#disability pension

[cy-cyborg]

Big vent about Centrelink and Australia’s welfare system ahead.

I’ve known for a long time how cold and uncaring Australia’s welfare system is, especially Centrelink, but I don’t think it really clicked until today.

Im on the disability support pension meaning the government acknowledges I can not work full time. A few years ago, I messed up on some forms and never declared to them that my partner and I were in a relationship. I had meant to, but had a moment and forgot to hand them in. By the time I realised my mistake it was years later. Just before Christmas I went in to fix it and to get help with the forms because I always panic when I do Centrelink forms, I always miss something or misunderstand, I always do something wrong, so this time I went in for help with it. My partner and my support worker came with me to help make sure I was understanding everything, and to make sure I remember what they told me, because I tend to forget more when stressed.

Because my partner is an immigrant and self employed but not earning much, the process actually ended up being a bit more complicated so we’ve had to go in to do the forms over multiple appointments with the last one being last Thursday.

I was informed that because I didn’t declare the relationship right away, I’ve been overpaid and I’ll have to give that overpay amount back because, fun fact, just being in a relationship is enough for them to cut your payments here - not being married, just in a relationship. I knew that though and was prepared for it. At the last appointment I was finally given an estimate of how much I need to pay back.

It’s over $20,000.

I’m not entirely sure how they got that number, I’m going to ask for a break down of it once the amount is confirmed, but you want to know what sucks? I was relieved to hear that amount. I was mentally prepared for it to be double or triple that, and it would have been if the worker at the office didn’t pull me up and inform me I’d misunderstood some of the questions (so yeah, going in for help was a good call). Thankfully, because the disability support pension is already below the poverty line even before the cuts they made, I don’t have to pay it back at once, they’ll take a percentage of my pension out every fortnight to pay it back. Unfortunately, because I’m already below the poverty line, reducing my pension even further means I can’t afford rent anymore, even in a place that is already way, WAY below the current rental market value, so I can’t really afford rent…anywhere. Not even in remote and regional areas (I checked). Not a single private rental in the country is low enough for us to afford now. The only ones that were close weren’t wheelchair accessible. The pension will also go down if my partner earns anything, and it limits his hours (though I don’t know how that’s supposed to work if he’s self employed since pay isn’t really based on hours like typical jobs, I’m going to ask about that at the next appointment). Thankfully we had already planned for that and we’re planning to move in with my mum, but that means basically being cut off from the internet since her place is very rural and signal doesn’t really reach their place consistently.

But the shittyness doesn’t end there, oh no.

Today, I woke up to the dreaded “you have a myGov message” text. Only to open it and for them to tell me that they’re cutting my whole disability pension, it was just canceled. No ifs or buts, it was just gone. A few days before rent and all my bills are due. What was the reason you ask? Because one of the fields (asking for my partner’s tax info) on the form wasn’t filled out… the form I got the Centrelink office to check over before handing it in, that was definitely filled in. I know it was. There wasn’t even any “we’re missing information, you have x amount of time to fix this or your payment will be cancelled” warning, it was just, you didn’t fill out this one field that could be easily fixed so your pension is canceled, and you have to pay us that $20,000 out of pocket now, bye!

Obviously rattled and confused, I went back to the office (which is only a few minutes from where I live) and asked what the hell happened, the lady who helped us last time even vouched for us and said she knows we filled that out and gave it to them, she was there, only for them to go into my file and realise the way the file had been scanned cut off part of the field, so the automated systems didn’t see it and auto-cancelled my whole pension over it. So we had to wait an additional half and hour for the office staff to argue with whoever was in charge of that decision, to let them fix it because as far as Centrelink was concerned the issue wasn’t negotiable. It did eventually get sorted, so I’m at least not loosing my pension and being forced to pay back the dept out of pocket.

