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Employment Services

CheerBearSenior Contributor01 Mar 2018, 8:03 pm AEDT

Employment Services

I have a couple of questions about employment service providers. I've tried to hunt around the forum for existing threads but can't find them tonight, sorry.

I had an exemption from looking for work from centrelink for 6 months after an assessment due to mental health reasons, which has recently expired. This afternoon I recieved an appointment with a job access provider for next week (the timing is incredible 🙁). My GP, psych and MH worker are all of the opinion that looking for work right now is not going to be the right thing for me but I can't get in to see my GP for a month and I need a new referral letter from her so I can see my psych. I plan on trying to get in touch with my MH worker but I don't know if we'll have time to sort something out now. I have a letter from my GP dated a few weeks ago, that says that I'm too unwell to do the work thing right now, but I don't think that's going to be enough on it's own.

I want to study and have plans to finish my degree (which I am so close to completing) but I need my head a little less the way it is right now. I'm slowly slowly getting there, maybe, but I am not quite close enough yet. The next term starts in May and that's when, if I can get everything organised, I am hoping to return. It's a big if though.

Employment/job stuff is very difficult for me and if I have to engage with a service I really need it to be with one that understands mental health barriers. Does anyone know how to get a referral to a disability employment service (DES), which is what was recommended I do if I had to go with this option? I can't remember what they said to do to get to see one.

If I do have to go next week, is studying something an employment service will consider?

I'm also starting the NDIS process as it rolls out here so how does that work with looking for work requirements? Am I going to be made to look for work, while trying to prove I have a permanent psychosocial disability, and trying to organise myself to return to study to finish my degree? That seems like a giant head mash mix 🙁

Any ideas on where to start navigating this one would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks

25 replies

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In response to: Employment Services

Unknown userMember02 Mar 2018, 12:26 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

@CheerBear, I don’t have any advice re employment services/centrelink, but I do feel like a big grrrrrr at (particularly ill-timed) buses is in order.

I can say that the NDIS is completely separate from centrelink/work stuff and it is a giant brain-mashing bus depot all of its own. (The giantest, really.) Please make sure you have someone to support you every step of the way as you embark on that particular adventure.

(And as a side note, if you’re going to be gathering all that evidence for your NDIS application—ie. proving you have a permanent psychosocial disability—have you thought about applying for the DSP as well? It is another brain-mashing process but the requirements are much clearer than those for the NDIS, and it should take away the pressure of having to look for work if you’re successful. Sorry if that’s a terrible suggestion.)

(As a second side note, it just occurred to me that you are possibly already on the DSP but may be younger than me and therefore have participation requirements. If that is so, then my first side note is irrelevant. However, if this is the case, then study might meet those participation requirements.)

(P.S. I hope this doesn’t feel like I’m trying to ‘problem-solve’ you.) 🌷

In response to: Employment Services

TABSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 1:22 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

..love your pic @Former-Member .. hi 👋

In response to: Employment Services

CheerBearSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 6:00 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

Thanks heaps @Former-Member. I really appreciate your reply (no terrible suggestion at all and very helpful thanks).

I haven't applied for DSP but I remember the assessor who gave me the exemption said that if I required more than six months then I would need to look at a DSP application. My MH worker and I spoke about the same thing as you mentioned - that if we're going to do an NDIS application, with all of its paperwork (horrible letters), then a DSP application is something to also consider. (Side note - how are the NDIS and DSP not linked?! Makes no sense at all 🙁). My GP also mentioned a similar thing and was supportive of it. It's me that doesn't want to do it and part of that is the process. The other part is that I just need a little more time, but apparently that's not so much supported by places like c-link. Long story short, I think I have the support of my 'team' for DSP application, but a head that is resisting it all.

I absolutely benefit from the non-clinical support that the NDIS will take from me if I don't do this application and/or it is rejected. Annoyingly, had I been placed under a different funding stream for one of the services I use (it was 50/50 as to which funding stream clients of the same service were under) I would have automatically qualified for it and gone to the planning stage (I'm still getting used to the language and I'm probably going to get it wrong). Odds don't seem to often work in my favor, so my support is funded by the stream they said no to. Apparently I may be able to move to the 'eligible' funding stream if I participate in a program/course thingy which, even though it seems very similar to a program thingy I used to help facilitate (with a different client group) and therefore is likely to be of absolutely no benefit to me beyond the box-checking it would do (and will probably crush my soul), I am considering doing.

