I am the ultimate Centre link- Illiterate! Help?

[Ashleigh<3]

I am almost this close… To giving up with them all together.
If it wasn’t my soon to be family in jeopardy, I wouldn’t be so damn concerned and stubborn! But this is very important.

One phone call I receive informative advice, which keeps my hopes high, unfortunately.:cool:
Then when they send me a letter in the mail asking me to come in for a meeting, I receive the complete opposite advice. Then, I receive a phone call from them giving me more hope. So they ask me to come in again. Once I go in, BAM! GET lost, we can’t even help you!
Another phone call, another meeting, another phone call….. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!

I will let you all know of my position, I’m not embarrassed, I’m not ashamed, This is my life. My partner and I have been together for two years, would they consider us a defacto relationship? We do live together, but with my parents- we still pay rent. (But they don’t believe us! Supposedly we can’t prove we pay rent and it doesn’t matter even if we do we’re still considered ‘looked after’)
Apparently, because I am 19 years old, my partner works fulltime and we live with my parents, having a baby means nothing, the fact that we live with my parents, means they think it’s my parent’s responsibility to look after us. (including my baby)
We are not allowed to receive any payments because my Mum and Dad both work full time and make to much money for me to receive any money.
I’m quite annoyed that I’m still being considered their responsibility, especially when I’m about to have a baby. And I’ve been working part time since I was 14 along with going to school and Full-time since I was 17.
It's just a shame, throughout this whole pregnancy,
DP's money has had to go to all baby Necessities because i don't have a job. I tried to get a job but i was turned down three times so i gave up, being pregnant obviously didn't look good on my resume. Couldn't recieve any payments because i'm living with my parents and DP.

DP and I are ready to move. The cost of commuting from the central coast every day and back to Sydney has really bitten DP hard and I’ve become an emotional wreck worried every damn second if he’s safe or not etc.
Relying on trains- How can we even? (After having to wait till 2:00am this morning for him to get home, when I knew he was at Hornsby station at 11:30pm just waiting for a bus. You’d be crying too!) Petrol? Sorry we really can’t afford to spend $200 a fortnight just on petrol. So it makes sense to move.

I want to have centre link down pat before we pack our things and get ourselves into a lease that we won’t be able to afford. The areas we want to live in, the areas that will allow us to save excessive travel money, are going to cost a bit. But we’re willing to sacrifice this, I’m fed up with him only getting 5 hours sleep at night and having to spend 5+ hours commuting, 9+ and sometimes 12+ hours a day working.

His basis Salary per year is $40k.
DP seems to think they will include his superannuation + overtime pay, which will put us over the mark for parental payments or rent assistance etc.

AS rude as this bloody well does sound, (I do apologise) can anyone help me with information? Is anyone not ashamed to share their experience or maybe if you’re in a similar predicament just give me a more insightful rundown, a rundown which centre link have lacked in doing so for so long.

I really don't like the idea of having to be so reliant on the government for assistance, but that's what it's there for. I'm not doing this to bludge, my family needs help!

Plus should i be informing/complaining to centre link that i'm continuously recieving different information everytime, or is this just irrelevant?

:banghead:

Sorry again everyone!:(

[jessgray]

when i got two diffferent sets of info i complained and then i got a phone call a few days later apologising and they explained to me what i should have been told :thumbsup: it is hard to get the right info from c/link sometimes.
good luck :fingerscrossed: :hugs:

[Niki]

wen i was living at home bymyself i was recieveing payments so i dont see why you shouldnt

[InSaneOne]

it is the common occurance with government departments that no-one knows what they are talking aout and you can be told 3 different stories by 3 different people. child support are also good ones for this.

