This is gonna be more of a vent and it's something that has bothered me for quite some time now.
I'm sure most of you have heard about our Prime minister implementing some one off payments to boost the economy. People on newstart, family payments and pensions look set to receive those payments.
Every time there's anything to do with centrelink in the news, all the vicious people come out of the wood work; some comments I've read just today:
"Oh, great. Let's give more hand outs to people who live off handouts".
"Like these people aren't just going to spend it all on drugs, booze and pokies".
"I'm sick of my tax dollars funding these people's lifestyles. Get a job".
That's literally just some of the nicer ones.
I am on newstart, I have been for 3 years. I survive (I would say live but what I'm doing right now ain't living) on $512 a fortnight.
I couldn't afford to drink, smoke or partake in any vices even if I wanted to.
I have been trying relentlessly to get a job, I've undertaken and completed 3 courses in this 3 year period. I am a respectable looking person, I'm reasonably intelligent and I live in the city where jobs are supposed to be plentiful - still nothing!
Most of all, I absolutely hate that what seems to be a good majority of people believe that myself and other people in my situation are nothing more than blood sucking drains on society.
Your self esteem has already taken a hit when you become unemployed but then when you read these types of comments day after day, it really starts to make you feel less deserving of basic respect and dignity. Above all, it's dehumanising.
Anyone out there who still thinks us people living on newstart have it so good, I'll trade with you and take your full time job and you take my $256 a week. Sound good? Nah, didn't think so.
13 Replies
I have been on Newstart too, it is a horrible thing to go through. People think it is a thousand a week from the way they carry on but it's not. I remember buying the off cuts of meat from woolies and cooking it in the slow cooker for casserole, it was the only way I could get all the random bones and cartridge out of it, literally would take an hour of pulling bones. Tuna pasta bake is a pretty cheap meal too. If you know anyone that shoots then roo meat is good if you know how to cook it. 90 cent bread. Everything is more expensive and it's already been proven time again that the dole is not enough to cover living expenses let alone the extra costs of finding a job but apparently they are all on fleet street. Funny thing is, our older Australians that are on the dole and can't find work cop all of these comments too but as soon as they become pension age the attitudes towards them completely change, they deserve what they get and more. There are more older Australians on the dole than ever before. I actually didn't know about these payments so I'm glad I haven't looked at Facebook yet, those comments make me sad at how close minded some people are. Probably had jobs handed to them on a platter, people with these attitudes usually have.
I think a lot of the hate comes because the cost of living is so high and those working aren’t seeing any benefits. There’s payouts for those essentially doing nothing, yet there’s no relief of prices for childcare, no access to family taxes etc. - we are being taxed HUGE amounts yet barely getting by even by working full time.
I have no problems with those on benefits however I do have an issue with the way the government handles things and they choose to support only a certain socio group and forget about those working. They only care about us paying taxes in order to benefit themselves.
You would need to be earning a lot to be missing out on child care subsidies and family tax benefit? Our government helps families a lot, probably a lot more than any other countries. If you are in the higher earning bracket then I'm not sure why you would want or need extra help from the government. When I was with my ex we were earning too much to be eligible for anything, when we split I moved and had no job, was on Newstart and that is by far the hardest financially I have ever been. No way would I compare the two and think Newstart was better because of all the "free handouts". We pay taxes for a reason. Nobody actually wants to be on the dole. It is very easy to get sucked into a cycle though, a lot of places purposely don't hire people that are on the dole so they are constantly getting pushed aside which kills confidence. Every rejection kills you a bit. There was a lady in her fifties on our local buy and sell the other day begging for a job because she had applied for over 300 jobs and wasn't getting anywhere. It's really sad and she is what many other people on the dole are going through.
I work in recruitment and almost every single person that comes through the door for an interview has that piece of paper and don’t even want me to interview them. No interest in earning a real wage and think they’re worth more than they are.. So I guess I’ve seen another side to it.
CCS is good for a bit however when you’re still paying 40 a day it adds up sadly. All these handouts but the subsidy doesn’t change. We aren’t eligible for anything and it isn’t due to warning too much. When I was younger a family member put shares into something for me and they profited but on paper I look rich but never benefited anything from it.
