Thread: OMG Centrelink are slow

Originally Posted by schmierer LR at singleton

Brian read this i only just said it a few minutes ago, i suppose the point i was making it not why should i get it while overseas. but why should they not make it eligible for people overseas who are studying through Australian unis and still paying the same amount of student costs as those that are in Australia.
This has nothing to do with me going overseas because i want to live with my fiance

Parliament makes the rules. Centrelink and its staff are obliged to apply them. If you have a problem with the current legislation, then go to your MHR and attempt to convince him/her of the justness of your cause and to take it to the party room.

I don't like your chances. Paying Student Allowance overseas brings forth visions of a mass exodus of school leavers from Australia to party around the world whilst ostensibly enrolled at dodgy "universities". Not to mention mature age "students" using a loophole to have a long overseas holiday on the taxpayers dime.

the student allowance is not enough to live off though. the maximum a person can get for full time study is $134 a week which yes is a bit but if they were overseas they would have to be studying full time and if they dont pass well they have to pay lots of money for the course anyway.

Originally Posted by schmierer LR at singleton

what teacher are you Pinelli?
yes i chose to do teaching for the satisfaction, when i did it as work experience in year 10 it had made my mind up. I am doing primary however they have just brought in a new course that is k-12 which is a 4 year degree as well, so i hope i get that. I find it hard that people who do it would be as good teachers, at least at the start.
i think though that you learn just as much if not more through prac though, and i can always do further study once finished if i need to.
i was thinking about when i graduate teaching in international schools in the country i am going to but then the pay is a fair bit less then what it is here, so i will do it but maybe just not as long. i would ideally like to travel around afterwards and maybe teach in Africa for a year(that would be awesome).
but who knows what will happen in the next 4 years.
oh and btw there is a lot of talk all the time that they need more teachers but then they are saying that alot of us when we finish will not have jobs. oh and in my year in the course there is roughly 1 male to every 20-30 females and for those doing it externally(like me) it is about 1 male to every 40-50 females, and yes they are mostly mums who have kids at home i dont know how they find the time, but hats off to them

Maths & Physics. As someone else he suggested, I did an engineering degree first, went and did a couple of years in the 'real world', and then did a swerve to teaching. Made a big difference to my teachinig having gone and done something else.

I've also worked internationally, in England and Holland. Working in English state schools really taught me an awful lot about behaviour management - had to if you wanted any chance of surviving! First priority sometimes was just keeping kids in the classroom, and not jumping out of windows. Then you'd worry about getting a maths into them or something. The Dutch international school was fantastic, except for the administration.

The job market for teachers is a complex one. Maths/Science/Language teachers usually don't have any dramas getting a job, as long as you're willing to move. Primary teachers there's a bit of an oversupply, but being male your chances are a bit better (they won't say that officially). Flexibility is the key. Over the years I've always been happy to put up my hand to teach anything interesting that might come along, so I've had classes in History, Economics, graphics and ICT.

I did both physics and engineering at school and failed pretty bad( i actually passed, but not by much) as well as metal and engineering where i got a certificate 2 in engineering(something). If my Fiance's course was more then 3 years these could be possibilities but she will finish in 2 and a half years where i will finish in 4 years, so it may mean that we are only over there for a few years.
unfortunately the country i am going to has some big factors that would make it nearly impossible to get work.

this degree would only help me if i was overseas, otherwise it would solve my problem. As i wont be a citizen there i would have to pay around $27k a year, and by the time i became a citizen my fiance would only have a year left of her degree

i was just checking and apprentices can still get the same payments as uni students. The only difference is that apprentices normally earn more money so they get less centrelink bu a general apprentice can still get about $104 per fortnight and the maximum is $267 per fortnight, plus apprentices still get their tool allowance which i think is around a grand.

Speaking as someone who left Australia post uni (on HECS) for a 2 year cultural working holiday and yet to return or repay a single cent of my HECS after 15 years,

I'm with the other guys - by virtue of your passport, you do not gain the right to be funded by the Aussie tax payer to be a student whilst living overseas. Plenty of people with dual passports could (in theory) claim from both countries and live a pretty decent life without working at all if that were the case!

My missus (Australian passport holder) did a degree from an Aussie uni while living O/S and had to pay full wack for every subject, not some piddling $200 for an exam, more like $1300 per subject, plus books, plus exams, plus working fulltime and having 2 kids into the bargain.

sorry mate, if you want to study on the cheap, physically stay in Oz or pay to study in Sweden (I assume that is where you are going?).

Originally Posted by EchiDna

Speaking as someone who left Australia post uni (on HECS) for a 2 year cultural working holiday and yet to return or repay a single cent of my HECS after 15 years,

I'm with the other guys - by virtue of your passport, you do not gain the right to be funded by the Aussie tax payer to be a student whilst living overseas. Plenty of people with dual passports could (in theory) claim from both countries and live a pretty decent life without working at all if that were the case!

My missus (Australian passport holder) did a degree from an Aussie uni while living O/S and had to pay full wack for every subject, not some piddling $200 for an exam, more like $1300 per subject, plus books, plus exams, plus working fulltime and having 2 kids into the bargain.

sorry mate, if you want to study on the cheap, physically stay in Oz or pay to study in Sweden (I assume that is where you are going?).

How do all you university goers feel about the fact that your politicians who have decided you must pay, went to uni for free?