My partner, before coming to Australia was in the US military, he describes his experience with them as being treated like “numbered cannon fodder” and his dealings with the VA as being treated like “a piece of dog shit on their shoes”. He fought with the Australian immigration department for years to be allowed to stay here, the department that openly and proudly discriminated against him and me for our disabilities, that insisted he jump through countless hoops for the most ridiculous of reasons to prove he “wouldn’t be a burden on the system”. But today he just sat in the car after all this and stared off into space, saying this is the worst treatment from a government agency he’s ever seen. They didn’t see us as people, we were numbers. That automated cancellation over an automated mistake would have put us on the street if my mother wasn’t in the picture and paying off $20,000 of dept out-of-pocket. And they just didn’t care. We made a mistake, yes, but it was a mistake that is in-line with the diagnostic criteria of one of my disabilities (forgetfulness from a brain injury) and we did everything we were supposed to do to make it right once I noticed. we fessed up and did what we needed to fix it, we got help from multiple staff members to ensure we did everything we were supposed to, but a machine made a mistake and nearly ruined our lives anyway.

Im not saying any of this to ask for money btw, I couldn’t accept it even if I wanted to because I’m pretty sure that would count as income too and would mean my pension would go down even more or just be cut (again) entirely. We’re safe and as stable as we could be in this situation for now. I just wanted to vent a bit and explain where I’ve been. I’m probably not going to be back online again for a bit while we get the rest of this situation sorted, and once I move to mum’s, so the messages and ask box are staying closed for a bit longer.

[thedenofravenpuff]

Retired

Now Officially retired on disability pension. 

Went through much faster than expected, thought I had two months to get used to the thought and instead was approved in only two weeks. 

Still stings losing my dream job that I worked so hard for, all my exams and papers now useless as my time now is to be focused on my health. To be functional in my everyday life without sacrificing that for work instead. 

Next big hurdle is to plan the move back to my home region. To get closer to my family. Only moved to this region for my workplace, which is a moot point now. Now I just wanna be near family, especially my nieces and nephews. To be the best auntuncle I can be! 

Building up a new life around not working gonna take some adjustments, but got my hobbies, friends and family to help fill out that void. All for the better, I just never planned to retire at age 34, ya know?

Welp, just an update on life and stuff. 

[naerwenia]

Soon, I'll be a pensioner! Disability pension, let's goooooo! Also, I'm getting a larger diagnosis done next week to see if I have something other than depression, anxiety, and other specified dissociative disorder (OSDD) (Finally! finally I get autism diagnosis on the papers).

[bathask]

学生免除手続きせずの特別障害給付金制度で無く紹介状利用2院目の初診日記載ある受診状況等証明書で20歳前傷病判明,市役所で年金生活者支援給付金請求手続き書類1式再説明も訳若芽。大人の発達障害やアスペルガー等自閉症スペクトラムASD概念ない昭和より自閉スペクトラム症でも誤診で40年間精神科通院

[cassolotl]

UK government planning to scrap a major disability benefit

I'm only just scraping by and the government are proposing to take away PIP (a disability benefit), which would be HALF of my income wiped out.

"Reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) could include stopping regular cash payments, and instead offering claimants one-off grants for things like home adaptations." -- "Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024

And:

"The plans, which will be consulted on over the coming months, also include proposals to “move away from a fixed cash benefit system”, meaning people with some conditions will no longer receive regular payments, but instead access to treatment if their condition does not involve extra costs." -- "People with depression or anxiety could lose sickness benefits, says UK minister", Guardian, 29 April 2024

That's what the NHS is supposed to be doing...

Genuinely absolutely terrifying.

Can anyone living in the UK join in with an (hopefully!) overwhelming cascade of unique emails to their MP opposing this? WriteToThem.com makes it very quick and easy.

They're proposing to replace it with one-off grants that the individual can apply for, which is absurd and horrifying, so feel free to point out how that won't work as well!

Here's what I'm writing, and do not just copy-paste my letter/email, because that makes it less legit. Do your own thing, even just one sentence telling your MP that you're opposed is enough if that's all you can manage. Whatever you want to say is what your MP needs to hear.

