Applying for indefinite portability

[Deleted]

Hi all I apply for portability and had my my JCA and it more than a month now and I’m not getting back from them yet I called Centrelink and they said it should take another month.

My only concern is I have a mental health problem and I hear voices and I’m tired all the time and never worked before and doctors say you have schizophrenia symptoms and it should be it I have provided one report for medical review from my psychiatrist as I had only one for over five years but I just recently discharged and the plan is only to see my GP regularly.

So until now Centrelink know about all this as well as my JCA assessor.

My question is how likely would I get approved for portability.

[bear]

G'day @sahbarahmani welcome to the forum.

In answer to your question it's impossible to say, due to the fact we aren't familiar with you, your full circumstances, the effort that was put into the application, whether the review was actioned through an application or a notification of travel for over 28 days, your age, how long you've been on DSP, did you have an advocate of other help to apply etc.........

If Centrelink says another month, give them another month and in the interim apply for your file under freedom of information to see exactly how they have you classified. Eg. Do you have 20+ points under table 5 Mental Health; as 20 points on one table is a pre requisite to be considered for unlimited portability(UP), as is a 0-2 hr work limit and the condition must have been diagnosed, treated and fully stabilized by an appropriate medical professional and expected to continue for the next 5 years.

Apply for your file, it's free to apply for and to receive it and it can be your best friend if you get rejected over some anomalous reason that's plainly contradictory in your file. Sorry I don't have a Y/N answer for you; cheers bear

[genx]

Oct 26, 2021 18:42:16 GMT 7 @sahbarahmani said:

Hi all I apply for portability and had my my JCA and it more than a month now and I’m not getting back from them yet I called Centrelink and they said it should take another month.

My only concern is I have a mental health problem and I hear voices and I’m tired all the time and never worked before and doctors say you have schizophrenia symptoms and it should be it I have provided one report for medical review from my psychiatrist as I had only one for over five years but I just recently discharged and the plan is only to see my GP regularly.

So until now Centrelink know about all this as well as my JCA assessor.

My question is how likely would I get approved for portability.

No way of knowing. It depends on what your Job Capacity Assessment says. If it says that you have work capacity of under 8 hours with no chance of increasing work capacity, you should get portability.

[Deleted]

Hi again and thanks for the replies

I received a phone call today from international services saying I have not been approved for Portability and I asked why he said you have the 20 points and your condition is permanent at least for 5 years that stops you from working but we think you can work part time which to be granted for portability you have to be unable to do work at all.

I never worked before but just before I apply for portability I started woking as an uber driver and I was still working part time on that while I had my JCA but I ended up to stop that after one month working because I couldn’t continue and my mental condition wasn’t allowing me and I reported that to Centrelink.

I told the international service officer at the time of the phone call that I received about my rejection of portability he said I would tell the administrative officer who would review and appeal the decision that you stopped working and give you a call in about a month.

He also said it’s not just for you were working part time but as we assessed your medical condition decided that you can work part time.

I’d be thankful to hear what you think about this and how will the appealed decision might be.

Thanks

[bear]

Nov 5, 2021 14:26:57 GMT 7 @sahbarahmani said:

Hi again and thanks for the replies

I received a phone call today from international services saying I have now been approved for Portability and I asked why he said you have the 20 points and your condition is permanent at least for 5 years that stops you from working but we think you can work part time which to be granted for portability you have to be unable to do work at all.

I never worked before but just before I apply for portability I started woking as an uber driver and I was still working part time on that while I had my JCA but I ended up to stop that after one month working because I couldn’t continue and my mental condition wasn’t allowing me and I reported that to Centrelink.

I told the international service officer at the time of the phone call that I received about my rejection of portability he said I would tell the administrative officer who would review and appeal the decision that you stopped working and give you a call in about a month.

He also said it’s not just for you were working part time but as we assessed your medical condition decided that you can work part time.

I’d be thankful to hear what you think about this and how will the appealed decision might be.

Thanks

G'day sam , when you say today you mean Friday 5th November right??  Y/N

I'm having difficulty understanding your situation. Because if Centrelink International Services called to say your UP has been approved; you would possibly be the first person in history to receive good news of UP approval in one breath, then be told in the next breath, that because of something they overlooked they're going to deny it for the time being.

