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Gig work
Dec 16, 2022 10:34:06 GMT 7
via mobile
Post by embarrassed on Dec 16, 2022 10:34:06 GMT 7
Hi, new member here. Long term unemployed on Disability Pension for severe mental health issues.
I've gotten myself to a place, health-wise, where I think I can do a little bit of low stress, low risk work and would like to try my hand at online transcription which is considered gig work.
With transcription work the pay will vary and some weeks I may not do any work at all (health permitting). I will need an ABN as I'll be considered a contractor.
Has anyone here got experience with gig work on the DSP? I'm scared of robodebt experiences and wonder if a few extra bucks a week is worth the hassle of dealing with Centrelink? I don't trust them to not screw me over somehow and I can't afford to lose my payment or I'll be destitute.
If I do decide to go ahead and apply to some online companies I will phone Centrelink soon as well to confirm how to report my income (I'm clueless). But first I'd love to hear your experiences before I do, so that I have a clear head about it all.
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Post by mspurple on Dec 16, 2022 10:51:22 GMT 7
Welcome I am hoping to find out some more also, tasjo told me that having the ABN means less centrelink paperwork and reporting which definitely sounds like the way to go for me as I am hopeless with paperwork. Hopefully tasjo or bear will answer your query soon.
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Post by Banjo on Dec 16, 2022 16:12:05 GMT 7
Welcome to the forum embarrassed, hopefully someone will have some advice soon.
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Post by latindancer on Dec 17, 2022 9:48:53 GMT 7
JUst ease into it slowly, Embarrassed. You should be fine, and will learn the ropes easily enough. I had no problems reporting or payments withheld, and I did part-time (though not gig) work over a ten year period. I too was hopeless with paperwork, but after learning how to do stuff at first, all you have to do is repeat that every fortnight.
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Post by mspurple on Dec 17, 2022 13:07:22 GMT 7
JUst ease into it slowly, Embarrassed. You should be fine, and will learn the ropes easily enough. I had no problems reporting or payments withheld, and I did part-time (though not gig) work over a ten year period. I too was hopeless with paperwork, but after learning how to do stuff at first, all you have to do is repeat that every fortnight. My understanding is having an ABN makes it a bit easier and less of a stuff about, if I understood correctly, the info tasjo told me was that with ABN you do the reporting less often and it works out better for you if you say earn a heap one week but then nothing for a few weeks- having the ABN changes how you report and how often they alter payments to fix up correct income. I know when I had to report fortnightly for work when I was on carers and parenting pension my pay was always a mess making budgeting a full time job and often they wanted me to report my income before I even knew how many hours I would be working and what I was getting paid- it was honestly a nightmare. For other people I knew who had set hours and set pay for those hours it was not so much of a headache and their pays were never messed up. I would not go back to reporting altering amounts fortnightly again as it left me without more often than not and hanging for my next pay.
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Post by embarrassed on Dec 18, 2022 6:58:58 GMT 7
Thank you for the warm welcome and for sharing your insights. It's a relief to hear you have had no issues reporting inconsistent income, latindancer. I think @mspurple is probably right that an ABN offers an extra layer of "protection" in this situation since a business, by it's very nature, makes inconsistent income. @mspurple, my sister-in-law also had a lot of problems reporting her income on Newstart with a casual job, every pay period there would be a screw up. I think I spooked myself reading the stories coming out of the Royal Commission, but hopefully those days are behind us. To be honest, I'm mostly afraid of a review and the stress that comes with all that, but I have been on the DSP for a good chunk of my life and I'm over 35 which I think works in my favour.
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Post by tasjo on Dec 18, 2022 17:36:40 GMT 7
Hi embarrassed and welcome to the forum,
I will talk with a friend who is on carers payment as my information is based on running a business that I don't work in myself but from my perspective having an ABN works a lot easier than fortnightly reporting.
However, I would be speaking to someone - maybe a small business advisory service (there are quite a lot that are free), just to make sure you understand what your obligations are.
You might also get the information you need by speaking with the Financial Information Service Officers (FISO) at Centrelink. When I last spoke with them you could make an appt either by phone or in person and discuss how certain situations would affect your pension.
Also speak to Centrelink in general but word the questions to get the answers you need and ask for them to be sent to you in writing:
For example: I am considering working as a sole trader, with an ABN, could you confirm what the income threshold is and how often it would need to be reported?
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Post by embarrassed on Dec 20, 2022 15:46:48 GMT 7
Hi tasjo, thank you! That is very valuable advice. I will have to wait until new year now but I will definitely be contacting those places you mentioned. Happy holidays, everyone.
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Post by embarrassed on Jan 13, 2023 8:23:53 GMT 7
Hi everyone. I just wanted to report back my findings, especially for mspurple who was also interested. I spoke to Centrelink - not sure if it was actually a Financial Officer, as I was redirected to him - but he was very knowledgeable and helpful. He was very kind about my fears of not being able to maintain work with my mental health condition and assured me that even if I found a full-time job that caused me to exceed the allowed earnings my Disability Pension would stay in a suspended state for two years as a safety net. Anyway, the summary of the call is this: When I decide to start working I will need to fill out a MOD F form to inform Centrelink about my new venture. After that I need to fill out their Profit & Loss form (SU580) every 3 months for the first 12 months. He said they aren't interested in the SU580 being filed after that time but I will do it for my personal records anyway. He advised I ring them back after I have lodged the MOD F just to make sure it gets approved in a timely fashion as a precaution. He didn't want to answer any tax questions I had as it's safer to get the info straight from the ATO, so I will contact them too if and when I get started/have questions. Thanks so much for your guidance, everyone.
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Post by tasjo on Jan 13, 2023 17:17:14 GMT 7
Embarrassed - that's really good news, and a consistent response from Centrelink is always good
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