I don't know why I linked the employment stuff above with the NDIS and now I read over my post above, it probably doesn't make much sense. I think where I am at is that employment, which means return to study, is my number one goal but I need understanding support to do that and the support that I find most supportive to do things like this, is that which I am needing to fight for at the moment. I can't get my head around having to go through this process too.

I'm going to have to work something out today re the employment service thing. It's unlikely I have enough time for my MH worker to come to support me with it, which given how full on messed up I can become when talking about past employment/study stuff and future goals (and the challenges I face in returning to some kind of functioning beyond the walls of the house and why), I really badly need.

I need problem solving help I think because I'm not sure where to start to change/cancel/stall this appointment/process. This is not feeling very bite-sized chunkable at all right now 😔.

Breathe! Thank you for replying and understanding (I'm so sorry it has to come from a place of having gone through it and having it hurt you as it has) and listening bookish 💚

In response to: Re: Employment Services

Unknown userMember02 Mar 2018, 9:31 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

Morning @CheerBear.

I think the first thing to do (which is a hideous and massive chunk, I know) is to contact Centrelink. They will (should) be able to answer quite a few of your questions. The requirement to connect with an employment services comes from them, so they control whether it has to happen or not. They should be able to tell you how to connect with a DES too.

If you’re going to an office (no idea if that’s even physically possible for you right now) I’d take the letter from your GP from a few weeks ago. If you’re phoning, I’d upload it online (if you have access) so that they can see it while you’re on the phone (if you can get through on the phone).

Hopefully they can buy you some extra time and also let you know exactly what you need to do right now.

Re the NDIS … There is a box on the Access Request Form (ARF) that you need to tick so that the NDIA can contact Centrelink to confirm your details (age, disability and residence). It’s optional (though it doesn’t feel that way) and I was terrified about what the consequences might be when placing a tick in that box, terrified that if my application was unsuccessful (as it turned out to be) that my DSP would be cut off. However, there is no connection like that between Centrelink and the NDIA—one does not have any bearing on the other.

I totally understand a head being resistant to the idea of the DSP. I personally wouldn’t be able to survive without and think of it as a safety net. You can still work or study while on the DSP, but if you’re unwell and can’t undertake those activities, there is no pressure to do so in order to keep receiving financial support.

If we had a physical illness or disability that impaired our function, we (and society) would feel much less critical about accepting that we need the DSP. But because society has conditioned us to think that mental illness is something we should be able to ‘just get over’ or ‘push through’, like it's not a real condition/disability … I don’t know, there’s almost a sense of shame attached to it. And it’s so not right—we’re all worthy of help.

(Not so good with the words this morning, sorry @CheerBear. I hope I’m making some modicum of sense. I’m stopping now.)

In response to: Employment Services

CheerBearSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 10:08 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

You're making so much sense @Former-Member, thank you.

I think you're right with DSP and the difficulty accepting it. I have physical condition/s that will add to the box checking for an application that if I can bring myself to sharing with (what feels like) the world, I will. I feel like I am getting so many messages from the world that say that I really do need to get over it all now, that I've had more than enough time to feel sad and hurt, and that things should be better now (the words "surely everything is better now" were said the other day 😔). It leads me to question why I can't just get over it all and think that maybe there really is something very wrong with me.

I feel resistant with the DSP and NDIS also because I need to believe this is not permanent. It would crush and destroy my hope if I accepted that I will be broken forever. The NDIS thing extra stings because I can't work out how permanent and recovery work together. It hurts my heart to read the picture these letters paint and to hear that it's likely to be long enough lasting that it's considered permanent. Big sigh. It makes me feel very sad.

I left a message for my mental health worker this morning and hopefully she'll get back to me. The next step, you're right, is contacting c-link. I think the idea of taking the letter in is a really good one. I'm not sure I am feeling up to sitting and waiting for ages this morning though (I've just been to the clinic to have a dressing changed after it came off in the shower this morning and that was a big enough outing) so maybe I'll call them and see how I go there. And write a list of my questions (work out what my questions actually are first maybe).

I'm starting to get a case of the sinky sads but it does help to talk it through. Thanks again 💚.