Dear [MP's name], Today I learned that the government plan to scrap PIP, and maybe replace it with something like a one-off grant application process, before the next election. ("Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo) PIP is about half of my income (about 44%). I don't spend it on occasional large purchases, I spend it on countless things that are more expensive for me than they are for other people. PIP is in place to acknowledge, as it says in the above article, that disabled people's lives are more expensive than non-disabled people's lives by hundreds of pounds per week. ("Previous research from Scope suggests households with at least one disabled adult or child face an estimated average extra cost of £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households." That's £225 per week, and the maximum amount of PIP you can get is £184.) So firstly, it could be argued that PIP doesn't even cover the additional expenses of the average disabled household. And next, the cost of implementing an alternative system would be worse for disabled people, totally unsuited to its purpose, and more expensive to run. Worse for disabled people: Currently PIP acknowledges that being disabled takes a lot more work to maintain a comparable standard of living, and as it's an amount of work that the claimant cannot sustainably do, they are given money so that they can pay someone else to do it. These costs are distributed across all living expenses, in addition to occasional one-off purchases of e.g. mobility aids. Having to apply for one-off payments for expenses would be more work on top of that, so if the disabled person isn't able to do it (which is very likely) they will either have to work less in their day jobs in order to spend more time applying for one-off grants, or they will have to also apply for one-off payments to pay someone to apply for more one-off payments. This is self-evidently a waste of energy and time, and totally impractical, as well as being counter to the entire point of disability benefits. It would also be extremely undignified for the disabled people, and arguably against human rights (right to private life and dignity), to have to justify each purchase to the government. Totally unsuited to its purpose: One off-grants are not suited to ongoing higher expenses such as having to buy more prepared food (e.g. carrot batons are more expensive than raw carrots and go off much more quickly). Does this policy assume that disabled people's PIP is only for things like wheelchairs and walking sticks? More expensive to run: The system for PIP applications is already fairly backlogged, in that my last application took over 6 months to complete. I was awarded PIP for 10 years. If every application for a one-off grant had to be accompanied by an application of a similar scale that wouldn't be workable, so presumably an initial PIP application like the current system's would still be required to qualify for the system in the first place, and then following that, numerous smaller applications for money (e.g. for taxis, pre-chopped veg, painkillers, specialist clothing, etc.) would be carried out per person per month. The disability benefits system would have to be scaled up significantly, and it would be much more expensive. It is far cheaper to give people a set amount of money based on their needs; it's the same money that you would be giving them in grants anyway, but without having to process each purchase/one-off application. I implore you to oppose this proposal. It is blatantly unworkable to the level of absurdity, but more importantly it is inhumane. I look forward to your reply detailing your stance. Many thanks in advance. Yours sincerely, [My name]

But, again, if you can't manage anything long or complicated like that, your best is good enough. Even if they're not all perfectly written and detailed, we want to bowl them over with sheer quantity of emails.

[kandidandi]

A day late and dollar short but I'm HERE and I hope you're ready for some QUESTIONS cause I GOT EM

So their grandfather's loaded, yeah? Like you gotta be to custom order two wholeass bots. I know astronomers make like an annual of 120k but that depends on certification and location etc etc. All of this to ask, is Y/N filthy rich and just living a modest life or are they scraping by while doing their job in the middle of nowhere?

Sun and Moon's freckles are SO CUTE. Has y/n ever considered painting over them to make stars?

I'm so glad y/n is autistic about space and I'm ALSO so glad to hear they're infecting Sun/Moon with that brand of autism too. This isn't a question I just thought that part was really cute.

Are/were the boys at all bitter about their job? Did/Do they resent being made to do these things or was it just par-for-the-course? What about their appearance being tailored to someone else?

Followup question: did this opinion change once they developed a love for space? Did they want to know more about the very thing they were built to resemble? I can't imagine being made to look like the sun or moon and not being invested in learning everything about that.

