Dealing with a government welfare system for the first time in a while.
Last time there were still people you’d talk to who’d smooth over the process.
Now it’s all online and automated.
And holy fucking hellscape Batman.
They’ve just shipped the whole bureaucracy along with their own software bugs.
And as the welfare seeker you have to navigate all of the details and jargon (and bugs/broken links) without any assurance that anything is ok, hoping the money comes.
This is what happens when conservative governments dismantle the social safety net in pursuit of profit.
System too hard to use?
Working as intended.Every time they get a new applicant through:
Exactly.
It’s designed to be feel punitive.
From the Pixar movie: The Incredibles
Gilbert Huph : I’m not happy, Bob. Not happy. Ask me why.
Bob : Okay. Why?
Gilbert Huph : Why what? Be specific, Bob.
Bob : Why are you unhappy?
Gilbert Huph : Your customers make me unhappy.
Bob : Why? Have you gotten complaints?
Gilbert Huph : Complaints I can handle. What I can’t handle is your customers’ inexplicable knowledge of Insuricare’s inner workings. They’re experts! Experts, Bob! Exploiting every loophole! Dodging every obstacle! They’re penetrating the bureaucracy!
Just wait till you hear about the “we’ve rejected your medical certificate because your medical condition is permanent - you need to apply for DSP - we’ve rejected your DSP application because your medical condition is not permanent” loop.
Honestly never heard it called “welfare” in Australia before. That’s a new one.
Centrelink was always rubbish,even before robodebt, and the phone-in service was trained to be unhelpful. I recommend actually making the effort to go in physically, it makes a massive difference, or it used to. They still have offices in every township here in NSW at least.
I am sorry you are going through this, I hope the situation improves.
#areyouayank #haventseenhashtagsbeingusedlikethisinyearseither
I had an issue getting through on the phone and the app wouldn’t let me get past a certain point so I went into the local office…who after giving me a series of wrong and misleading information which I repeatedly pointed out was wrong and showed them their own website to prove it…then told me I HAD to call because they weren’t trained enough to deal with it.
The worker told me that the trick to get through, start dialling the minute before they open and finish dialling at exactly opening time. Well that kind of worked because it reduced my time on hold to….1hr 25mins. But I did speak to someone. Who couldn’t help me either. Or tell me what was wrong. Or how to fix it.
So so sorry to hear.
Otherwise, yea this doesn’t sound surprising. From my recent limited experience it seems like a system held together with duck tape.
Which is funny, because if the fear from govt is to prevent people from becoming professional “dole-bludgers”, making the system so hard to use that it requires special skills and experience is the wrong thing to do.
I’m sure there are all sorts of silly loop holes and bugs that plenty of people have learnt to exploit.
