Thread by @twtrrr

UPDATE: I was confirmed by text message received yesterday (15/1) from a PCR test taken on 11/1 to have #COVID19 I am now self-isolating at home until the 18/1 as per the seven day mandate to do so. However, I took a RAT test on 13/1 it was negative and worked yesterday. #auspol

I received the official PCR result after finishing work yesterday at 4pm. I felt positively awful for relying on the #RAT test the has said I am negative now twice. I took another RAT test immediately after getting home yesterday. How can we rely on RATs if they contradict PCRs?

I rang the #COVID19 hotline and spoke to a women who suggested two possibilities: 1) The virus has now cleared my system and I am no longer infectious (though still must isolate for seven days from #PCR test), and 2) the #RAT test may be from a faulty batch. #auspol

Meanwhile from the start of my symptoms to the 18/1 I will have missed FIVE scheduled #casual work shifts for the three employers who provide me limited employment - but that employment is how this #JobSeeker pays her rent, eats and has any chance of staying afloat. #auspol

In this regard after reporting last fortnight’s income to @Centrelink I asked them if I could make a claim for a #Covid19 Disaster payment due to lost income. They advised I would need to provide proof of my PCR test and results and a copy of my current bank balance. Cont…

They did not ask me for proof of shifts declined or cancelled as a result of being ill and taking time off, whilst seeking out a formal diagnosis by RAT or PCR. They intimated that a RAT test self reported would not satisfy a disaster payment being approved. Only an official PCR.

I report my #underemployed income fortnightly. They know I have been getting regular casual work. They then advised me if my bank balance was higher than HALF the #JobSeeker fortnightly payment a disaster recovery payment would NOT be approved as a result of #Covid19 isolation.

Of you make a new claim for JobSeeker payment and have less than $5,000 in your bank account you will be approved the next week. If you have more than that amount - even a lot more, you will have to wait twelve weeks. My account currently has way less than this in it.

Half of the fortnightly #JobSeeker payment is approximately $350. So if I have more than this my bank my claim for lost income as a result of doing the right thing, isolating and only acting on what I thought was reliable information about my Covid status - will be rejected.

I asked which Minister is responsible for this policy and was advised it was @Anne_Ruston, whose office said I should try @stuartrobertmp - who directed me to @lindareynoldswa and finally to the right person @senbmckenzie I lodged a formal concern about how punitive this is.

The income threshold for people on JobSeeker who also work is $1080.50 a fortnight. If people earn more than this each fortnight they receive zero #JobSeeker. Earning just ten dollars less than this per fortnight extends rent Assistance and approx $300 for the fortnight. #casuals

I can work 18 hours a week and not go over this income threshold. But if I work twenty hours I go over it by about forty dollars a week. For that extra forty dollars of earnings I lose about $150 each week in JobSeeker assistance - just for working another two hours a week.

As a casual employee - to make up for that now lost $150 a week I need to work another six hours to cover that loss. It is often the case my employer might want me to work an extra hour here or there, but another six hours is a whole shifts worth of hours I am unlikely to get.

Now, they tell me that if all of this #work has enabled me to amass more than approximately $350 in my bank account they will not be approving any claim for a #Covid19 Disaster payment to me - as apparently I am not in financial hardship! 😳 #auspol #JobSeeker

The lady at the Covid19 hotline said something very reassuring to me. She said: “It is clear from my taking the #RAT test prior to my “PCR result and finding that was negative before accepting yesterdays work shift - that I was acting on good faith with the information to hand”.

All this aside. At that point I had spoken with @Centrelink and have left messages with the relevant Federal Ministers about my apparent blanket rejection for a loss of work #Covid19 disaster payment. I will be sending an email to them all this weekend about this as well.

This policy needs changing. It is draconian, cruel, punitive and entrenched poverty. It does nothing to reward me for working any and all shifts I can get and the taper rates of #JobSeeker payment against income also entrench #poverty. How can I ever get ahead? It’s systemic.

Back to the #RAT definitely, not two days after my PCR test being taken, twice providing a different result to the PCR result that came through the day after I relied on that same RAT to accept work… It seems to me RATs aren’t reliable? Why aren’t we investing in more PCRs?

We need a disaster payment that recognises the loss of income #JobSeekers face who are #Covid19 positive and missing work they rely on to cover their expenses. These people@deserve economic relief for doing the right thing. Not punitive rejection because they’re also #JobSeekers.

But wait, it’s even worse than all that. They back paid three months and four months remains still in dispute. This case is ongoing and exacerbated by my time and financial restraints and lack of solid legal assistance. #auspol #JobSeeker @billshortenmp @senbmckenzie

https://twitter.com/twtrrr/status/1482302573948575744

And the fact @Centrelink policies essentially encourage #JobSeekers working to lie to them. In fact when it comes to reporting payments of #cash (where no #payslip is provided) I have literally had to argue with them to count this. Not my fault employers do this. #auspol

https://twitter.com/twtrrr/status/1482316110511116288

.@Centrelink is essentially encouraging employers to not pay award rates, superannuation or any tax, in this exact way. I literally had to argue with them to take a report of income I earned as cash. They refused to accept responsibility but no doubt would take action against me.

@threadreaderapp Unroll please. Thank you. 🙏