I looooove how clever they are, proven by the charging cord ploys. Gotta get your human their daily dose of vitamin d and social interaction one way or another! Does y/n actually realize what they're doing, and is just too enamored to refuse them? Or are they really that dense (affectionate)

THE FLOOR PLAN IS SO COOL KANDIIIIII. I LOVE YOUR WORLD BUILDING

Here comes a bunch of unimportant questions: What kind of stuff is kept in the mini fridge? (What are sun/moon's feelings on food?), how often (if ever) does the whiteboard get cleared? How many mugs are on that desk at one time?

Do the boys help y/n up and down those stairs (Does y/n actually Let Them??) or do they just Stand By in case of a fall?

I see those book shelves!! Being an astronomy requires a lot of studying, but is y/n more of a bookworm (goes through novels like candy) or a bookdragon? (hoards books but never actually gets around to reading them)

The boys' sense of fashion looks pretty similar to y/n's. Did they come with those outfits (and do they have multiple to change into), or did y/n get them an upgraded wardrobe after a while?

Where do the boys stay when y/n is sleeping, and what do they do to keep themselves entertained?

Can I send you pictures/music/HCs for this au 👉👈

WUAH THATS A LOT OF QUESTIONS HDSG ok alright *cracks knuckles*

(So their grandfather's loaded, yeah? Like you gotta be to custom order two wholeass bots. I know astronomers make like an annual of 120k but that depends on certification and location etc etc. All of this to ask, is Y/N filthy rich and just living a modest life or are they scraping by while doing their job in the middle of nowhere?)

technically they're just one bot with two personalities but yeah their grandfather is loaded, he was an astronaut and has had many jobs so he's saved up a bunch of money. y/n is an amateur astronomer and earns about $110,000, thats $9,167 a month. (i am NOT going into the nitty gritty of tax and other stuff for my mental wellbeing lmfao) i'd say they're pretty well off, they're not loaded but they're also not scraping by.

(y/n did go to school for astronomy but is mostly self taught, they'd be classified as a professional astronomer instead of an amateur astronomer but isn't since their training wasn't formal)

(Sun and Moon's freckles are SO CUTE. Has y/n ever considered painting over them to make stars?)

HI YES i like to think further in their relationship but not dating yet y/n would look at them and say something like "your freckles kinda look like consolations if you squint hard enough..." and then it turns into y/n drawing on their face with chalk lolol

(I'm so glad y/n is autistic about space and I'm ALSO so glad to hear they're infecting Sun/Moon with that brand of autism too. This isn't a question I just thought that part was really cute.)

WOO thank you hehehehe yes yes the space brainrot must spread! no one is safe hehehe

(Are/were the boys at all bitter about their job? Did/Do they resent being made to do these things or was it just par-for-the-course? What about their appearance being tailored to someone else?)

It was pretty normal though they we're a bit disappointed when they learned they're a care bot, they could've been working some cool job but instead they're stuck with this random person in the middle of nowhere.

About their appearance, just like how humans are born without a choice on what they look like sun and moon don't really mind as well, however, being made to look like something specifically for someone else did feel a bit weird to them but not enough for it to be a huge issue.

(Followup question: did this opinion change once they developed a love for space? Did they want to know more about the very thing they were built to resemble? I can't imagine being made to look like the sun or moon and not being invested in learning everything about that.)

YES IT DID! they didn't care about their look until they got infected with space brainrot and began to read books and search up information on the sun and moon! lolol they were both very pleased to learn theres many many more suns and moons in space and not just the ones in our solar system.

