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Post by raff on May 10, 2012 1:07:52 GMT 7
Hi, Ive been doing some reading in here and I noticed that the govt will be treating those judged to have a severe disability with no future work prospects differently to your average dsp recipient.
I am wondering how exactly to go about getting myself into this category?? Is it based on the points in the tables??
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Post by Banjo on May 10, 2012 4:29:55 GMT 7
There's copies of the impairment tables here, but a lot will depend on what Centrelink has in your file when you went on the DSP. You can ask them what your impairment rating is or ask for your file under the FOI Act. I can't see any reason why they wouldn't give it to you unless you come across someone who just can't be bothered or doesn't know how to find it.
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Post by spaceyone on May 10, 2012 7:49:50 GMT 7
The severity of your disability, and your work capacity, has in recent years been determined by a Job Capacity Assessment. This is often organised if you put in a medical certificate while on welfare payments, or if you apply for DSP. You can ask C/L for a copy of the report from your most recent JCA, it will contain the information you need. Prior to that system, I think severity of disability was determined by whoever approved your DSP. They did not look at work capacity back then. If you have been on DSP for many years, you might never have had a JCA. That makes it a bit harder for C/L to find the information for you, but it is recorded somewhere within your records. Most JCA reports no longer require an official FOI request. They can be obtained by contacting C/L by phone, or in person, and asking for a copy. It can be printed out and given to you on the spot if you go to a branch to get it. If they have things to hide, they will become coy about the report, or their rating of you. Then you will have to start making official requests. If they try to hide one document from you, then request a copy of your whole file. You will be able to find the information yourself then, and find out what they have been up to behind your back. To make an official FOI request for your records, and or file, use the online form at this link: www.humanservices.gov.au/corporate/freedom-of-information/Request: "All customer contact records for the period ? to ?, and all JCA reports."
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Post by raff on May 10, 2012 8:46:17 GMT 7
Thanks for that.
I was sent to a job network sort of place maybe 18 months ago for an assesment and was told that I was pretty much a lost cause and they wouldn't be hassling me again. Do you think this pretty much means I fit the description of a severe disability or merely that the job network folks didn't want to waste their time on me without the probability of getting a payout for finding me a job??
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Post by spaceyone on May 10, 2012 9:12:00 GMT 7
Thanks for that. I was sent to a job network sort of place maybe 18 months ago for an assesment and was told that I was pretty much a lost cause and they wouldn't be hassling me again. Do you think this pretty much means I fit the description of a severe disability or merely that the job network folks didn't want to waste their time on me without the probability of getting a payout for finding me a job?? It could be either. Some job network places did have JCA assessors working out of their offices, or had a disability worker employed to assess the person for their own reasons. Your appointment might have been with a JCA assessor, which means there will be a JCA report about you, on file with Centrelink. Phone them up and ask them if there is one listed for you, and if so, request a copy of it. If the assessment was just for in-house reasons, it does still help your case, but not in the form of documentation you can easily access. However, their assessor would have had access to Centrelink's ratings of your illness, and so might have based their summation of you on that. Again, that means it is already recorded that you are unable to work - at all. Some members have been given their rating over the phone, just by calling Centrelink. Give that a try first and see what they say. Once you have established the severity of your illness, to their satisfaction, then you can start tackling the rest of your business with them.
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Post by howdo on May 14, 2012 7:09:15 GMT 7
I have come across a report I thought I had lost a long time ago. It was from a specialist in rehab, who stated he did not think I had any capacity for any employment. I dont believe C/L have a copy of this and I wish to use it to challenge my job capacity assessment report.
My JCA report has me capable of 8 to 14hrs work capacity a week (what a joke.) I wish to now challenge this, how am I best going about this? I think asking for my FOI records would be a start, but should I give them a copy of this document now or should I only show it to them once a meeting is organised.
