Thread: When Centrelink stuffs up they hide behind legislation!

Isn't that their job ? Make us more self sufficient while weeding out claimants and reducing the cost to the taxpayer. Not my ideal government body.

Their job is to obey the law which is the will of the people expressed through parliament, not to make random decisions based on some whim or personal prejudice.
Mind you, it's such a huge organisation with so many laws, rules and regulations that it's no wonder that people make mistakes.
When our oldest son was moving from the country to Sydney they lost his entire file in transit and he was left with no income for a month as a result and left couch surfing and living on handouts, so he now refuses to have any contact with them.

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Like most government departments they have finished trimming off the "fat" long ago but keep carving at the meat, I'm sure there is legislation that prevents thermodynamics applying to government departments. I have known a few blokes that have worked for them, seemed quite stressful and thankless and also being human employees can become jaded and bitter and lose all empathy in some cases. So the circle of buthurt continues passing on down the ladder.

On a brighter note when I applied for ausstudy at the start of uni around 15 yrs ago the guy helping me at the counter was telling me how to rort the system and spend the season in Indo surfing....well I do look like a surfie bum (partly because I am). He was saying to enrol in a tafe course as they didn't alert centerlink of attendance back then. The kicker was that he said wait till just before census date then apply for the ausstudy and you'll get a lump sum back payment which will cover the flights. The government would then pay you to surf every 2 weeks while in Bali drinking bintang. I said as appealing as it sounds I'll stick with uni for now. I recon he would probably have the top job by now if the normal government random and arbitrary promotion scheme is working it's magic.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Their job is to obey the law which is the will of the people expressed through parliament, not to make random decisions based on some whim or personal prejudice.

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A great description of the role of many in the public service. I would have also thought that this should describe the judiciary - you know, those ****weak fools who look after the interests of the criminals in society and who couldn't give a **** about the victims of crime. Obviously I have been mistaken all these years.

I worked for a State Government Department for many years.
For a long time it was very good, I was allowed to just get on with my job. Yes, I had to follow procedures but as I was in a remote area & had an non-normal job (how many retailers work for a Government?) I was pretty much left alone.

But, in the late 2000's that all changed!
Suddenly, a job I had been doing for 15 years I was no longer any good at, I didn't obey all the rules, I was "disrespectful", I was even told that nobody cared if the people I was serving were happy as long as my paper work & attitude improved!!

I had a few please explains, had to be tested on the Code of Conduct (apparently swearing at idiots in Brisbane that don't even know where Doomadgee is, is a No No) & a whole lot of other crap.

So, after having 2 months sick leave because I became frightened to answer the phone or make a decision, I quite.

I now earn substantially less money but, I'm a whole lot happier.

My experience of working for the "Public Service" is that they don't allow you to make decisions, the bosses treat the staff as fools & criminals & are very happy to pass on any blame down the line.

Jonesfam

Originally Posted by jonesfam

I worked for a State Government Department for many years.
For a long time it was very good, I was allowed to just get on with my job. Yes, I had to follow procedures but as I was in a remote area & had an non-normal job (how many retailers work for a Government?) I was pretty much left alone.

But, in the late 2000's that all changed!
Suddenly, a job I had been doing for 15 years I was no longer any good at, I didn't obey all the rules, I was "disrespectful", I was even told that nobody cared if the people I was serving were happy as long as my paper work & attitude improved!!

I had a few please explains, had to be tested on the Code of Conduct (apparently swearing at idiots in Brisbane that don't even know where Doomadgee is, is a No No) & a whole lot of other crap.

So, after having 2 months sick leave because I became frightened to answer the phone or make a decision, I quite.

I now earn substantially less money but, I'm a whole lot happier.

My experience of working for the "Public Service" is that they don't allow you to make decisions, the bosses treat the staff as fools & criminals & are very happy to pass on any blame down the line.

Jonesfam

Sounds about right mate, unfortunately. Glad it has worked out ok in the end though mate. Must be getting warm out that way now

Originally Posted by squizzyhunter

Sounds about right mate, unfortunately. Glad it has worked out ok in the end though mate. Must be getting warm out that way now

Warm? Not really, only high 30's. Last week we cracked 44!

Muggy? Ho Ho Yep! Get a sweat up while drying off after a shower.

Love Christmas in the Western Tropics!

Jonesfam

Well it just gets better for our Brendon, they advised they were cutting off his living away from home allowance and will revert back to the normal fortnightly youth allowance. ( That's fair enough as he is back home . But for some reason they cut off the entire payment of youth allowance and said it will start on the 25th of January, so he misses out on 3 weeks of payment. There is no reason for and it should continue to be paid as his brother get his this week. So another trip to centre link when they reopen after Christmas and wasting our time to sort it out again. GRRRRRR!