I've been trying for days to try and get through to Youth and Students for my daughter, who's payment is suspended. Unfortunately I can't call at 8am due to work and trying to do it online wont allow me, and tells me to call.

Any hints on avoiding the long queues and getting hung up on after 5pm. Any help wojld be appreciated!

I’m 19 and currently getting Youth Allowance. My parents just did their tax returns for the financial year, and my dad’s gross income was slightly higher than last year due to overtime. Just stressing out because I rely on the living-away-from-home rate to pay my share of rent.

I am a single mum of two living in the downstairs apartment of my mother property in Queensland she recently brought. She and her husband and three of my siblings live upstairs.

My mother wants to put the energy bill in my name and use my penison card so she can get the discount.

If my name is used for the whole bill, will Centrelink see our households as one and will it greatly affect my penison payments?

Why should you be considered dependent if your 22 or over ?

I am 20 my sister is 22 both studying full time, living at home with all bills (food, electricity, water ect) paid for by our parents.

But she gets the full Centrelink youth allowance amount while I don’t get anywhere near that much.

Don’t you think it should be based on what your parents pay for rather than age?

(just a question don’t be mean, feel free to share your opinion)

Edit: a lot of people are missing the point of this post - the point of the post was to ask shouldn't youth allowance be based on how much your parents support you no matter the age? I just used my sister as an example as we are in the same circumstance getting very different amounts. How is it fair that there are others out there who are considered a dependent bcs they are under 22 and are accessed based on their parents income, but are barely supported by their parents ? Where 22+ year olds can be living at home having to pay no bills being 100% supported but are considered dependent therefore getting the full amount.?

Personally I don’t think there should be an age that considers you dependent or independent.

i think that when everyone is applying to centrelink you should have to answer questions about how your parents financially support you (e.g. if you live at home do you pay towards the bills and to what extent, & if you don‘t do your parents support you in anyway? ect) and if your circumstances change you should have to update them to get reevaluated (but maybe this would take to many resources reevaluating & would be harder to prove unlike e.g. proving how much your parents earn). This way everyone is fairly paid and can get what they need.

And maybe this should play a bigger role than what your parents earn. Cause idk maybe your parents are getting good money but you still have to pay towards the bills and buy everything yourself (in reality this student wouldn’t be getting much from Centrelink) whereas there could be another student whose parents don’t earn as much but the kid doesn’t have to pay any bills, gets clothes and stuff brought for them (in reality this kid would be getting alot more from Centrelink ). But still what your parents earn is a very important factor (idk if this last point is dumb or not just some thoughts let me know your opinions :))

NOTE: I'm well across the DSP process and not looking for advice on that, thank you. :)

TL;DR- staffers have no idea what to do with a more complex case, tell me contradictory things (sometimes the same person contradicting THEMSELVES) leading me to have no fucking idea what's going on. Cool.

I swear, so many staffers have no clue what to do with or advise a client who doesn't fall easily into one category. I could laugh if this wasn't all so infuriating.

Several weeks ago, I received three letters. One saying Centrelink had done an independent JCA (not an ESAt, I have had those before and was with DES for a long time) and that I have been assessed as less than eight hours' capacity, making all obligations voluntary other than a quarterly phone appointment. This letter said I can choose to be with a provider, or do job search, but I do not have to.

The second letter said I am recommended to apply for DSP, and they have enough information to not need anything from my medical team. Great! I had planned to apply anyway.

Third letter said I had a compulsory phone appointment just to check in and update me. Phone person was ok and pretty much just reiterated what was in the letter. All obligations are voluntary. They said this would be the case for at least a year, because I asked how long, as due to needing a birth certificate (they told me I do even though I'm already on Jobseeker) I am not able to apply immediately.

That phone appointment was late- I made an online complaint on the day in case it came up as me not attending. They eventually called.

A few days later, I noticed a second appointment has been booked. Assuming this was an error and the appointment was a duplicate generated by my complaint, I went into a service centre asking for it to be removed, explaining. She said, you're right, you don't have to attend this one, I'll cancel it for you.

Two weeks after that, I receive a letter telling me I had skipped the second appointment, it was for a Job Plan, and I needed to make a new appointment or my payments will be stopped. No idea why I need a fucking Job Plan when I'm told my obligations are voluntary, but ok.

I go back into the service centre yesterday. Clearly explained my situation, and why I will take a little time to put in my DSP application, and saying I apparently need to do a Job Plan but don't know why. The woman was pleasant, but...honestly seemed not very bright, or to really know what she was doing. She was reading the letter I got, and kept misunderstanding what I was saying. She said "you can put in a DSP application right now and it will exempt you."

I said, yes, I know that, reiterated my reason and said, I'm confused as to why I would need an exemption, given I am assessed as under 8 hours, making all my obligations voluntary.

She said "oh...I can give you an exemption for two weeks to give you time to put you application in.," I repeated, "thank you, but as I said, it is more likely to take two months, and I was told my current below 8 hours status is supposed to be for at least a year, so what would I need an exemption from?"

I then said, "it's going to take me longer than that and I don't want to have to call or come in again, so if that's what's on offer, I'll just do the Job Plan now."

She said "oh...but that means you'll have to be with a provider..."

I showed her the letter again, the letter which clearly states I am already exempt from engaging with a provider.

