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Post by spaceyone on Feb 21, 2012 8:16:53 GMT 7
Well done Quantum, congratulations on the new job.
Now watch Nova fall over backwards, trying to say they assisted you all along, (and maybe even get that bonus). They will offer to monitor you in the job, offer to liaise with your employer and offer you a series of fortnightly interviews with them, while you are trying to work in pain.
It is the employment agencies who have been paying for driving lessons for young people, and paying some of their car registration costs.
You will have to sign up with Nova, or one of the other ones, to be able to get that. Now that you have shown you are capable of finding yourself a job, they will all want you on their books.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 21, 2012 9:27:57 GMT 7
Good information spacey...
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Post by quantumranger on Feb 25, 2012 6:55:22 GMT 7
Hey can someone help me answer this question. I probably will have my dsp stopped because I will be working more than 15 hours. My mum gets carer pension or carer payment for looking after me. So when I start work I will be working 4 days a week and 1 day at Tafe will her payments be affected. I am not sure because when I was studying full time she still got her carer payments.
I want to know if her carer payments will be cancelled or reduced.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 25, 2012 7:55:23 GMT 7
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Post by spaceyone on Feb 25, 2012 8:24:04 GMT 7
Hey can someone help me answer this question. I probably will have my dsp stopped because I will be working more than 15 hours. My mum gets carer pension or carer payment for looking after me. So when I start work I will be working 4 days a week and 1 day at Tafe will her payments be affected. I am not sure because when I was studying full time she still got her carer payments. I want to know if her carer payments will be cancelled or reduced. Yes, she will have them reduced, but it is hard to say how much. She might also be taken off carer payment, and put on Newstart, if you are the only child she had in her care. You will have what is known as working credits, which means that you keep all of your first pay, plus your DSP payment, and maybe even your second one. Working credits allow you to keep the money you earn when you start a new job, until your credits have been used up. So, don't be surprised when they don't cut you off straight away, it will happen a few weeks later. Under new laws, we are also supposed to be able to work more hours and keep our DSP. If you work 30 hours or under, you might still receive a reduced amount of DSP.
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Post by quantumranger on Feb 25, 2012 9:38:53 GMT 7
I am the only person in her care.
But also I only will be earning next to nothing because I will be doing a first year apprenticeship.
And also my mum will still be caring for me when I come home from work.
I called centrelink yesterday and they told me I could only work 15 hours before my payments get cut. But I forgot to ask them about my mum's payments. It sucks that I can't contact them this weekend but it's cool how I can ask you guys.
I just hope she still gets carer payment but its reduced because I don't her to be looking for work she doesn't have enough energy to work.
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Post by Banjo on Feb 25, 2012 10:03:12 GMT 7
She may still be entitled to another benefit, talk it through with Centrelink before you worry too much.
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Post by quantumranger on Feb 25, 2012 12:36:04 GMT 7
She may still be entitled to another benefit, talk it through with Centrelink before you worry too much. Sorry. I can't help but stress. I always had an anxiety disorder. I wish I could contact centrelink now but I have to wait till monday. I just don't want to affect my mum to be on newstart. When I was at Tafe full-time she still got paid carer payment but now I'm working, the only thing different is that I am earning 350 dollars a fortnight instead of receiving 400 a fortnight from DSP.
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Post by spaceyone on Feb 25, 2012 12:59:42 GMT 7
I called centrelink yesterday and they told me I could only work 15 hours before my payments get cut. Hi Quantum. Sorry I have made you worry. Check on Monday with C/L, or go to their website and see what you can find there. It is interesting that C/L told Quantumranger that she could work for 15 hours before loosing from her payment. I thought they had announced recently that we can now work 30 hours a week, thanks to their generous support and understanding of our plight. So is that 15 hours before you start to loose money, and 30 hours before you are cut off completely, and will have a hard time getting back on DSP again?
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Post by quantumranger on Feb 28, 2012 5:17:48 GMT 7
Yeah its 15 hours that 30 hours comes into effect in July. So one fortnight I will be working and earning 300 dollars. But if I don't work and just stay home I will be earning 400 dollars a fortnight on my DSP. This system is stupid.
