If You Are Eligible For A Payment, You Should Apply

If you are eligible for a Centrelink payment, you should apply for it.

We all know interacting with the welfare system has been designed to be extraordinarily frustrating, stigmatising, and time-consuming.

But, do not give the government the satisfaction of not claiming what you are entitled to, legally and morally.

Sometimes we hear people say they can get by without receiving a payment.

(Do you think corporations ever say they can get by without applying for some grant that is basically no more than welfare for the rich? Do you think they ever decide they can get by without using some tax break or concession to make themselves even more profitable?)

We hear this from casual/part-time workers, from people who have family/friends who can support them, and from people who do not.

From people who, feeling daunted by the Centrelink bureaucracy, instead choose poverty (well, more poverty, since receiving a Centrelink payment does not let you escape poverty). Or worse.

But do not let them win. There are individuals and organisations who can help you, that can stand in your corner, back you up, make sure you receive what you are owed.

We spent most of the 20th century fighting for a safety-net, do not let them intimidate or shame you into not claiming what is yours.