i think you can get your parents to write a letter to centrelink sort of disowning you? i had to get something similar when i first moved out of home saying that it was unsuitable for me to be living with them so i could still get centrelink payments. if you guys do move out on your own you can apply for rent assistance and with the baby get family tax A and because you aren't working you can also get part B (worked out on the lower income earner) my hubby is on about $40 000 (or a little more i think) and that because he works overtime and earns too much (with the overtime) i don't get a partner allowance but we do get the family tax A & B. they should take his superannuation into his wage as that is someting the employer pays for out of their pocket not your gross income (including tax).

i also had to be living with my partner for 12 months before they would recognise us as having a defacto relationship.

i hope that helps. i am in qld so the information might be slightly different. i think also if you are on newstart alowance - it can be affected depending on where you move to. eg: if you move to a suburb that has a higher unemployment rate than where you are living now they do penalise you for that by reducing your payments for a few fortnights.

but i have found it is better to ask to speak to a senior case manager. they seem to have better and more correct information.

[Ashleigh<3]

Thank you for your help ladies. :)

[clarebear1983]

[
I will let you all know of my position, I’m not embarrassed, I’m not ashamed, This is my life. My partner and I have been together for two years, would they consider us a defacto relationship? We do live together, but with my parents- we still pay rent. (But they don’t believe us! Supposedly we can’t prove we pay rent and it doesn’t matter even if we do we’re still considered ‘looked after’)
Apparently, because I am 19 years old, my partner works fulltime and we live with my parents, having a baby means nothing, the fact that we live with my parents, means they think it’s my parent’s responsibility to look after us. (including my baby)
We are not allowed to receive any payments because my Mum and Dad both work full time and make to much money for me to receive any money.

DP's money has had to go to all baby Necessities because i don't have a job. I tried to get a job but i was turned down three times so i gave up, being pregnant obviously didn't look good on my resume. Couldn't recieve any payments because i'm living with my parents and DP

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Relying on trains- How can we even? (After having to wait till 2:00am this morning for him to get home, when I knew he was at Hornsby station at 11:30pm just waiting for a bus. You’d be crying too!) Petrol? Sorry we really can’t afford to spend $200 a fortnight just on petrol. So it makes sense to move.




You know i really feel for you sweetie.

When i first moved with my fiancee to brisbane i was 18 and centrelink wouldnt give me a cent because I was a dependent on my parents until he and i had been together for over 12 months. They even thought it was economical for me to move back to WA so mum and dad could support me!!! mum and dad ended up givng me $100 to live on a week so I could have fuel money it was the pits!!!! (when we got married it was ok)

As for not having proof you are paying rent: I am paying mum and dad board and all i had to do was get mum and dad to fill in a Rent Certificate (because i didnt have a formal lease) to get the money!!!!!! I cant beleive what centrelink are doing to you!!!

you have been with your partner 2 years that should be enough to consider you de facto and you dependent on him and not your parents!!!!! In these days i thought centrelink honoured defacto relationships!!!

With your hubby earning a base salary of 40K that would put him over the limit for you to get even a partial payment for parenting (as the cut off is $1324 gross a fortnight i think) but you should at least be entitled to family assistance A & B when the baby comes. Unfortunately this wont be sorted until the baby is born.

I can understand hating the commuting and not having money for fuel and hating to rely on public transport. I feel the same way (well i would if DH had to commute as much as your DP has to-you poor thing!!)

Unfortunately because your DP earns over the threshold (or from what I can see he does) I dont think you could get anything from centrelink until bubs comes-suckky as it is huh??? Centrelink definately dont make it easy financially or otherwise.

Oh and did you get told by centrelink that you have to look for work until you are 7 months pregnant? I got told that when i was pregnant with my first bub and was TOO SICK WITH MORNING SICKNESS TO STUDY (i had hyperamesis)............and this cocky guy behind the desk GLOATED as he told me!!!! But its discrimination to get turned down for jobs based on being pregnant (but then i can understand why some companies wouldnt hire a pregnant woman when they will have to find someone else when she leaves again)-although you are beyond this but i thought i would have my own personal vent here!!