Is there something being lost in translation??

I'm also perplexed by your comment of an administrative officer going to review your rescinded UP approval and are you saying they have said they'll give you a call in another month to tell you again, whether you have UP or not??

Unless they've changed the notification system; after the pH call today you should also receive a letter in the mail or to your MyGov account confirming the decision.

Next time they call with good news try not to ask why. Why they called should be obvious; you applied for UP and were apparently approved for it.

Just saying; "Thank you, that's the good news I've been waiting to hear." That would have been a much better response. 

Do you know if this appeal is being done through official channels such as the 'Administrative Appeals Tribunal'; or is it just going to be a visual review of your file in the office. Truly; I've never encountered such a process before. Cheers bear

[Deleted]

Hi bear thanks for your reply

I just wanted to say they said I have NOT been approved for the portability and by mistake I wrote NOW instead of NOT sorry for that.

They called me on a private number today morning the 5th of November which is Friday and told me you have NOT been approved for the portability but I haven’t received any mail or message on my mygov inbox or anything.

I asked the reason for this decision they said we recognised you can do part time work as I was working as an uber driver part time during the application process but I stopped working and I reported to Centrelink also I advised the person calling me about the rejection of portability and said I want to appeal the decision.

They said I will tell the service officer about you stopped working and saying you can’t work part time and they will review your application once again and give you a response in a maximum of 30 days.

Thats all that happened today

[bear]

Nov 5, 2021 18:22:03 GMT 7 @sahbarahmani said:

Hi bear thanks for your reply

I just wanted to say they said I have NOT been approved for the portability and by mistake I wrote NOW instead of NOT sorry for that.

They called me on a private number today morning the 5th of November which is Friday and told me you have NOT been approved for the portability but I haven’t received any mail or message on my mygov inbox or anything.

I asked the reason for this decision they said we recognised you can do part time work as I was working as an uber driver part time during the application process but I stopped working and I reported to Centrelink also I advised the person calling me about the rejection of portability and said I want to appeal the decision.

They said I will tell the service officer about you stopped working and saying you can’t work part time and they will review your application once again and give you a response in a maximum of 30 days.

Thats all that happened today

Thanks for your response and explanation sam .  Are you aware of the formal appeals process through the AAT 1&2. Having your file could help you decide how far you wished to appeal should you receive another negative response in a month's time. From what they've said it's the hours they need to determine as to whether it's approved or not. Have you made any progress in applying for your file??

Better yet, as suggested by genx to another member in another thread; your JCA will have that information in it and he's advised that can be picked up from your local Centrelink office. Quicker & easier than FOI; cheers bear.

[Deleted]

Thank you I will look into that but I want to clarify what they said to me so you have better understanding of the situation so they said we think you can do part time work but everything else if fine as you have 20 points and have severe permanent condition at least for the next five years but I said I can’t work even part time and I can’t work at all. They said I will add what you said and we will review and make a decision again.

Do you think they rely on my word and make a decision based on that?

I also repeat that I was doing part time work as an uber driver during the application process at least for the first month but I stopped working then and at the time of the phone call I received from the international services I told them about this that I couldn’t continue working and what you’re saying is wrong and I can’t do work at all.

[bear]

Do you think they rely on my word and make a decision based on that?

No; self reporting is not acceptable sam The onus will be on you to provide independent proof of claiming not being able to work at all.

They already believe they know what you're prior work capacity is, based on the information in your JCA and from your medical information form. A decision on UP has always been  a Y/N answer. No discussion is entered into, other than possibly asking if you wish to appeal. This is what I think may have happened and where you are at the moment. ⁹

In the first instance your appeal is through the ODM (original decision maker) and I think that's where you're currently at. Usually the ODM rejects the appeal, as to reverse it would be an acknowledgement of them making a mistake.

New evidence from your medical team regarding your work capacity would be highly beneficial to take to an AAT Appeal. A new application having your doctor's specifically addressing your newly found barriers to work, given you've attempted to do so but we're unable to is also an option.

Whatever the outcome in a month, don't get discouraged!!

