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Post by Banjo on Jun 22, 2012 6:48:07 GMT 7
3 weeks ago when visiting CL to reset my portibility I was told .... we are going to review portibilty status ... after girl at the desk seemed out of her depth on DSP rules a supervisor was called to assist doing the review. After asking about a dozen questions, the supervisor informed me that as I spent most of my last 18mths overseas she had no choice but to cancel my payments if I was to return overseas (by the way I am only 6months away from OAP). I told her that I had already purchased a return airfare overseas, on hearing that she said I could ask for an appeal, where an officer would look at my case again before any final decision was made and until that process which may take 2days to 2months to occur, plus my payments would continue until that process had been reviwed. At that point she also told me I would get many letters regarding her review etc. On asking ? what happens to my portibility in the mean time, she said that it was not possible for her to compute that and she would just make a note on my file that I was overseas. Since leaving Aust I have not received even one letter regarding portibility reviews, only the normal statements, nobody as yet has called me, so Im wondering what the hell happened, has the system dropped me, or is it the lull before the storm. Anyone else had same experience ? maybe there was a computer error where the first review never was tranmitted to the relevant department. Got me confused as to what to expect. Keep an eye on your bank account in case they cut you off but I don't think they will, they should give you a month or even the rest of your portability period to return. If this happens and they follow what seems to be their current procedure your payments will then be reinstated pending your appeal against their decision. I'm in a similar position to you with about a year to go for the OAP and when they told me not to leave again I stayed in Australia for 3 or 4 months (which suited me due to family issues) then asked to go away for a shorter period which they OK'd. My worst case scenario now is when I go back they won't let me leave again until I'm on the OAP. (Assuming I fail the new portability assessment).
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Post by scuzzy on Jun 22, 2012 7:33:59 GMT 7
3 weeks ago when visiting CL to reset my portibility I was told .... we are going to review portibilty status ... after girl at the desk seemed out of her depth on DSP rules a supervisor was called to assist doing the review. After asking about a dozen questions, the supervisor informed me that as I spent most of my last 18mths overseas she had no choice but to cancel my payments if I was to return overseas (by the way I am only 6months away from OAP). I told her that I had already purchased a return airfare overseas, on hearing that she said I could ask for an appeal, where an officer would look at my case again before any final decision was made and until that process which may take 2days to 2months to occur, plus my payments would continue until that process had been reviwed. At that point she also told me I would get many letters regarding her review etc. On asking ? what happens to my portibility in the mean time, she said that it was not possible for her to compute that and she would just make a note on my file that I was overseas. Since leaving Aust I have not received even one letter regarding portibility reviews, only the normal statements, nobody as yet has called me, so Im wondering what the hell happened, has the system dropped me, or is it the lull before the storm. Anyone else had same experience ? maybe there was a computer error where the first review never was tranmitted to the relevant department. Got me confused as to what to expect. I wonder if there was another reason why they suddenly backed off? For instance, I know of someone who was grandfathered (given unlimited portability for life in 2004 in exchange for their Australian resident status), but didn't realise it at the time, because no-one explained it to them. This person then continued to shuttle back and forth in keeping with the 13 week rule, when in fact they hadn't needed too. They didn't realise till years later (can you imagine how they felt!) And of course, when they came back to renew portability and reported to Centrelink, they didn't say to this person "Umm, by the way, did you know you don't have to be doing this?". You see, that would have been the decent and right thing to do, which isn't part of Centrelink's charter. If you were on DSP in 2004, I'd starting looking at whether or not you could have been Grandfathered and not realised it.
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Post by Banjo on Jun 22, 2012 8:49:43 GMT 7
I most certainly should have been grandfathered back then and also when the legislation changed earlier than that... 2001? I never even knew there was such a thing until I became involved with DSPoverseas.
And, no, they won't make it retrospective.
A key point in my response to the Centrelink Investigator before he cut me off last year when he told me I hadn't been a resident for more than 10 years was... "well if I wasn't a resident in 2004 then why wasn't I grandfathered?"
Pearls before swine.
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Post by anotherdsp on Jun 22, 2012 17:19:27 GMT 7
to banjo,i have been told i was grandfathered,so where do i stand on the portability? is it automaticially given?? with grandfathering??
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Post by Banjo on Jun 22, 2012 17:49:30 GMT 7
It was last given in 2004 I think... If you're grandfathered you can come and go as you please, but make sure you are.
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Post by anotherdsp on Jun 22, 2012 18:05:12 GMT 7
to banjo, when i had my last dodgy JCA they reinstated my pension because the ARO officer told me that even though the jca said 15 hrs work ,she had to reinstate me as i was grandfathered?? so should they still be hassiling me with this residency thing at the moment?? i am under the 30hr rule??