Mum's carer payment won't be affected centrelink told me. I have a sleeping problem so she looks after me at night. Also when I was studying full-time she still got her carer's payment so centrelink will still pay her the same amount.
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Post by spaceyone on Mar 24, 2012 9:45:11 GMT 7
This article is from February of this year, but I must have missed it back then. It seems the SHM's investigation into employment agencies has finally triggered an official investigation into rorting by these places. 14 agencies have been singled out for investigation. I wonder what the total number of employment agencies is, and how much of a percentage of that number these 14 agencies represent. Employment agency rorts investigated The federal government has started an investigation into 14 employment agencies suspected of rorting its multibillion-dollar job assistance scheme, as evidence mounts of the long-running program being routinely abused. The inquiry is the first stage of an industry-wide review into the false claiming of fees by providers contracted by Job Services Australia, a federal initiative. The review is being overseen by Robert Butterworth, a former senior public servant appointed by the Minister for Employment Participation, Kate Ellis. His $40,000 contract will run until early May. The audit was prompted by a Herald investigation that revealed the Catholic Church's employment arm had systematically defrauded the scheme by falsely claiming it had found positions for job seekers that they had found themselves. Under the welfare-to-work program for the longer-term unemployed, hundreds of agencies are paid fees for providing assistance such as workplace training. The agencies can also pay taxpayer-funded wage subsidies to reluctant employers to help sweeten the deal. Agencies that find, or ''broker'', more jobs for dole recipients are rewarded with higher fees and a higher star rating, which in turn makes future government contracts more likely. But in what has become a highly competitive industry, there is so much pressure on these agencies to survive, many lodge false claims to boost their revenue and maintain their ratings. A spokeswoman for Ms Ellis said the investigation would rely on a ''detailed review of financial and other documentation''. The review is expected to show whether structural changes are needed to Job Services Australia and its contract with the private sector. Industry figures have confirmed that abuse of the system is rife, especially false claims for fees and the improper awarding of wage subsidies from taxpayer funds. The government has not named the 14 providers under investigation. The spokeswoman said the findings and policy changes would ''be publicly communicated, subject to legal requirements''. A copy of the letter to the 14 organisations - provided by Ms Ellis' office - warns that recovery of funds and ''further sanctions'' may result from the inquiries. Official correspondence to the entire industry after the Herald's articles said some providers had already ''identified potential errors'' and ''reviewed their internal working practices''. David Thompson, the chief executive of Jobs Australia Ltd, said the government needed to minimise incremental payments to agencies for organising training or interviews, and instead boost the ''outcome'' fee paid when job seekers genuinely found meaningful employment. Do you know more? investigations@smh.com.au Read more: www.smh.com.au/national/employment-agency-rorts-investigated-20120205-1qzue.html#ixzz1pzw488sL
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Post by spaceyone on Mar 24, 2012 9:50:00 GMT 7
Here is another article which names one of the scammer companies, as reported by their own staff. Former staff accuse agency of rorting jobs scheme
THE federal government is investigating allegations that the ORS Group, one of Australia's many private welfare-to-work providers, has been falsely claiming fees from the multibillion-dollar Job Services Australia scheme. Internal government documents show that as of the middle of this year, investigators working inside the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations were actively preparing a brief for prosecutors to examine and to decide whether further action was warranted, after former staff of the company blew the whistle. The company's Launceston branch is at the centre of the inquiry, the Herald has learned, with allegations that senior managers issued instructions to staff to lodge false claims with the department to attract higher fees and a better chance of future government contracts. ORS has denied the claims, but said it was forced to repay a small amount in fees after a department audit 12 months ago discovered what the company described as ''administrative and/or procedural errors''. The department has declined to say whether the investigation is still active. Yesterday, the Herald revealed it had seen evidence that the Catholic Church's employment arm, Local Employment & Training Solutions, was systematically falsifying its claims for fees from Job Services