Cheers bear

[genx]

Nov 6, 2021 5:48:20 GMT 7 @sahbarahmani said:

Thank you I will look into that but I want to clarify what they said to me so you have better understanding of the situation so they said we think you can do part time work but everything else if fine as you have 20 points and have severe permanent condition at least for the next five years but I said I can’t work even part time and I can’t work at all. They said I will add what you said and we will review and make a decision again.

I am trying to parse this out. What you are saying is:

The person on the phone told you that - 

You have 20 points in a single table?
That the condition is permanent, and will remain unchanged for at least 5 years?
But they believe that you have the ability to do "part time" work?

You need your Job Capacity Assessment documents, mate. You can go to Centrelink and ask for them. You'll get it right there.

What it sounds like to me is that you have 8+ hours of work capacity, which disqualifies you from IP. Get your JCA.

[tasjo]

Sam - I agree with bear and genx, please get your JCA and/or apply for your file via FOI. Without it you are trying to respond to Centrelink without knowing what information they have or how they are applying it.

You need to know what your Job Capacity is, if its between 0-8hrs there is something wrong and I would suggest contacting a Federal MP. It tends to get things moving. If your capacity is 8-15hrs then you will need to request a review from an Authorised Review Officer before you can go to the AAT (either Level 1 or Level 2). But, you really need to know - and there is a time limit on how long you have to request the review.

Dont be daunted by the AAT (particularly not at Level 1). Its 'only' one person, its not a Centrelink person, and if you have your medical information updated and it meets the legislation, often things do get overturned.

[Deleted]

Thank you for all that information.
What I’m gonna do because I don’t have much time I’m leaving overseas in about 2 months time I booked my appointment for Thursday to see a psychiatrist to get a letter saying I can’t work but first I will need to convince the doctor to give me that letter. I asked Centrelink international if it makes any changes they said we can’t say whether or not it will change the decision but it definitely support your application.
Also what it looks like to me is that they say you can work more than 8 hours for the next five years as they recognised I’m eligible to work and this is the only reason they rejected my claim.
I will get the letter from the psychiatrist and upload it on mygov app for them to have an evidence of my word that saying I can’t work part time as well and hope that helps and increase the chance of approval.
I’m not too sure if the doctor will give me that letter or not but if everything go well I will keep you updated.
Thanks again for your help without it I didn’t know what to do.

[genx]

Nov 9, 2021 18:33:38 GMT 7 @sahbarahmani said:

Thank you for all that information.
What I’m gonna do because I don’t have much time I’m leaving overseas in about 2 months time I booked my appointment for Thursday to see a psychiatrist to get a letter saying I can’t work but first I will need to convince the doctor to give me that letter. I asked Centrelink international if it makes any changes they said we can’t say whether or not it will change the decision but it definitely support your application.
Also what it looks like to me is that they say you can work more than 8 hours for the next five years as they recognised I’m eligible to work and this is the only reason they rejected my claim.
I will get the letter from the psychiatrist and upload it on mygov app for them to have an evidence of my word that saying I can’t work part time as well and hope that helps and increase the chance of approval.
I’m not too sure if the doctor will give me that letter or not but if everything go well I will keep you updated.
Thanks again for your help without it I didn’t know what to do.

There is no point in getting a letter from your psychiatrist unless you know specifically what you are arguing against. If your psych appointment is Thursday, then get the JCA from Centrelink on Wednesday, and have your psych address the points in the JCA that you disagree with.

You might suspect the reason, but it could be more than one reason and unless you defeat them all then you won't get IP. 

[Deleted]

Thank you genx for that I’ve got the JCA report with me now and in the Job Capacity field it says light less skilled under the 8-14 hours per week and under the 0-7 hours per week it says Not Applicable.

It also mentions that my psychiatrist has said it is hard to say about the job capacity because there are period when they can work but it depends on severity residual symptoms and type of work they do ( as I already said to my doctor that I work part time with my father ) but the reality is I just went with him but stay in the car so that I go out and not stay at home.

It also mentions that I was last employed for 20 hours in a fortnight and it says I stated that I struggle to keep my job at Uber Driver and may be able to cope if I reduce my job to 8 hours per week.

[Banjo]

I've corrected/edited the post so it now reads "I have not been approved for Portability" as explained by sam