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Post by happyjack on Nov 24, 2013 8:34:26 GMT 7
Hi one and all,
I am in the process of preparing to apply for Indefinite Portability and would like to know if I can access a copy of a Job Capacity Assessment that was conducted by Centrelink in April 2011. The JCA was required because Centrelink made a decision to cancel my DSP, claiming in a phone interview that I was no longer considered eligible as I had failed to attend an interview and they made an assessment in the negative for me. I immediately appealed and it was re-instated subject to a fresh JCA being completed. My appeal was successful as a result of the new JCA and my pension re-instated. When I advised my Doctor what had happened he advised me not to worry and duly sent in his report. The Independent Assessor also indicated to me that it was obvious that my condition was still relevant and that C/L had erred in cancelling. She also said I may be re-assessed again after 2 years. That was 2 years and 6 months ago.
As far as I am aware my condition is permanent and will never improve. Prior to applying for indefinite Portability I want to cover all basis and if I could see that assessment it would help my decision on lodging my application at the earliest opportunity.
regards,
happyjack
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Post by Banjo on Nov 24, 2013 9:25:05 GMT 7
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2013 9:28:45 GMT 7
l was wondering can l ask my doctor for a copy of the orginal medical report he filled out when l first applied for the DSP , do the doctors keep a copy on record or do you need to ask centrelink for that, l guess it will come in handy if bloody ABbott starts re-assessing everyone next year
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Post by aussieinusa on Nov 24, 2013 17:22:45 GMT 7
l was wondering can l ask my doctor for a copy of the orginal medical report he filled out when l first applied for the DSP , do the doctors keep a copy on record or do you need to ask centrelink for that, l guess it will come in handy if bloody ABbott starts re-assessing everyone next year You can ask, but it's unlikely; most doctors don't keep copies of them. CL do, though. It's in your file, so you can get it through a FOI request, as Banjo mentioned above. |
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Post by aussieinusa on Nov 24, 2013 18:14:13 GMT 7
I am in the process of preparing to apply for Indefinite Portability and would like to know if I can access a copy of a Job Capacity Assessment that was conducted by Centrelink in April 2011. [...] As far as I am aware my condition is permanent and will never improve. Prior to applying for indefinite Portability I want to cover all basis and if I could see that assessment it would help my decision on lodging my application at the earliest opportunity. Welcome to the forum, happyjack. One thing you need to be aware of: CL (Centrelink) brought in new Impairment Tables in July 2011, so your last assessment was under the old tables. Impairment Tables are the documents they use internally to create a standard benchmark of who's 'disabled enough' to get DSP. The new ones are much tougher than the old ones; they were designed by actuaries to make about 40% of people who were eligible under the old tables ineligible. There's more info about it, and a link to download the new tables here: dspoverseas.proboards.com/thread/529It means people who've been on DSP a while and haven't been assessed since before July 2011 face a kind of double-jeopardy in applying for IP (indefinite portability): the worst-case scenario if you do apply isn't that you simply don't get IP and have to stay in Australia; it's that you can be re-assessed as 'not disabled enough for DSP' and find yourself on Newstart instead. That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply; there are a growing number of people on here who've applied and got it. But you do need to familiarise yourself with those new tables first, and make sure you're 'disabled enough' under the new rules. If you're not, or you think your case might be borderline, you need to think carefully about whether it's worth the risk. |
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Post by happyjack on Nov 24, 2013 23:55:00 GMT 7
I am in the process of preparing to apply for Indefinite Portability and would like to know if I can access a copy of a Job Capacity Assessment that was conducted by Centrelink in April 2011. [...] As far as I am aware my condition is permanent and will never improve. Prior to applying for indefinite Portability I want to cover all basis and if I could see that assessment it would help my decision on lodging my application at the earliest opportunity. Welcome to the forum, happyjack. One thing you need to be aware of: CL (Centrelink) brought in new Impairment Tables in July 2011, so your last assessment was under the old tables. Impairment Tables are the documents they use internally to create a standard benchmark of who's 'disabled enough' to get DSP. The new ones are much tougher than the old ones; they were designed by actuaries to make about 40% of people who were eligible under the old tables ineligible. There's more info about it, and a link to download the new tables here: dspoverseas.proboards.com/thread/529It means people who've been on DSP a while and haven't been assessed since before July 2011 face a kind of double-jeopardy in applying for IP (indefinite portability): the worst-case scenario if you do apply isn't that you simply don't get IP and have to stay in Australia; it's that you can be re-assessed as 'not disabled enough for DSP' and find yourself on Newstart instead. That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply; there are a growing number of people on here who've applied and got it. But you do need to familiarise yourself with those new tables first, and make sure you're 'disabled enough' under the new rules. If you're not, or you think your case might be borderline, you need to think carefully about whether it's worth the risk. Excellent advice thanks aussieinusa and exactly what I am concerned about. Just wondering the best way to approach it. Have looked at the new tables and it will get down to interpretation. I am conservative by nature and think I will ok, but am also a realist and am sure if C/L can knock me out of the system they will. Currently I am in Victoria and the 2 Doctors who know all my history and have provided previous reports are in Perth. Been thinking about making a trip back to Perth next year and making an appointment with my Doctor and discussing it with him. Alternatively have thought about getting my file under Freedom of Information. My instincts say doing the former as my Doctors have always been very supportive throught my ordeal. What do you think if you don't mind me asking? |
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Post by Banjo on Nov 25, 2013 8:08:04 GMT 7
Nobody here minds anyone asking questions Jack, we have all been helped by other members and we like to pass it on.