I understand your point. I don't necessarily agree with a lot of government decisions either but those questionable decisions are not the fault of my "socio group", nor are they something the average Joe has any control over.
(just FYI I did not vote for Scomo).
I guess I'd rather be working full time (christ, even casual at this point) and not seeing the benefits as opposed to living below the literal poverty line and being treated like the scum of the earth.
What piece of paper? I never had to have anything signed when I was on Newstart. If they really didn't want the job they wouldn't turn up to the interview.
As someone who has faced your recruitment meeting. Of course I did t want the job! I was forced on to Newstart while waiting for my careers payment to be appealed. There was no way I could take the job because I had nobody to care for my severely disabled son, but still they forced me to go through the motions and waste everyone’s time looking for a job I couldn’t take.
Thankfully carers payment was eventually approved, after 6 months wait, while they refused to exempt me from job search.
Thanks to changes in eligibility in disability pension there are many people with invisible disabilities forced into Newstart, that would have been on disability 15 years ago. The number of times people have been sent to inappropriate job interviews, that they know they won’t be successful or could only do the job on there very best days (which they only have a handful of a year).
Last week my auntie was sent to a job interview. She was told she had to travel 1.5 hours to get the interview place but if she got the job, she would be working in her local area. She drove all that way to find out they had no jobs in her local area and she would have to drive that distance everyday for work. This was an interview she was forced to go through for her JobSearch provider. Of course she didn’t want to be interviewed. Luckily she had already set herself up some job interviews for the same job with companies local to her and got a job, that she didn’t have to drive 1.5 hours before she started her day!
My point is, yes, I don’t doubt there are a small number of people doing the wrong thing. But you have no idea what is actually going on behind the scenes for that person and it’s rarely as simple as I don’t want the job.
Your scenario is exactly what I mean that the government is creating a problem - particularly between the socio economical groups because a lot of people see laziness or dole bludgers but in actual fact everyone is jumping through hoops to make ends meet/things go around :(
I should clarify, I was saying CCS more so that we will be expected to self isolate or potentially work from home, yet as childcare charges for X days over 52 weeks and still have to pay for public holidays, we will be paying for days not even attended so are going to be worse off financially thanks to isolation or closures should it come to it. The government is only thinking of those not reliant on the dole and not others who are working their guts out to just scrape by.
The worst time of my life was when I was on welfare, not just financially but psychologically.
I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
Those job networks do nothing to assist you, they are bloody hopeless, nothing like the privately run ones that don’t get paid if they don’t place the job.
To those on it, I feel for you xxxx
Parents at my son's school were on the dole. They lived in housing commission house
3 kids, They could barely afford
He was doing a course with no prospect of a job
She refused to do anything
Was forced to do a course to remain on the dole.
Set up a go find me account to buy a car, which they can not afford the upkeep on
Got pregnant, to stay on the dole.
Spent money on stupid things, demanded hand outs from strangers to feed kids, buy see tickets for the school fete, presents for kids.
These are the people I despise.
Many more groups of people who NEED the money too.
My son is casual on 30 hours, that’s reduced to 15 hours at most and possibly no job, what does he get to pay rent and bills?
My partner has a small business and it’s now not producing an income. What will he get?
I’m part time and already talk of no work next week, I cannot work from home. What do I get?
But yet I know people on disability pension and get the money. They don’t need it to survive and are talking of splurging which is what the government want, meanwhile we are over here eating crackers hoping to not lose everything we worked so bloody hard for.
And some people are genuinely on disability and I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes. Hats off to you. But I’m also aware of people who do not want to get well (and could) but don’t wish to work and sadly would rather be on a pension. Minority I know but it is some people.
For those wanting jobs I’m sorry I hope you are successful.
Centrelink is also too leanient on some and way to tough on others. We all have a story and I’m not saying you don’t deserve it, but sadly many fall through the cracks. For some who went through any disasters/flood/fire, personal or financial hardships, this just might be the breaking point.
You will all need to apply for Newstart