- Have they been understanding of your health and personal circumstances?
It really depends on who has been my agent, 8/10 times I would say no. They either brush it aside or treat it like it’s not important. Apply for jobs on my behalf that would send me into a panic attack. Like working at an abattoir. Or don’t take into account that I have no car and try and get me to do interviews that are over 2 hours bus ride away. The ones that have been understanding I never get to stay with for long because they either find other jobs or I get reassigned randomly.
- Have they ever made your health or personal circumstances worse?
Yes, by not listening to me or not doing their job efficiently they will blame me for their incompetence and my payment will be cut off temporarily because they think I haven’t done my obligations when I have in fact done them. I’ve dealt with some truly rude and completely un-empathetic people who call me lazy or tell me that it’s my fault I didn’t get a certain job instead of being encouraging. Which only serves to make my mental health worse. Which then makes it even more difficult to find employment.
- Have they provided meaningful support?
I’ve only ever had one agent that’s actually been supportive. She would take me for walks and let me vent, she’d give me advice for problems in my personal life only when it was asked for, she went out of her way to secure funding for education for me that all other agents I’d had said wasn’t possible (obviously because they couldn’t be bothered even trying)
- Have they been fair and reasonable?
Yes and no, it really depends on the circumstances. I think most job agents are just out to get their incentives. Not all of them but most. And it makes them less interested in actually finding work that fits someone and more interested in finding any job at all even if it it means the person is really unlikely to stay in said job.
- Have you ever had your payment cut without due cause?
Yes, many times. Mainly because APM won’t answer the phone when I call (never last minute) to say I won’t able to attend my appointment and need to reschedule, doesn’t matter if I leave messages my payments still get cut. Or if I’ve don’t my job search they won’t see it because they don’t look properly and I get my payment cut because “you haven’t met your obligations” even though I’d clearly done them days beforehand.
- Any rough experiences you have had with Centrelink?
Jesus, if I start on this one we’ll be here all day haha!!Too many to count. I think there’s just a big air of superiority when they deal with people. Doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are etc if you are on job seeker they treat you like you are less than them. A lot of them like to yell on the phone.
- Anything else you might like to comment on, i.e., the low rate of JobSeeker/Youth Allowance?
Yes I would, I thoroughly and truly believe that if welfare is raised so that everyone on it is able to live without having to choose between rent or healthcare etc and able to provide themselves with everything they need, then you put them in the best position possible to gain employment.
Letting people sit well below the poverty line while basically dictating what they have to do to find employment isn’t helpful at all. Quite the opposite. You catch them in a trap of poverty that’s extremely hard to break out of.
If they can’t afford nice interview clothes, potential employers will look at that and judge people for it, even if they deny it it’s been proven that every interviewer is biased and will judge an applicant by the way they look. They will even turn down a perfect match for a job if they subconsciously remind them of someone they hate.
It’s the same with healthcare as well, if people can’t get themselves well and be the best version of themselves, how are they expected to find proper employment? Both the welfare system and the job market are rigged.
The whole causal work and gig economy is extremely unethical and unfair. Our generation has an unprecedented low level of job security.
Anti-Poverty Network SA 