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Post by spaceyone on May 14, 2012 7:30:49 GMT 7
I have come across a report I thought I had lost a long time ago. It was from a specialist in rehab, who stated he did not think I had any capacity for any employment. I dont believe C/L have a copy of this and I wish to use it to challenge my job capacity assessment report. My JCA report has me capable of 8 to 14hrs work capacity a week (what a joke.) I wish to now challenge this, how am I best going about this? I think asking for my FOI records would be a start, but should I give them a copy of this document now or should I only show it to them once a meeting is organised. Hmmmmm. This could get very interesting Howdo. There would be a lot of our members who have been classed as being able to work just enough to deny them unlimited portability. Challenging the ratings might be something a lot of us might need to do, in the near future. I don't think that just handing the document to Centrelink will change anything. I also think they would try to discount it since you said it was old. However, to change your work capacity rating, you would have to do so by way of a new Job Capacity Assessment interview, presenting the document to that person, and challenging the rating with that person. Centrelink has the power to overrule any rating given by a JCA officer, by the way. I think we need to find the way, to generate a new JCA for people already on DSP. They are usually booked when someone lodges a medical certificate excusing them from work. Since we are already on DSP, which used to excuse us from same, technically we have no need to lodge one. However, if you did .... and then demanded a JCA, you might get somewhere. You could argue that your GP has provided you with the MC, since C/L seem to be under the impression that you are well enough to work. The only other chance we would have to argue the rating, is at a review. Since the dates for these are not set for people who have been on it for a long time, then you should have the right to demand one now. You could argue that you want your rating changed, before new laws come in requiring us to work, so that you are not sent out to work and sustain an injury.
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Post by howdo on May 14, 2012 7:52:18 GMT 7
I may make a phone call and see what they say. I also have the phone number of the JCA who saw me, maybe ringing her direct might help. Any input appreciated guys. Am I going into uncharted waters here?
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Post by raff on May 15, 2012 2:57:23 GMT 7
I want to thank you guys so much for just being here. I went to C/L the other day and requested a copy of my JCA. They told me that they need to get hold of it from the archives or whatever and that it will take perhaps a couple of weeks. Now once i have a copy of that whaqt exactly am I looking for to qualify myself for unlimited portability??
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Post by Banjo on May 15, 2012 4:40:09 GMT 7
I made a call to Centrelink about this yesterday. I spoke to the guy who appears to be running the show and he said there will be assessment forms come out next month. He seemed to think the criteria will be quite tight, as little as 2 hours work capability a week whatever that means. If you want to talk to him personally give me a PM by using the little file icon under my board name as I prefer not to name individual Centrelink officers in the open forum.
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Post by spaceyone on May 15, 2012 7:21:29 GMT 7
I may make a phone call and see what they say. I also have the phone number of the JCA who saw me, maybe ringing her direct might help. Any input appreciated guys. Am I going into uncharted waters here? Yes, Howdo, I think you will be going into unchartered waters. Maybe people have argued against their rating before, but we are not aware of it. C/L always claim that we have the right to appeal any decision we do not agree with, therefore, JCA ratings must be included in that. One would have to be careful that it did not backfire, and they reduce your rating instead, as punishment for daring to argue. However, if you have the documentation, and the testimony from trained medical professionals to back you up, I don't see how they can defend an unfair, and inaccurate, medical rating. Especially considering that some of us are being sent to dodgy JCA's with social workers, who have no real medical knowledge, overruling their opinion should be easy. If you can get some information on how to set this process in motion, of arguing one's rating, then we will all follow suit and really annoy them. Obviously though, it isn't a joking matter. Being sent out to work when not medically fit for it, can result in serious injury or death. We have the right to defend ourselves from being sent into further illhealth, as far as I can see.
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Post by spaceyone on May 15, 2012 7:28:58 GMT 7
I want to thank you guys so much for just being here. I went to C/L the other day and requested a copy of my JCA. They told me that they need to get hold of it from the archives or whatever and that it will take perhaps a couple of weeks. Now once i have a copy of that whaqt exactly am I looking for to qualify myself for unlimited portability?? If it is in the form of a JCA assessment, the report will detail the information you need. It will have assigned your condition a points rating, and a guess at how many hours a work you might be able to do. It will explain the reasoning processes they used to come to their conclusion, and will list all of the medical information they used to assess you. Always check that they did take all of your evidence into consideration, and if not, use that to challenge their assessment. If you were assessed before the JCA system, they must have a document which contains your rating, as per your original assessment. It might be in the form of a wording rather than a number, ie, severe, moderate, etc. Read through it all. You might find that they have changed your rating in the meantime, without informing you. Or they might be pretending that your condition has improved over the years. You won't know, until you read it. Then you are equipped to challenge it.
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Post by howdo on May 15, 2012 9:13:25 GMT 7
Jeez I'm getting pissed of with this. Every time I ring C/L I'm waiting for half an hour then my phone goes dead. This is ridiculous, if I cant get through today I'm going in to their office. What a joke.
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Post by Banjo on May 15, 2012 10:59:33 GMT 7
Welcome to the budget cuts.
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Post by zorro1 on May 15, 2012 11:16:55 GMT 7
you might want to try +61 3 6222 2799 Int. get skype and leave it on speaker and go do the washing
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