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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 9:02:03 GMT 7
Welcome back Spacey, I sure have missed you girl. Banjo is still a grumpy old sod always out looking at Churches and temples. ...and going a bit senile....SSHHHhhh about that though it not common knowledge. I hope everything goes OK for your son. Hi Banker. Thanks mate. Hope you are keeping yourself well, and out of trouble. Oh ... well then at least Back to help you guys kick some C/L butts Good to see you back Spaceyone, and dreadfully sorry to hear about your son's arm; so I sincerely hope all goes well in the very near future for the both of you:) BTW: That's the best Avatar I've ever seen; it reminds me of Monty Pythons rabbit, love it:) Be Safe...
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Post by Banjo on May 14, 2013 10:31:51 GMT 7
You can certainly ask for the decision to be reviewed as soon as the officer speaks to you on the phone.
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Post by spaceyone on May 14, 2013 11:20:28 GMT 7
You can certainly ask for the decision to be reviewed as soon as the officer speaks to you on the phone. Yes, the phone call is good enough for us to get started with. I just hope they can find the application, and its rejection, when I ring to lodge the appeal. Wouldn't be surprised if I can't lodge one, because they have no records of it ever have been made.
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Post by spaceyone on May 14, 2013 11:23:34 GMT 7
Hi Banker. Thanks mate. Hope you are keeping yourself well, and out of trouble. Oh ... well then at least Back to help you guys kick some C/L butts Good to see you back Spaceyone, and dreadfully sorry to hear about your son's arm; so I sincerely hope all goes well in the very near future for the both of you:) BTW: That's the best Avatar I've ever seen; it reminds me of Monty Pythons rabbit, love it:) Be Safe... Thanks Cheetal. I love Monty Python, always have. My avatar reflects what I think Centrelink does to people, turns them from nice happy bunnies, into savage beasts in a bad mood
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Post by Banjo on May 14, 2013 17:01:27 GMT 7
I think it's because most things CAN be sorted out on the phone. I refused to use it for years but haven't noticed any difference since I have. You want everything in writing you could be waiting for ever, they do form letters ok, anything different it's like writing to an MP, three months for a reply if you are lucky.
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Post by Banjo on May 14, 2013 18:27:27 GMT 7
OK Maxi, I can see where you are coming from. What you refer to is one of the most complex situations Centrelink have to deal with, and one of the most often fraudulently abused. Getting anything from Centrelink in writing would certainly be advisable there. Good luck to you anyway, I break out in a rash just living in the same city as my ex for too long.
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Post by Banker on May 15, 2013 4:40:51 GMT 7
re maxi;
One of the members on this forum a friend of mine for over 30 years, had a similar problem. He got cancer tried to get DSP but put onto N/S, because of financial problems his marriage broke up. He tried to get single N/S, but was told he must move out of the house by C/L, in fact he had moved to another part of the house, C/L said this was no good " Must move out"
I advised him this was B/S and to get their decision in writing but they would not. This happened about 2 years ago, so its been going on for a long time.
I have been saying on this forum for a long time if they (C/L) make a decision you do not agree with, get it in writing. Many of these decisions are wrong and should be dealt with as they can be life changing.
What you are saying is a good idea, tell them you want it in writing for your Lawyer.
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Post by spaceyone on May 15, 2013 12:02:22 GMT 7
No easily manipulated wuzzies here But I don't threaten them with lawyers or legal action, because making that threat against an employment agency, who I had the goods on, is what started C/L's constant harrassment of me and mine years ago. We phoned them up yesterday to lodge our ARO appeal. The guy on the phone put my son on hold, to go and talk to someone else, then came back and tried to talk him out of lodging the appeal. He claimed that my son just needed a bit more medical evidence, and if he supplied that to our local branch, his application would probably be approved. He also advised my son that since his application was the first time that he had advised Centrelink that he had any medical issues, he would have to wait three years to be considered for DSP. I got on the phone and instructed him to lodge the ARO appeal. I also advised him that we had already submitted 3 years of medical evidence and certificates, but they had all been thrown in the bin and not recorded to his file, so we would not be supplying anymore at this time, nor waiting another 3 years. My son was due for his three monthly visit/report to Centrelink today. We attended their office, and after checking in, my son received a phone call from a Centrelink officer. She was again advising/offering to cancel the ARO appeal, on the basis that if he bought in a letter from his GP, they might possibly pass his application. She advised that he had 13 weeks to submit this evidence, and if done within that time frame, it would be counted as part of his application and, if granted, he would be back paid to the date that he had originally applied for it. She got off the phone, because we were now seated with a C/L officer. I lodged an FOI request form, for all records over the past year. The man's hands were shaking as he held it, and he tried to misinform me about the FOI