🧵 #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! Image
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: Graphic with the text: &quo...
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 Screencap of an Engles quot...
Just posting this at the end of the thread as well cos it's easy to miss:

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More from @kristin8X

Jan 19,
🧵

@PatrickGormanMP published an abhorrent, self-serving piece claiming Labor leads a war on poverty.

Labor aren't "for the poor" & they haven’t been in my lifetime. This is designed to prime people to think there's a small cohort of ppl in rare circumstances living in poverty.
I was stunned but not surprised to read Gorman's article, which is mostly a grab bag of ALP policies that aren't related to poverty. It doesn't mention unemployment or JobSeeker once.

Below is some of what I felt upon it 👇

ty @bkjabour for publishing it
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This table shows the gap between poverty line & unemployment payments growing faster under the ALP than Coalition

Red/orange/green columns are the rate as % of HPL. Blue & re for which party was in gov & how much more or less below the poverty line the payment was for that time Screencap of spreadsheet sh...
Read 7 tweets
Jan 7,
Let's break down how absurd this is.

Jeremy currently lives in a very small town near the border of 2 "employment regions" – arbitrary boundaries made by the gov.

He's just inside the Bendigo ER, moving to Ballarat ER. From a town of ~4k ppl to a city of more than 100,000.
The reason this will have been flagged in the system is because the Bendigo and Ballarat *employment regions* – meaningless boundaries – have different unemployment rates.

Bendigo ER has an unemployment rate of 4.3% and 7500 people in jobactive. Ballarat is 4% and 6800.
Bendigo ER working age pop is 102k ppl. Ballarat: 104k.

These places. Are basically. The same.

He's moving from a town of 4k ppl, so what difference does it make to his prospects whether he moves an hr in one direction or an hr in the other?

None. They just want to punish him.
Read 7 tweets
Jan 7,
To be extremely clear: the gov restricts freedom of movement for ppl on JS

1 of the many problems w the MOs bill they tried & failed to force through: the dept couldn't answer my q about how new 'incentives' to relocate interact w rules that *prevent* ppl choosing where to live.
There are obviously many problems with rules that punish people for moving.

First and foremost: it is a human rights violation.

2nd: People are prevented from moving somewhere where it might be easier to survive on the JS pittance.

3rd: It traps people in unsafe situations.
4th: There are many reasons poor ppl go to the GREAT EXPENSE of moving. Such as accessing healthcare or being closer to family/other supports that help them survive on JobSeeker.

5th: Long-term unemployed ppl are actively prevented from gaining skills by perverse MO requirements
Read 7 tweets
Jan 6,
This story essentially says in some businesses up to ½ the staff are off for HEALTH & SAFETY REASONS, the gov is saying they'll REMOVE HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS & the peak union body says PLS GIVE SMALL BUSINESSES free tests.
Not only is that *not* who your constituency is supposed to be @unionsaustralia, but the lowering of ambitions is astounding. Just a few days ago weren't you on the 'free RATs for ALL' bandwagon?

Grow a fucking spine and fight for something meaningful 👇
@unionsaustralia Oh and I dunno maybe make your 2nd priority (1st being getting back 2020 changes to social security that meant people could access it quickly and have an adequate payment) could be MAKE A REAL FUCKING RUCKUS ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE PM WANTS TO REMOVE HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS
Read 4 tweets
May 18, 2021
I had so many things to say and there was never going to be enough time to cover all my thoughts and feelings about #Budget2021.

I’ll be doing a thread here shortly with everything I didn’t get to get to at the @ACOSS budget event.
There was only one way to feel about the bullshit we heard from @MichaelSukkarMP + @JEChalmers: despairing. They’re detached from reality.

We can’t trust the gov to care for vulnerable people + the Labor party has given us no hope that they will either. They are NOT on our side.
This IS an austerity budget. Constantly repeating the gov’s line that they’re spending big + that they’ve “increased” payments is gaslighting every poor + vulnerable person in this country. It’s a lie.

Ppl on JobSeeker are $15 FURTHER BELOW the poverty line than before COVID.
Read 40 tweets
May 12, 2021
ok I’m fiiinally sitting down to read the budget papers the whole way through Image
Please reward my efforts by coming to our NON-BORING budget reply reply tomorrow night

Fuck #TheirBudget, it’s our lives that matter

RSVP here (everything is free unless you want to pay): eventbrite.com.au/e/forum-their-…
Ok so we know the “commercial in confidence” argument is the bullshit excuse they use to hide how much money they’re burning on #CashlessDebitCard “trials”, but how, HOW, can they pretend AAT cases are CIC? Somebody help me out here. #BTPM #Budget2021 @aimnau Image
Read 37 tweets

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