Is Centrelink Becoming A Dictatorship?

[Banjo]

Is Centrelink Becoming A Dictatorship?

3 Nov 2011: [Is Centrelink Becoming A Dictatorship?] Many people who receive welfare payments in Australia will be facing lots of changes ahead...

Recently, there was the announcement that as of next year, most people who receive disability payments will no longer be eligible, and you must have a permanent and debilitating disability to qualify.

As of July next year, I have learnt that further changes will take place.... Centrelink will be introducing (to NSW and the rest of Australia) a scheme which will monitor welfare payments for people who are at risk of squandering their money.

The program which is called the Income Management scheme was introduced into Western Australia last year. The government has a list of pre determined areas, which can include whole states or territories, which they deem to be either low income areas or areas that are at risk of having poor money management skills.

In a nut shell, Centrelink is planning on quarantining welfare recipient’s payments, to ensure they spend their money on what it’s intended for. It can affect anyone, on any payment...

Basically, if you’ve been on a payment for over a year, or 3 months for younger people, you may be given an income management account. All of your welfare monies will be divvied out between your income management account and something called your BasicsCard account.

A BasicsCard is somewhat like a key card, but it can only be used at certain government approved vendors. Depending on your circumstances, up to 70% of your welfare payments could be paid into your BasicsCard account, and you will be issued with a card and your own Personal Identification Number.

The initiative for this scheme is to prevent people spending all of their money on unnecessary items, such as alcohol, gambling and pornography, and ensure it is used towards paying for life’s necessities, such as rent, food, gas, electricity and clothing.

Channel 9’s A Current Affair, featured a story on their show about the new scheme, and followed a group of people who were opposing the idea and plan on fighting it. In NSW, the Income Management scheme will begin on the 1st July 2012, in the south western suburb of Bankstown, but there are plans to eventually extend it all over the state.

People who are opposing the idea are concerned that the scheme is more like a dictatorship, where the government is trying to control those who are potentially less vulnerable. But the government says that it’s all in the best interest of children and those at risk of facing homelessness because of poor money management.

As an example, if someone is at risk of being evicted from their home, or if a family has been flagged by the child protection agency for neglectful behaviour, the Income Management scheme can be bestowed upon them without their approval. This will ensure that their rent will be paid and their children will not want for anything essential.

Personally, I think this is a great idea, which is something I don’t say often when referring to the government. It’s sort of like having a separate account to help you budget. In essence, it should assist in preventing children and families who have to go without, so another family member can support their drug, alcohol or gambling habits.

The only thing that concerns me is that it could raise the crime rate. The only way to spend the money in the BasicsCard account is at the vendors that display the logo, so if someone has a serious addiction, it will be impossible for them to use this money to support it, therefore, it could lead to theft and other crimes in order to obtain money to sustain their drug or alcohol dependence.

To those who think that it’s unfair to have your spending controlled, don’t forget, you don’t earn this money, it is given to you, so until the government decides to control your hard earned wages, I don’t think there are any problems with their proposal.

To view the story that was featured on A Current Affair (ACA), click here: aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8363109/welfare-outrage

[zorro1]

They just HAD to pick Bankstown my local C/L office

I informed them last month my son is not charging me rent anymore and the only bill I have is a mobile phone account so doubt I will get a card but you never know.

The scheme according to whats her name is mainly targeted at protecting children although there is no mention if everyone will get one or not.

I agree 100% with the crime aspect. I bet my left one she enjoys a few glasses of wine with her dinner however she is taking away that basic right from welfare recipients.

If its used for proven cases where people are chronic gamblers with children then I agree with the scheme however to impose it on the majority is a bit scary

[rodcourt49]

..I bet too that some 'techno-geek' will develop some soft ware to 'hack' in and manipulate the values..a bit like some kids here with top-up phone cards..increased the values from a 300 baht credit to 300,000..they got away with millions until discovered.
I hope this new "Australia Card" is secure!!

[rowdy]

Nov 5, 2011 7:26:49 GMT 7 rodcourt49 said:

..I bet too that some 'techno-geek' will develop some soft ware to 'hack' in and manipulate the values..a bit like some kids here with top-up phone cards..increased the values from a 300 baht credit to 300,000..they got away with millions until discovered.
I hope this new "Australia Card" is secure!!

