Thread by @kristin8X

🧵 #BTPM

Hi folks, someone shared a story with us today that spells out perfectly the absolute WORK of being unemployed, even in a pandemic.

They've kindly agreed to let me share it. It shows how folks lose days and days managing dumb requirements just to TRY and stay safe.

Note: this is about a DES provider. That's the DISABILITY employment service.

Yesterday this (un)employment provider insisted that the person attend an IN PERSON appointment in a few days' time, despite spiralling COVID cases.

A familiar story, we know.

This person rightly wants to keep themselves safe and started to figure out how to avoid doing a face-to-face appointment.

Here's absurd/byzantine process they needed to do ... just so they could stay home IN A PANDEMIC 👇

Instead of the provider doing the reasonable thing & agreeing to a phone appointment, it turned out the easiest way to avoid COVID risk was to move to a different provider entirely.

You'd think these dummies would realise treating people like we're human would stop them losing $

You might think this alone should solve the problem, but it doesn't.

It means there's a one week delay in the appointment, and gives the person more time to try and persuade the new provider NOT to make them go in to their office.

When they contacted Centrelink, they got a helpful person on the phone – presumably after surviving the infamous Centrelink hold music.

The Centrelink worker is the one who recommended changing providers & told the person to call the Department of Education, Skills & Employment.

The person who picked up the phone at DESE said to put in an online request to change providers.

Not exactly helpful given the timing of the in-person appointment. So, time to call the DES provider back and ask for the appointment to be postponed.

Provider: no. We simply *can't* delay your appointment (they can). When it's convenient, providers have discretion to do whatever the hell the want. When it's not, they're bound by the rules 🙃

What do they suggest? Call DESE. They'll transfer you to a new provider immediately.

But DESE just said they can't do that. What choice do you have though? You just need to jump through every hoop or else go out ... IN A PANDEMIC.

Ok. Let's try again.

Huh. New DESE person, new advice.

Wouldn't want to provide consistent information and application of the rules, that'd mean we're not maximising the punishment of stress and anxiety we force people to go through for their poverty payment.

So, provider transfer level unlocked!

The (other) cool thing?

Both Centrelink & DESE said providers DO have the option to decide an appointment can be over the phone or online. There are no rules stopping them doing this.

They either lied or have no idea what the rules actually are (a consistent theme w providers).

And what does that mean? Still no guarantee the new provider will agree to it. They could even say yes then change their mind.

Billions of dollars goes to these private organisations (profit and NFP) who can decide on a whim to derail your life.

Consider the contrast to people in paid work.

What would happen if you missed a meeting? Need to work from home for your own safety? If you're boss is a bastard you might get a warning. Most would have no problem at all.

They certainly couldn't decide to cut off your pay.

Providers can totally bungle things themselves and STILL cut you off. In 2019, 25% of payment suspensions were because the provider MADE A MISTAKE.

That was about 125,000 payment suspensions. People living in deep poverty who woke up with nothing on payment day.

That's important, because there's ANOTHER factor in this story.

The person found out they had this appointment TWO days ago. They called to ask if the appointment be done – in person – earlier than scheduled.

A schedule that hadn't even told the person existed.

Was the appointment in MyGov? Yes.

Did MyGov send one of those sinister empty emails to say there was a message / appointment in MyGov? No.

Did the provider say they sent a letter in the mail about the appointment? Yes.

Was a letter received in the mail? No.

So there were TWO system failures?? Again, we're either dealing with a lie, or gross incompetence.

Both providers and the government routinely fuck up like this, and the human cost doesn't seem to bother them at all.

It's a systemic issue. If it did bother them, they'd fix it.

Consider the contrast to people in paid work.

What would happen if you missed a meeting? Need to work from home for your own safety? If you're boss is a bastard you might get a warning. Most would have no problem at all.

They certainly couldn't decide to cut off your pay.

There are 1.1 million people forced to participate in jobactive or Disability Employment Services.

Nearly 500,000 of those people are disabled.

Every single one of those people is trying to survive on a poverty payment.

We’re in the middle of a pandemic (icymi)

We're desperately searching for COVID tests, trying to meet basic needs in the face of shortages & do all this living in poverty.

People need time & space to focus on keeping safe, caring for loved ones and recovering if they fall sick.

There's no excuse for forcing these activities on folks. They're nothing but a massive cash cow for private organisations to take public money from a government who incentivises brutality towards poor people for having the temerity to try & live while unemployed, disabled, etc.

MOs don't work. Research shows they're a BARRIER to getting a job. They cause physical & psychosocial disability in previously health people.

Going online isn't enough – they must stop.

I repeat: folks need space to focus on safety, caring for each other, surviving. #BTPM

This is why we call it a poverty machine.

There are many parts, carefully calibrated to keep you as dehumanised and powerless as possible without directly killing you (though of course it DID kill Josh Park-Fing, and many others).

It makes you tired, sick and traps you. #BTPM

Anyway, when we say 'cancel MOs', it's for good reason.

When we get mad at paid advocates for oversimplifying, lazily implying the system should be 'reformed'/temporarily suspended, it's for a good reason.

There's no reforming this bin fire. Give us quality, voluntary services.

Oh, and I forgot to add this.

Centrelink doesn't collect data on how many people go off payments because they died by suicide.

But the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare does tell us this:

I shared this yesterday from a post @kunktation did and some folks said they found it valuable so here it is again.

It's what we mean when we say the government is killing people through the welfare system. #BTPM #AbolishMutualObligations

Just posting this at the end of the thread as well cos it's easy to miss:

https://twitter.com/kristin8X/status/1481530942158434304?s=20

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