process. I replied that I knew how it worked, and that all he had to do was sign the receipt, give it to me, and lodge the forms, and let their FOI staff do the rest, ie, provide the documents within the next 28 days. We then requested a copy of my son's last JCA interview. He ran off to explain to another lady that we wanted it, and it was marked ok to be released to the customer. She told him to do it. He whispered and whispered his objections to her, but she replied that if it was marked ok to be seen, then to just print it out and give it to us. We then discussed the phone call, as he had to phone that person and ask her to get out of my son's records so he could call them up. He also tried to advise us to cancel the ARO appeal, and just bring in a nice letter from our GP explaining that the condition would be ongoing. Again, I refused and advised him that we intended to go all the way to the AAT, therefore we had to go through the ARO process first. I also advised him that they had just had 7 weeks to ask for more information, while processing the application, and they chose not to do that. I also advised him that if they needed more information from his GP it was up to them to phone him, not for us to go running around getting bits of paper for them. Why are they so afraid of it going to ARO? Is that because they sat on it and did nothing for 7 weeks, and forgot to phone and tell us that it had been rejected until I had posted about same online and emailed Hank Jongen. According to the JCA report, the assessor did not contact any of his doctors. Instead, she contacted a physiotherapist, who is part of the assessment team she works for, and it is that lady who made the decision for her. Strange that their original excuse for turning down the application was that they had contacted his doctor and claimed that he had said my son wasn't sick enough to qualify. I phoned the number recorded on the front of the JCA for the assessment team. I asked them to phone me back, since I shouldn't have to ring STD numbers to ask a simple question. They have chosen not to phone me back. I merely wanted to ask the assessor why she chose to ring the physiotherapist who we had never met, instead of the GP who has been involved in our case for over two years, when assessing my son. Game on. Lets play - all the way to the AAT.
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Post by blahblahblah on May 15, 2013 12:36:03 GMT 7
As part of your appeal you'd likely be getting a letter from the doctor anyway, as welfare rights advises, so why not see if it can be handled quickly by providing the letter now?
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Post by Banjo on May 15, 2013 13:10:48 GMT 7
Sounds like they don't have a lot of confidence in the ARO to rubber stamp their decision.
I'd be inclined to give them the letter as bbb suggests. I can't see any real harm in playing your cards early.
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Post by spaceyone on May 15, 2013 18:49:59 GMT 7
As part of your appeal you'd likely be getting a letter from the doctor anyway, as welfare rights advises, so why not see if it can be handled quickly by providing the letter now? They have a TDR form filled out by him. It is a legal document and was lodged with the rest of the application. If they needed more information from him, they should have rung him. I am quite sure a letter, handed in by itself weeks after the application, would not be added to it, and then automatically reviewed by staff who are determined to make it hard for people to get DSP, not to assist them. Also, while we were off organizing that, our time to lodge the ARO appeal would expire (14 days). We would then not be able to ask for a review, if the local staff rejected it again. Once we had blown the ARO review, then we would have also blown the chance to get to the SSAT and AAT. I don't expect anything to change until we are nearly at the AAT. I will forward any other written information to an ARO officer, or either of the tribunals once we are at that stage. But I will not hand in anything else to people who are already saying things that don't add up, and asking us to depart from the correct procedure.
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Post by spaceyone on May 15, 2013 18:56:20 GMT 7
Sounds like they don't have a lot of confidence in the ARO to rubber stamp their decision. I'd be inclined to give them the letter as bbb suggests. I can't see any real harm in playing your cards early. Whenever they want to cancel things for you, or try to talk you into working with them, instead of taking the correct path which will take the application out of their office and into the hands of an 'impartial' person elsewhere, they are up to no good. That's not to say that they still won't contact whichever ARO it gets sent to, and organize them to rubber stamp their decision. They claim in the JCA that no points have been awarded to him, because it has not been verified by Specialist. Well the Xrays, past surgery, letters from other Specialists and GP's all show that it really is there. If that doesn't prove it to them, a simple letter from a GP won't either.
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Post by blahblahblah on May 16, 2013 6:07:34 GMT 7
So they want a letter form the GP and it's rejected on the grounds it isn't confirmed by a specialist...does sound a bit dodgy.
By the way, you get 13 weeks to ask for a review with full back pay to the original claim date.
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Post by zorro1 on May 16, 2013 9:42:36 GMT 7
welcome back Spacey!!
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Post by spaceyone on May 16, 2013 9:57:36 GMT 7
Hi Zorro. Thanks. I have popped in a few times, and saw that you still aren't letting them mess with you.
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