Australia. Seventy per cent of jobseekers LETS had serviced and who were contacted by the Herald directly contradicted the claim by LETS that it had ''brokered'' jobs that they had found themselves. Sources in the industry have told the Herald the scheme is being methodically ''gamed'' by several providers desperate to retain future contracts. This is partly because the scheme rewards agencies that deliver the highest volume of ''brokered'' jobs with higher fees and higher ratings that determine which agencies will secure future contracts. The minister responsible for the scheme, Kate Ellis, said the government was investigating a number of agencies,and "will not hesitate to reclaim fees, cancel contracts or refer matters to the police where necessary". "We are serious about making sure that providers are expending public money in accordance with the rules and have reclaimed around $6.4 million in the past 12 months," she said. Her office said the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations had two cases before the courts. As of the middle of this year, government investigators were taking statutory declarations in their probe of ORS, after several staff blew the whistle on similar practices being conducted at its Launceston branch. One of these statements, taken by the department's investigations branch in June, states ''the main area of concern for me was in relation to the ORS Group claiming brokered outcomes where a job seeker had found their own employment''. ''I progressively felt more uncomfortable with the approaches to business taken by the ORS Group in relation to brokered placements,'' the statement says, referring to its practice of ''approaching employers when the job seeker had found their own employment''. ''There was a strong push on brokering placements … 'whatever it takes' to broker the job.'' Another employee told the Herald she left ''because of the dodgy goings on''. ''The temptation to do the wrong thing is enormous and profitable,'' the source said.''It presents people with an opportunity to rort and take advantage of a very big grey area in interpretation of contract requirements and sometimes people are not as guided by principles as they should be.'' An ORS spokesman said the company always complied with the department's inquiries and ''has never rorted JSA funds''. ''DEEWR has, during its ongoing audit processes … detected some administrative and/or procedural errors at our Launceston branch,'' the spokesman said. ''The errors were minor and immediately corrected to DEEWR's satisfaction and involved the recovery of $2035 of brokered job placement fees. ''The only contact we have had from DEEWR since that time about brokered job placement outcomes has been positive feedback from them about how we responded to the problem.'' Do you know more? investigations@smh.com.au Read more: www.smh.com.au/national/former-staff-accuse-agency-of-rorting-jobs-scheme-20111212-1orl3.html#ixzz1pzyy46NT
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Post by spaceyone on Mar 24, 2012 9:57:37 GMT 7
Here's another true story, about what these places get up to, and the paperwork they create for employers, so that they can rort the system. Service exploited job seeker's success TWENTY years ago, Denise Harrison, then 25, replied to an advertisement seeking a dental assistant at a surgery. Since then, Dr Stephen Chin has been a constant, employing her in between life's biggest moments - the birth of her three children and her moving between the central coast and Sydney. He even supported her while she trained for a trade certificate. ''I was his back-up nurse each time he needed [someone],'' she said. ''I was always there to give him a helping hand.'' Early last year, Ms Harrison was back at Mount Pritchard and looking for work. She was receiving Centrelink payments and had been sent to Local Employment and Training Solutions at Liverpool, a welfare-to-work provider owned by the Catholic Church, for help finding a job. In late April or early May, Dr Chin was back on the phone to her after finding himself short of staff. ''He asked me how I was going and asked me if I was working and the rest of it and if I wanted to come in and do some fill-in work,'' Ms Harrison said. She took up the job at his Berala surgery, working 4½ days a week. She notified LETS she had found work, as she was required to do. But what happened next is typical of what LETS has been doing for years - it took advantage of the situation to falsely claim extra fees from the $4.7 billion federal scheme under which it operates. Documents seen by the Herald show LETS filed a claim with the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations that it had found the job for Ms Harrison. Worse, to ensure it got away with the scam, LETS contacted Dr Chin and offered him a wage subsidy - thousands of taxpayer dollars designed for employers who need to train the candidate or who otherwise need convincing of their suitability. ''[They] said to me he [Dr Chin] could get some kind of grant for having you for six months and [they] sent some paperwork to Dr Chin to fill in and then the