

also, at your fourth point. Of course your parents support you! you're living under their roof, you're eating their food, they're paying for your schooling, etc.

 

[Hagaren]

so, what you're saying is you're unhappy with those who defraud the government into giving them tax benefits? if so, i agree.

however, the government has rigid tests in place to ascertain whether somebody deserves welfare payments or not.

also, at your fourth point. Of course your parents support you! you're living under their roof, you're eating their food, they're paying for your schooling, etc.

It's not only fraud. One of my friends his mother went to uni and did nursing so did his father, they both quit to work at a call centre. The reason they earn under the threshold is because they chose to go into a lower paying occupation. Another of my friends his mother is a trained teacher, she got sick of the job and decided to go to casual, but in the end decided to just not work at all as because if she were to work the money she would earn working would be similar to what she could be given by the government for staying at home.

I know my parents support me and what not, but don't be so naive as to think that all parents support their children to the extent that mine or yours may well do, also Youth allowance payments quite often are given directly to the child by their parents, their living expenses are often already taken care of and they use this money for social spending like going out and phone credit etc. where as a child from a more affluent background may be required to get a job to fund his social spending.

Another (and perhaps the biggest) issue here is that I know alot of people whose families earn over the income threshold, but their parents are unable to give them financial support whilst they are at uni which is to the equivalent of what many of their peers recieving youth allowance will be entitled to.

 

[Serius]

there aren't many jobs in wollongong.

what a cop out. Its a city, there are plenty of jobs around if you just open your eyes. What you mean to say is there arent many jobs that you would be willing to do or that pay well enough for your standards.

 

[Peartie]

-I criticise the system because i see so many people getting welfare payments that don't either deserve or need them.

Yes, my parents earn over the threshold but no i got no money from them. I therefore was having 2 work 2 jobs to try and actually have enough money for uni / travel / car / books / everything else i might need. So when i was eligible for Centrelink of course I went for it.

Does it mean that i dont deserve it because I was working 2 jobs and going to Uni just to be able to get enough money to get by, or that I dont need it because my parents are earning to much - I live in the family home but they dont because of their jobs so Im still having to buy food.

I dont see why people rant so much - they get rejected from being given YA so they think the system is stupid, if you need it that much why not just get a job - there are heaps around, then after 18 months of leaving school and working you can get it and you wont care - i know that when i first got rejected i was angry but meh - i think that the system is good - not only encourages people to work but it also encourages students to actually be able study and not have to work full time to be able to afford rent / food / transport etc.

 

[dancingskeleton]

what a cop out. Its a city, there are plenty of jobs around if you just open your eyes. What you mean to say is there arent many jobs that you would be willing to do or that pay well enough for your standards.

Hey that wasn't called for. That is just what I have heard from some of my friends who live there. Including one who had to move back to nowra from wollongong because he couldn't get a job.

I have no idea what jobs there are there, so I'm not considering anything below my standards.

 

[blue_chameleon]

Hagaren, you can do one of two things in the situation you're faced with:

- Get out there and do something about it, or
- Continue whinging on an internet forum and achieve nothing from it.

I fucking hate whingers.

You're not that different from a lot of people.

 

[bregitta]

My parents both have average jobs and have to work very hard for their wages, which are just over the threshold. Why should they be forced to support their "adult" children while they struggle through university?
I spend 33 hours a week at uni, and on top of that I am expected to somehow fit in study and a job. I don't expect my parents to fund my public transport, food funds and other stuff but there's not much choice. Unable to get a decent paying job because of a lack of time to work, I'm forced to work for shit pay in retail, whilst other people out there get this "free money" from the Government, and spend it on shit.
I've got friends that go out the day they get their payments, adding to their shoe collection or stocking up of booze for the next fortnight. Yes, there are students out there that deserve this money (and argue that it's not enough when rent, food, books etc are factored in) but surely there should be better rules regarding who should qualify. I admire the young people that earn over $18k in 18 months, but surely they'd want their taxes going to people that actually deserve it, rather than the morons that prefer to waste it on cigarettes and hookers

 

[blue_chameleon]

My parents both have average jobs and have to work very hard for their wages, which are just over the threshold. Why should they be forced to support their "adult" children while they struggle through university?
I spend 33 hours a week at uni, and on top of that I am expected to somehow fit in study and a job. I don't expect my parents to fund my public transport, food funds and other stuff but there's not much choice. Unable to get a decent paying job because of a lack of time to work, I'm forced to work for shit pay in retail, whilst other people out there get this "free money" from the Government, and spend it on shit.
I've got friends that go out the day they get their payments, adding to their shoe collection or stocking up of booze for the next fortnight. Yes, there are students out there that deserve this money (and argue that it's not enough when rent, food, books etc are factored in) but surely there should be better rules regarding who should qualify. I admire the young people that earn over $18k in 18 months, but surely they'd want their taxes going to people that actually deserve it, rather than the morons that prefer to waste it on cigarettes and hookers

There is no force. That's the thing.

Lol at last sentence. Haha. Hookers.

 

[Eclipse008]

People are so naive

Sure, there are some people who spend their money on crap, but deal with it.
Centrelink is my only income currently. I use that money to pay electricity, food, medical etc and it's hard. I started work young, so I managed to save enough so that I could take off a few months during the HSC. The only thing my mother helps me with is a roof over my head. Obviously if she could help out more she would, but this isn't possible.

Try and make ends meet with jus 350 a fortnight. It's a fricken joke.
I get Centrelink because my Mum can't afford to support me. If your parents are over the threshold, obviously they can. Tell them to suck it up. No one forced them to have kids.

 

[lala2]

The principle behind Centrelink is good--it's to help those that need it. But there are people who will always abuse the system. Maybe I'm not very creative, but can you think of a better way of measuring who potentially deserves this money than parental income? The only other way, as they do do it, is to prove you're independent.

I know someone, he's insane but he did full time Engineering/Commerce and worked three (maybe four?) jobs simultaneously and earned 16k in those 18 months. He made up the last 2k by saying he carried out approved activities, such as volunteering and clubs and socs at uni. Then again, he did skip half his lectures.

So unless you're taking a very heavy demand course, working multiple jobs is one way of doing it. And of course, jobs that pay well, so that you can work less to accumulate the same amount of money. Join a club or two at TAFE if there are any, or do some volunteer work in case you just miss the cutoff, like my friend did.

 

[nopody9876]

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[Peartie]

if you have a disability the claims for independence are either lowered or waived...look into it