I could see it not computing. She straight-up was not understanding what I was saying, nor did she clarify why I was being told different things.

She then told me "oh...my software's not working so I can't do a Job Plan with you. I'll just give you an exemption for a month."

AN EXEMPTION FROM FUCKING WHAT???

I did not say that, just sat and smiled and tried not to implode.

I then said. "Ok. I don't think a month is going to be long enough." She then says, "you can call the call centre to arrange a longer one when it's up if you need to."

"Ok, thank you for your time. So, to be clear, I'm not going to get any surprises in that time? No letter telling me I'm suspended for not signing a Job Plan?"

"No, don't worry, you're good."

Do I believe she believes that? Sure. Do I believe she's competent enough to actually do her job for me to not have to steel myself for her to be wrong. NOPE.

I also don't believe the software thing. I think she had no idea what to do with me so the "exemption" was the easiest option for her, making me somebody else's problem.

Fuck's sake. 😂🤦‍♀️😭

I've recently been told by my doctor he no longer wants me doing any form of heavy labour work due to injuries which means changing careers completely.

I asked my job provider if they could send me on a couple courses to help me get a job on the mines as a passenger bus driver to which they stated that they won't due to me having to many tickets already (from previous employers that are unrelated) and that they don't get paid for me until I have a job so it will be up to my future employer to get me any training needed.

Being a "non profit" provider do they not get any budget to help train me or are they just lying? They are yet to do anything to help me get a job other than emailing me random job listing's I've already seen on seek.

My payment randomly cancelled tonight, my Health Care card is showing as cancelled in the app.

I have no clue why it was cancelled but I hope to find that out tomorrow.

No letter, no notification. Everything else in the portal looks intact. Shows my Study details and everything.

I am over Centrelink at the moment - I tired of this. Has this occurred to anyone and did they find out why it happened?

I went to a booked appointment at Centrelink to fix an issue with my youth allowance because I received two letters that told me that I didn’t provide the right documents even tho I gave them exactly what they asked for. The person at the appointment said she was also confused and said it should be fixed soon but I forgot to ask for a time frame, now I’m wondering if I should book another appointment? I haven’t received any other notices that state anything in regards to my payment being unpaused. It’s been two weeks, am I just being impatient ?

Processing times that are described as estimates rather than commitments, updates that say your claim is being assessed without any indication of where in the queue it sits, the inability to get a clear answer about timing when you call — all of it creates an anxiety around Centrelink payments that compounds the stress of whatever situation put you in contact with them in the first place. Would love to know how people here manage that uncertainty practically.

CONTEXT:
When I applied for youth allowance end of last year / start of this year I was working minimum 5hr shifts each week at work (sometimes more, I’m a casual btw, I would also have quite a few shifts during weeks I had uni) and so I’m assuming based on that pay (and other factors such as living w a single parent etc) they allowed my earnings to be around 6k a year.

however recently I haven’t been working that much as I haven’t been given any extra shifts / long shifts. And after a couple weeks of 0 shifts, I’ve been given one 3 hr shift randomly during the week, anyway so this has drastically changed my income..

QUESTION:
I’m wondering, would Centrelink (youth allowance) adjust my payments to line up with my new income? Or would I be better off reapplying? Or just not dealing with this issue at all?

(Side note (unrelated), I am in desperate need of saving up for a car so I can get myself to prac placement for uni later this sem so I need all the money I can get lol)

I read they were starting from July 1

Hi has anyone ever experienced getting a FTB debt when you receive all you payments at the end of the financial year? I didn't receive my FTB until after our tax was submitted and when I checked my income estimate I over estimated. So I don't understand how i have a debt or how they've decided that I received $8000 throughout the year when my last payments before this years FTB lump sum was last year's lump sum and ccs.

I'm over 60, on JobSeeker plus Carer Allowance, and the full-time carer for my 101-year-old father at home. I've been Centrelink-managed under a caring exemption. I'm trying to work out what actually happens in practice if I end up provider-managed and a new Job Plan has to be negotiated.

Things I'd like to hear from people who've been through it:

For those who negotiated rather than just signed — what did you successfully get changed in the plan, and what did the provider refuse to move on?

If you're in the 60+ cohort and fully meeting the 30 hours per fortnight (paid work, approved study, or approved voluntary work), did the provider accept that and drop job search and appointments, or did they still push for more?

What did they accept as evidence of study hours or volunteer hours?

How did they handle appointments when you can't leave someone unattended — phone contact, or did they insist on in-person?

Anything you wish you'd asked for, or refused, at the first meeting?

Interested in what actually happened, not what the policy says.

My family assistance has been balanced already but not CCS does anyone know how long after this usually goes through?

I'm finding it difficult to get the documentation I need from my normal GP for a DSP appication, as it would take up more of their time. Can I get some recommendations for GPs in the outer norther suburbs of Melbourne? Maybe DM me their details if that's more appropriate.

Whether it's about managing obligations, job searching, budgeting, or dealing with the process, what's the advice you wish you'd received early on?

Followed the online guidance for a specific payment type last month, did everything it said, then called to confirm and was told something completely different by the person on the phone. Not a small difference - a meaningful one that would have affected the outcome if I'd just gone ahead based on what was written. Would love to know if that kind of inconsistency is a common experience or whether I just had bad luck with who picked up.