I agree with Billie&Beth about getting a letter from your parents to say that living at home for work related reasons is unreasonable (hours spent for DP to commute) and unreasonable for him to find another job as that will mean less money. I think its actually a form you fill out. Your mum fills out part, your dad fills out part and you can get a third party unrelated witness (like a close family friend) to verify everything (maybe DP's boss???) that is in there is true and that living cirumstances are too hard. Im not sure if its your parents disowning you, its just them saying that its hard for you to live at home and they REALLY dont have the means to support you (even if this isnt true it sometimes helps for them to say it as its basically saying that if you are living with them you will still have to support yourself and will get not much from them so you would be BETTER OFF somewhere else)

CENTRELINK EXASPERATES ME AT THE BEST OF TIMES!!! DONT ASK WHAT THEY DO TO ME AT THE WORST OF TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!

So i really do feel for you sweetie! GOODLUCK!

[jessgray]

they exempt you from job seeking now 6 weeks before due date and 6 weeks after bubs is born.

[Kari_Adel]

Centrelink can be fussy about considering someone "independant" and eligible for payments.. most need to be living alone and supporting themselves (before asking for assistance) for a certain amount of time ie 2 years or so. OR have a baby, and you're considered "independant" straight away.

The best you could prob do while waiting for bub to be born would be claim some sort of Newstart Allowance (prob low "dependant" rate as they consider you still living at home) and you'll be exempt from "looking for work" as you're in your final 6 weeks of pregnancy.

After bub is born, you're "independant" (well I was, in my case) and should be entitled to Maternity Allowance, Parenting Payment, Family Tax Benefit etc. They may, however, still want to take your partners earnings into consideration.. and WILL consider you defacto the DAY you move in together :eek:

[V8]

That's right about the 'independant' status. You should get a statutory declaration from your parents to say that you are both living there as de-facto and have been for 'x' number of years. When bubs comes you are automatically considered 'independant' and should receive payments. This seems to be the whole argument from what you are saying. Also just wanted to say goodluck moving to Sydney, it will be hard as rent is expensive, but it's not impossible, even if you live out as far as Campbelltown, (for example) they have great train services and your DH should be in the city in an hour or so. (If that's where he works). Goodluck with your baby and moving :D

[Ashleigh<3]

Thanks again Ladies!:D

I actually decided to stop by centrelink today and I finally had a satisfying experience.

The lady told me that as soon as bubs are born everything can be sorted.
She said DP and I will be considered Defacto because there is a baby involved and we have been together for two years, she asked me questions like, are you emotionally involved and if he is the father of the baby, is he there for you etc.
(Gave me a number to call) to arrange a meeting with them, and to come in and they will start organising my forms for the parental payments. She said I may even be eligible for rent assistance whilst we are still living with my parents, because there is a baby involved and she said something similar as to a few of you have mentioned about my parents filling out a form to say that they are not responsible for me nor are they paying for me.

The only problem is we worked out I wont be receiving as high payments as we thought because of DP's overtime (which wasn't included in his basis salary per year) it’s definitely taken into account. But his superannuation is not. So we just need to supply his last 8 pay slips for evidence and they will let me know how much I am able to receive. She said even if he was earning up to 80k a year, I’d still be receiving at least something a fortnight because we have a baby, but every bit helps right?
Just so relieved!
She also told me, next time, if I hear anything different by any other employee wether it be over the phone or when I come in next, to run it by the senior manager who will see me instead.

But thank you so much for your replies and help!
:hugs:

[cupcakemafia]

Hey, I see that you've basically worked out your probs with centrelink so far, but I just thought I'd let you know that if you have any questions or anything feel free to PM me - I work for the Family Assistance Office. Bear in mind I can only give you advice or point you in the right direction, I'm not a decision maker or anything and I'm forbidden to access your file due to privacy reasons, but if you'd like someone to explain "what the hell does that mean?" feel free to PM me.