(I looooove how clever they are, proven by the charging cord ploys. Gotta get your human their daily dose of vitamin d and social interaction one way or another! Does y/n actually realize what they're doing, and is just too enamored to refuse them? Or are they really that dense (affectionate))

at first y/n didn't know it was a ploy to get them outside but over time they caught on but pretended not to know because they thought it was funny. after sun and moon learn y/n's known for a while the phrase "our cord is broken" became meaning for "you wanna go outside?" for them hehehe <3

(THE FLOOR PLAN IS SO COOL KANDIIIIII. I LOVE YOUR WORLD BUILDING)

AWWAAAH THANK YOU!!! <3<3<3

(Here comes a bunch of unimportant questions: What kind of stuff is kept in the mini fridge? (What are sun/moon's feelings on food?), how often (if ever) does the whiteboard get cleared? How many mugs are on that desk at one time?)

the minifridge has things like soft drinks (y/n is a fanta kinda guy), many snacks including canned fruit and leftovers from cooking!

sun and moons feeling on food? they dont need to eat so they dont really have an opinion dsjgs but they do like the look of foods like watermelon and lollipops.

the whiteboard only ever gets cleared if y/n doesn't need those specific calculations anymore (the whiteboard gets cleaned about every 4 months)

HOW MANY MUGS. muzzle you've got the best questions lmao /pos LOTS. THERES LOTS. way less now that sun and moon are there tho lol. y/n usually has two or three separate mugs with different drinks in them cuz they get sick of drinking the same one all the time so they alternate.

(Do the boys help y/n up and down those stairs (Does y/n actually Let Them??) or do they just Stand By in case of a fall?)

y/n has grown used to using the stairs so they don't need much help getting up and down. though sun and moon do insist they help y/n anyways (y/n doesn't let them). the only time y/n would need help with the stairs is if they're really really sleepy and cant focus on not falling lolol.

(I see those book shelves!! Being an astronomer requires a lot of studying, but is y/n more of a bookworm (goes through novels like candy) or a bookdragon? (hoards books but never actually gets around to reading them))

y/n is definitely a bookwork! if they're not working in the observatory they're probably downstairs reading the same astrophysics book for the seventh time. they not only have books on space but they also have childhood books like the little prince and the velveteen rabbit

(The boys' sense of fashion looks pretty similar to y/n's. Did they come with those outfits (and do they have multiple to change into), or did y/n get them an upgraded wardrobe after a while?)

When y/n first met sun and moon they had the pants they've got now but a different shirt with the company logo on it! it's made of pretty uncomfortable material tho.

They did indeed come with different kinds of clothes like the vest and undershirt! tho y/n has offered sun and moon their clothing to wear if they get sick of their usual ones (sun and moon will usually wear these clothes if they don't need to go out that day or want to feel cozy).

(Where do the boys stay when y/n is sleeping, and what do they do to keep themselves entertained?)

When y/n is sleeping sun and moon spend time in the observatory looking through the telescope and like to spend time on the internet as well! aside from that they go into town to explore and meet the people living there :>

(Can I send you pictures/music/HCs for this au 👉👈)

YES OF COURSE!!!!!!

[albatris]

actually it's fucked up that you can get multiple letters from multiple specialists saying "this person is disabled and cannot work" and the government can still just go "hmmm nah"

[strike-another-match]

yall im so happy... ive had my differences with my dad over the years (<- understatement) but my parents are currently living in like, the most inaccesible apartment ever (4 flights of old stairs, no elevator) and he's disabled and it's been breaking my heart to see him leave the house less and less. my mom just told me that they found a ground floor apartment for even cheaper than their current place so they're moving next month!!! i legit thought my dad would die in that apartment locked out from the outside world. it will be a lot easier for me to visit them and our cat too since the place is close to my place and i'm disabled too so the stairs are a huge deterrent, a lot of times i feel really lonely but i can't go visit my mom because physically i can't handle those stairs without needing to rest the rest of the day. i hate that apartment so much i feel like our QOL for me and my dad plummeted after we moved there (bc of money we didn't have a choice. our previous apartment was GREAT but way too expensive and the landlady would mentally torture my mom T_T). anyway!!! it's such random good news i'm so happy!!!!! yay!!!! *does a spin*

[cy-cyborg]

Hey just a heads up for my Aussie disabled people (or anyone on centrelink) I just got a fake notification from someone claiming to be MyGov saying there was an issue with my dsp. Be careful and check the app if you get a text, don't click the links they send you.