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Post by scuzzy on Jun 22, 2012 18:30:11 GMT 7
to banjo,i have been told i was grandfathered,so where do i stand on the portability? is it automaticially given?? with grandfathering?? Like Banjo says, you've got to make sure you were and still are grandfathered. Also, if you don't belong to the particular demographic for whom the grandfathering was actually designed, they may try all kinds of dirty tricks to snatch it back off you, and snatch you back as a resident, so tread carefully even if you are grandfathered. If you were grandfathered in 2004, you'll know because since then you will have been able to stay o/s for as long as you wanted past the 13 week portability period and still gotten paid. As long as you have never come back to Australia for more than 26 weeks at a time, or unless Centrelink have ever tricked you into verbally declaring that you had come back to Australia to live, then you still should be grandfathered. Probably the best thing to do is request a copy of you file via FOI (freedom of information). Go through it and look for references such as 'customer is saved under 2004 rules' or 'saved case'. I personally wouldn't recommend ringing Centrelink and asking them if you've been grandfathered. I could see that suddenly turning out bad for you. I would try to establish the facts independently, and then only approaching Centrelink once you are confident you know what your status is. Once you've assembled the paperwork, you could give welfare rights a ring and run it past them. It's not easy to figure out if you are grandfathered or not. If you have been grandfathered, you already have unlimited portability for life. But like I said in an earlier post, some people had grandfathering but lost it because they weren't made aware of their status and were tricked out of it by Centrelink. I suppose you've also got to weigh up your circumstances. If you are grandfathered, you also aren't considered an Australian resident. Is that something that could come back and bite you later? There is a lot to weigh up, so make sure you step back, take a look at the big picture, then make an informed decision that suits your current and future needs the best. You don't want to make a decision based on what suits you now only to have that decision foul you up in a big way later on. Your health as you get older is probably the main thing to think about. Remember you loose concession and medicare card, plus some of the pension payment add-ons, plus your payment is proportionalised depending on your AWLR (Australian Working Life Residency), and the time you spend as a grandfathered non-resident also affects your overall AWLR, which could affect you later if you had to go onto OAP (old age pension) later. If you ever had to come back to Australia for some reason and ended up having to stay more than the 26 weeks, that's when your life would suddenly turn upside down when you are branded a 'former non-resident' and you are slapped with restrictions. Have a good look through the 'Guide to Social Security Law' online about the ins and outs of being grandfathered (or saved as they also call it).
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Post by spaceyone on Jun 22, 2012 19:15:51 GMT 7
to banjo, when i had my last dodgy JCA they reinstated my pension because the ARO officer told me that even though the jca said 15 hrs work ,she had to reinstate me as i was grandfathered?? so should they still be hassiling me with this residency thing at the moment?? i am under the 30hr rule?? If you were already grandfathered, then yes, you are safe and they should not be scaring and teasing you.
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Post by anotherdsp on Jun 22, 2012 20:32:03 GMT 7
ok my file has arrived in aust,i will have to read it when i get home.my brother is looking at it but it is 22cm thick and he said it was quite confusing!!? maybe i can ring the aro guy and ask him?? lol
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Post by howdo on Jul 24, 2012 9:10:11 GMT 7
Guys, if your DSP is stopped while you are overseas, can you stay overseas and go through your appeals process from there?
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Post by Banjo on Jul 24, 2012 9:16:31 GMT 7
They should give you a certain amount of time to return before your pension is actually cut off. I can't see why you can't stay out of the country for the appeals process if you can afford it.
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Post by howdo on Jul 24, 2012 9:28:49 GMT 7
Thanks Banjo, It just seems to me you would be better of surviving in Asia than oz if they've cut your money off.
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Post by zorro1 on Jul 24, 2012 10:31:59 GMT 7
Guys, if your DSP is stopped while you are overseas, can you stay overseas and go through your appeals process from there? generally as far as I am aware you must be in OZ for any new procedure , but since you wont know your outcome you would be free to leave straight away after the application.
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Post by crotts83 on Nov 12, 2015 16:35:50 GMT 7
Hi all, just have a quick question in regards to my appeal regarding dsp cancellation. Would I be better off asking for payment pending appeal or just going on newstart. The reason I ask this is I have fears centrelink might ask for the money back as a debt if I loose my ARO appeal.
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Post by Banjo on Nov 12, 2015 20:11:49 GMT 7
You're only going have to pay it back at about $20 a fortnight if you lose. If you go on N/S you may end up running around doing the Job Center stuff.
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