Rod.
You not inclined to ask for the interview in person. I would be doing that and taping it. Further I would be telling them I am taping it to protect my interests. That way too there can be no argument later as to what was said.

[Banjo]

I'm surprised they persist with phone interviews, I realise it's easier for them but after my investigation Centrelink even started back-pedalling at ARO level.
I got the feeling that he seriously considered abandoning the case then but kept it going through employee loyalty and the fact that I had been forced to return to Australia only a few weeks into my portability period would have made them look stupid.
As much as I can make of ruddthedudd's case the ARO overruled the investigating office.

I hate phone interviews, I find myself off balance and unable to formulate my thoughts.
I intend to seek letters from my psychologist and medical practitioner instructing that I not be subjected to them in the future.

[spaceyone]

No. Centrelink is not becoming a dictatorship. They have already become one! Or, at least, have taken on that attitude over the past many years.

Income management will be exploited, like all government policies. Some who have had it imposed upon them, in the aboriginal communities in northern Australia, have described it as being a humiliating experience, worse than being on welfare in the first place. Others claim that it helped them to wake up to themselves and changed their lives. We will see both sides of that.

However, having Centrelink as the decision makers and administrators is not good. We are aware at how corrupt their staff have become, and how spiteful and vindictive they can be if you dare to argue with them.

Therefore, many people who would not have been subject to Income Management, will be pushed into as a punishment by C/L employees. It will also give them greater insights into people's lifestyles, and therefore more reasons to breach anyone making the most of their unemployment status, to save the government a buck or two.

I know that I often used to skip a rent payment to put on a birthday party, or buy a present. Then I would pay double rent the next time to make up for it. That was also often the only way to afford car repairs, or rego costs.

The cost of rent is so high these days, that it is no longer possible to pay double rent, and have enough left to eat.

People balance their budgets in their own creative ways. It will be a good thing if it helps families to stop being evicted, but often when rent is not paid, it is because people are not paid enough to do both, keep the landlord happy and pay the rest of their bills and grocery costs.

I was evicted from a rental property last year. I was two weeks behind in my rent, and the girl from the real estate phoned up and was very rude to me about it. I was rude back. The next morning the owner of the real estate business was at my door with the first notice they are required to give in the process of eviction. He told me that it was now personal, for insulting his office girl, and that even if I caught up on the rent he would make sure I was still put out of the property.

At the same time, they were refusing to repair a few things and I overheard them conspiring to blame me for the wooden railing rotting away on the verandah, which was very unsafe, and take it out of my bond. I ordered them off the property, and paid them no more rent while they went through the process.

Under Income Management Policy, I would then be in line to be placed under that scheme, simply for being evicted.

Eviction court was a farce, with the Tribunal later conceeding that the real estate had acted illegally in many matters, but do they turn around and punish the offender? No, the tennant is just evicted as due course of the proceedings, as they don't know how to play the tribunal game, and the real estate agent does.

I was also once told that if you complain to Centrelink that you cannot live on your payment, they now assume that you are spending your money on drugs. They forget about the ratio of payment as compared to the cost of living, and that one falls far short of the other.

People living in country towns, with cheaper rent, can exist more easily on their payment than someone who is in a city and locked into high rent. So their across the board assumption of misdoing by the welfare recipient in not meeting their own bills is ridiculous.

They also forget that the government put the price of cigarettes up so much, that it is creating major damage to the budget of those of us who have as yet been unable to give up the habit. I guess it is a drug, but to be treated the same as a heroin addict, simply for smoking seems a bit harsh.

[Banjo]

It's not only welfare recipients with money management problems, people seem to to get in all sorts of trouble with quite spectacular incomes.

I found being refused a loan agreement on a computer this year because my income was too low, even though I had no previous bad debt history, quite thought provoking.
In away my money was being "managed" by a private company who determined I was incapable of paying back $50 a month.

[immiadvice]

Its all part of Centrelink wanting to be in total control. They want to decide exactly where you can spend your money. Would be interesting to know, of the shops that allow the payments, which ministers own their shares.