rest of it,'' Ms Harrison said. ''We had to type up the dates I was there and send my taxable income to them.'' Dr Chin was not fussed about it either way, she said, and actually got annoyed with the paperwork. ''He needed staff … We didn't know anything about this grant. It was put to us. The grant was not an issue to him. He needs staff there to be able to practise.'' Bernadette Bain, a spokeswoman for CatholicCare, said yesterday the organisation was undertaking a ''thorough, independent review'' of the conduct of its employment agency. ''We don't consider it appropriate to publicly comment on individual persons, which could infringe on client confidentiality. CatholicCare has commissioned a full independent investigation which is currently under way.'' Ms Harrison was disappointed by her interactions with LETS, saying it sent her on irrelevant courses, such as responsible service of alcohol and gambling courses, and was otherwise unable to find her a job. ''I have done internet searches and paper searches for my own jobs and followed the career I wanted to do. They put me in courses I didn't need. ''These job network providers are on a commission basis … They don't have the interests of the job seeker at heart.' Read more: www.smh.com.au/national/service-exploited-job-seekers-success-20111211-1opsj.html#ixzz1q00ZYkMa
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Post by spaceyone on Mar 24, 2012 10:07:39 GMT 7
The search engine is on a roll this morning. More disgustingly corrupt behaviour from an employment agency. Woman faked invoices to get $8500KEY INDUSTRIES at Wetherill Park sells crafted coffins to funeral parlours. Like many small businesses, it sometimes has trouble finding good staff. So when Local Employment & Training Solutions called last year to offer help finding personnel, Key's director, Terry Robbins, agreed. As well, LETS offered thousands of dollars in wage subsidies. But after taking on two employees nominated by LETS' Liverpool office, Mr Robbins noticed the $9000 in subsidies had failed to materialise. A LETS staff member had falsified two invoices from Key Industries redirecting $8500 in taxpayer funds to other bank accounts. LETS paid only the first of these before the scam came to light. The staff member had changed jobs between the two invoices. The second invoice was even sent from her new company - its name printed next to the date and time stamp across the top of the document. Mr Robbins was asked whether the bank account details contained in the fax belonged to Key Industries, and they did not. After Mr Robbins confronted the LETS staff member she returned the $4500 to him two days later, but in cash. Mr Robbins gave the money to LETS and asked that it be provided to him through the proper channels. The organisation failed to keep Mr Robbins's business. ''I have enough trouble without that bullshit,'' he said. ''It should not have happened and there should have been more scrutiny.'' A spokesman for CatholicCare said the organisation ''treats allegations of misconduct very seriously and does not tolerate such behaviour''. Read more: www.smh.com.au/national/woman-faked-invoices-to-get-8500-20111211-1opsm.html#ixzz1q03TFi2M
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Post by spaceyone on Mar 24, 2012 10:11:45 GMT 7
And another case, which the ICAC is actually about to investigate. ICAC to hold public inquiry into corruption allegations involving Sydney University IT staff and contractor employmentMonday 12 March 2012 The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) will hold a public inquiry commencing on Tuesday 20 March 2012 as part of an investigation it is conducting into corruption allegations concerning a University of Sydney manager's use of a recruitment agency, in which he and his wife had an interest, to recruit contractors and staff to the university. It is alleged that between January 2007 and May 2011, university IT manager Atilla Demiralay and his associates engaged, or recommended the engagement of, contractors or staff for the university from Succuro, a business in which Mr Demiralay's wife, Virginia Kantarzis, was involved, and later from Succuro Recruitment Pty Ltd, a company in which Mr Demiralay and Ms Kantarzis both had an interest. The Commission is also investigating allegations that Mr Demiralay and his associates engaged, or recommended the engagement of, certain contractors and other staff for the university due to personal associations with those persons, and that they improperly manipulated the recruitment process to engage, or recommend the engagement of, certain contractors or staff for the university or to justify the engagement of certain contractors or staff. The public inquiry will start at 10:00 am and will be held in the Commission's hearing room at Level 21, 133 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. ICAC Assistant Commissioner, Ms Theresa Hamilton, will preside at the public inquiry, which is set down for up to four days. www.icac.nsw.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/article/4038
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