When you go to your assessment make sure the officer sees you as you are on a normal day for you.
Human nature is to impress officialdom, tell them exactly how it is and hide nothing.
You've seen the tables for your disability, you know how "severe" is defined.
Is they see you doing something you claim you cannot do then you're history.
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Post by aussieinusa on Nov 26, 2013 7:23:54 GMT 7
Currently I am in Victoria and the 2 Doctors who know all my history and have provided previous reports are in Perth. Been thinking about making a trip back to Perth next year and making an appointment with my Doctor and discussing it with him. Alternatively have thought about getting my file under Freedom of Information. My instincts say doing the former as my Doctors have always been very supportive throught my ordeal. What do you think if you don't mind me asking? Personally, I have a medical file I've built up over many years, so any time I'm asked to prove my condition I can whip out years of emergency room discharge reports, surgical reports, doctors letters/medical certificates, ultrasounds, pathology results etc. If you can find any of the above amongst paperwork you still have, gather it all together to take with you. Additionally, in your position, I would take a trip to Medicare and get a printout showing all the healthcare visits you've claimed for, going back as many years as possible. By itself, this doesn't prove disability... but it does mean that when you go to a new doctor, you have something that proves you've had years of medical treatment for your condition, so they don't have to make a decision whether to take your word for it. Another helpful thing to know is that doctors send letters to each other. Any time your GP referred you to a specialist, the specialist would've sent them back a letter saying, "thanks for referring X to me" and then summarising, in a paragraph or two, their findings. Getting hold of those letters is much more useful than getting hold of your whole file from your old doctors, since they have a very concise summary of your condition. That doesn't require a trip to WA, either; get on the phone to your old doctor's secretary, explain your situation, and ask them really nicely to help you out by photocopying those letters in your file and posting or faxing them to you. You're going to need a new doctor's report filled in, and ideally new specialist reports, too... but taking a small file of documentation to someone new will get you much better results than turning up empty-handed. I do urge you to do the FOI request too. It's handled by an entirely separate section than anything else CL does, so it really won't have any downside for you. (I worked for a federal govt agency before my health crapped out on me, and the records management staff are frankly always a bit marginalised in govt departments.) Hope all that helps, and good luck! |
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Post by aussieinusa on Nov 26, 2013 7:35:17 GMT 7
If they see you doing something you claim you cannot do then you're history. Yes, they still don't seem to understand that many of our medical conditions are variable: we have the odd 'good day' when we can suddenly do something, just for that day, which we haven't been able to do for months or years (and often we make the most of it)... or we can technically do whatever it is, we're just gonna pay for it in a big way for days, weeks or even months afterwards. For example, as well as my other medical issues, I have coeliac disease. I could, technically, eat a piece of bread in front of you and look OK. I'd then have to leave dinner early, but if you were choosing to not believe me that gluten really does make me sick, you'd tell yourself I just had an early appointment the next day or was in a bad mood or something, even if I said "I got glutened, I feel rotten, I have to go". You wouldn't see that I spent all that night in the bathroom (last time I got glutened, the friend I was staying with actually knocked on the bathroom door at 3am to check I hadn't died in there!) or the few days in bed afterwards, or the achey joints and fatigue that last for a week or two afterwards. So some people still believe we're making it up for attention, or BS like that. Same thing applies to a lot of medical conditions. You've seen those videos on A Current Affair where a dude with a bad back gets video'ed lifting his grandkid one day by a private detective CL hired? Even if he spent the next week in bed paying for it, the 30 seconds he carried the kid 'proves' he's been making up the spinal condition all along, negating anything doctors and x-rays say. Even if he was getting said kid out of the middle of the road so they weren't hit by a car, the guy's still screwed when it comes to DSP. Obviously if he can lift a kid once in an emergency, he can lift bricks all day on a building site all day again, right? Don't be that guy. |
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