In response to: Re: Employment Services

Unknown userMember02 Mar 2018, 10:21 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

I am sitting here nodding my head furiously at your thoughts and feelings re the NDIS, @CheerBear. I’m not going to open that (gigantic exploding) can of pessimistic worms right now as it won’t help anyone’s mood, but please know I hear you and I SO get it.

(Also a big head nod and heart hurt about sharing with the world … and massive heart hurt and face palm and grrrr about ‘surely everything is better now’. The world makes me so sad.)

Sending you bucketloads of strength for today. (Feel free to dump the contents and use the buckets for venting later if you need to. I’ll be around.) 💚

In response to: Employment Services

CheerBearSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 11:33 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

Gigantic exploding pessimistic can of worms definitely @Former-Member. And one I am trying so hard to keep a lid on too (and it feels like imploding sometimes). It's doing my head in, in a massively huge way and I have huge must.stay.calm. feelings happening about it.

I called c-link who palmed me off to the jobactive provider because "you're managed by them now". (How I love being "managed" 😐). They suggested I start the DSP process as they can see this is not a temporary condition/s so that's been triggered in the system as of today too. Big giant breathing.

I then spoke with someone so helpful from the employment services provider who went through all of the notes and found that it was recommended at the assessment that I attend a Disability Employment Service after the exemption expires, which must have been missed in the auto-generated letter. So she referred me to them and stretched out the appointment as long as she could, hopefully buying me a month. She said that they have more leniency with what they will allow (as in they may be able to help me return to study rather than try to make me find the first job I can get wherever). She also mentioned that the DSP would be a much better way to go to get c-link off my back as they'll keep coming unless I am on it. Trying hard to not take that as "you're never going to get better" and more as "this is just stuff you need to do to find some security and stability".

Totally don't need to be using brain power to navigate this but it hasn't ended up being the end of the actual world today, which is great.

Thanks again bookish. Sometimes my head makes a huge mash of things and I need a space/place to stop and rethink, which is what you helped me find.

Sorry you're having the experiences you are that leads you to the so get it toos. Wish it wasn't the way it is 😔

In response to: Re: Employment Services

TeejSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 11:50 am AEDT

Re: Employment Services

@CheerBear I have had lots of similar experiences as you and still do.

I need to give you heads up that there will be lots of busses coming fast your way in applying for the dsp. It incredibly hard to get on now. I abandoned it a year ago. However in my case I’ve been given exemption with supporting evidence without too many dramas. I’m on my 5 th exemption I think. I couldn’t deal with all the job provider stuff.....I can’t even tell you what it is.

Im going to tag @NikNik here to see if we could try again to have @OstaraAust go through starting out with a DES and expectations etc. the career chat threads might have a bit of info in them but I don’t think there is much about starting out with DES for the first time.

My brain is not working well to write a really considered response but wanted you to know that I’ve been through some of this recently.

In response to: Employment Services

CheerBearSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 12:00 pm AEDT

Re: Employment Services

Thank you @Teej. I was just told that there was no chance I could get another exemption and that I needed to either engage with an employment services provider or go through DSP (probably while engaging with a employment services provider). I'm stuck in between this and that I think :face_with_rolling_eyes: All while I am desperately trying to work out how to get back to finishing the very little I have left of uni. That's all I want to do really.

As for the buses, it's a big reason as to why I couldn't and haven't done it so far. But the NDIS process is already full of them for me, and the letters I have been collecting (not anything to do with NDIS yet really) feel like they've already squished me, so I'm hoping I can't be more squished than already totally flattened by it and I may as well bring it all on at once.

I'll have another look through the career chats - that's a great idea thanks. Until now I haven't been able to bring myself to do it properly, but I guess I can't avoid it much longer.

Good to see you around 💜

In response to: Re: Employment Services

TeejSenior Contributor02 Mar 2018, 12:05 pm AEDT

Re: Employment Services

@CheerBear

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-21/disability-support-pension-applicants-rejected-after-crackdown/9465822

This was an article recently published but there has been lots more. I was told that pretty much everyone gets rejected on their first application. My psychiatrist told me of some of her clients with both debilitating mental and physical conditions who have been unsuccessful over and over again. The social worker in hospital told me the same thing. She’s been in disbelief at some of the rejections. I’m feeling really bad about sharing this with you but it was good for me to know it and hope it’s not too much of a downer for you. Ironically it was the social worker from Centrelink who told me if I needed another exemption I should apply for the dsp. I really hope if you apply it works out.

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