This one was pretty obviously fake, the sender was "MyOv" instead of MyGov and called my DSP an allowance - also it wasnt that definitive MyGov brand of ominously vague lol, but I get the scam messages a lot anyway and they usually get better with time. Be cautious and make sure your less tech-savy relatives/friends know about it!

[thestevensblog]

How the fucking hell are Vouchers going to help the Disabled?

I'm just curious about how can a Voucher pay for food, bills and medical expenses?

They just want us to die faster.

[try-and-try-and-try-again]

The government is demanding nearly £700 from me in benefits overpayments because I forgot to tell them I was hospital for 4 months in 2021 and for some reason the government thinks you don’t have any expenses at all when you’re hospital. I’m sorry I didn’t stop to think about you DWP whilst I was trapped in a terrifying hospital ward and too busy wishing to not survive it.

[iwanttorundirectlyintothesun]

fuck the ndia

no, seriously, these bastards are so incapable of admitting that they don't actually care about the Australian people that they want to blame people who don't follow their (self-admittedly) complicated instructions to the dot on the i's for "wasting money" by accruing aids that they actually need. they punish people by refusing to help people buy clothing accommodations, mobility aids, transport and then making them wait for replies. a kid died. a 19 year old on an ndis plan died in their home because the ndia didn't help, didn't give them the support that they needed to the point that the last thing the kid communicated to anyone was a text asking if the ndis responded to their request for 24 hr support.

Menstruation products are only available as a support if they are deliberately and specifically required by the disability, not if your period is affected by your disability, not if you have a particularly difficult menstrual cycle that is exacerbated by your disability, only if you have an issue that is specifically and evidentially caused by your disability.

They want thousands of dollars worth of reports that list each thing wrong with you and the way you live, they want several years worth of doctors visits and personal accounts and bank statements. All so someone that doesn't even have a medical degree can tell you that it's not cost effective. Can tell you that under rule 34 of the 2013 ndis act they can legally say, "sorry, you're not worth the money".

And then when you give them that truly unnecessary number of personal details and evidence they don't even look at it. They don't read the letters from the specialists. They ignore evidence and say that it doesn't matter that that recommendation came directly from a professional/specialist. They don't look at the receipts and testimonials and papers you've found and researched on your own time to prove that this aid will help, this prescription will help you live a better, calmer, happier life not marred by as much pain and suffering. A life that's living and not just surviving.

All because they don't care, because the government made some stupid decisions decades ago and every time they get an opportunity to change they dig themselves deeper and say don't worry about the inflation, don't worry about the cost of living, don't worry about how your body and your country are failing you.

People on a disability scheme like the ndis according Australian Institute of Health and Welfare are twice as likely if not more to commit suicide than the general population. Men who are disabled are more likely to commit suicide and more likely to consider it (doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdy197).

They hire lawyers that call in soft voices to tell you that you need to resubmit years worth of evidence, that "that's not what the agency is for" when you ask for the recommended number of hours. And legal aid is no help, they want you to wait until you're booked until you ask them for help even when you've been told specifically to ask them for help. And because this is happening all over, the support workers and advocacy groups are overrun and overworked.

The ndia only cares if it will make them look good on paper. The ndia will tell the general population "look how much money we saved" while the disabled looks on in agony, while they are denied medication, support, aid, transportation, therapies and god knows what else.

[ineffectualdemon]

Reminder if you need send back a reconsideration notice on your PIP or any paperwork to the DWP:

1. Send it so they have to sign for it so you get notified when they receive it

2. If you do not get notification that they have received the paperwork within 48 hours call them. They will backdate it to the day they received. So you need the delivery notification so you can say "you received it on [Date]"

[moonsharky]

.