Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.
Any suggestions what I should tell them?
Tell them you have seven dependents.
How are your chooks, by the way?
Woodie said:
Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.Any suggestions what I should tell them?
Woodie said:
Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.Any suggestions what I should tell them?
I would suggest you simply answer their questions and volunteer as little additional information as possible
Woodie said:
Any suggestions what I should tell them?
Hmmm let me think.. taps chin
Woodie said:
Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.Any suggestions what I should tell them?
G A A F?
bob(from black rock) said:
Woodie said:
Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.Any suggestions what I should tell them?
G A A F?
sorry should have been
G A G F
Tamb said:
Woodie said:
Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.Any suggestions what I should tell them?
The truth. They have interlinked databases.
Yes, Missing Link will eventually catch up with you if you lie.
the questions they ask will provide more than a hint regards what they want to hear, and the lovely person will tick some boxes or write something in a rectangle
Do you apply for Newstart online then do an interview over the phone?
Does this mean you don’t visit an office, sit at their desk and talk face to face with a person?
Just told them to refer to Mr Brandis and his meta data. He will know what they wanna know.
Other than that, I said narrthink. naaaaaaaaaarthink.
But there was a very personable man on the other end of the line. They called on time and when they said they would. No doubt I will get one of them interaction/survey things you get, and he’ll get a very good feedback.
>Do you apply for Newstart online then do an interview over the phone?
not sure, but reckon going one page to the next in application involves an asterisk and a word like or the same or meaning the same indicating ‘required’ near a rectangle that screams ‘telephone number’, and upon entering that number followed by hitting something like a ‘submit’ button permission is then granted for use of that telephone number to call the person wanting financial assistance.
Aquila said:
Do you apply for Newstart online then do an interview over the phone?Does this mean you don’t visit an office, sit at their desk and talk face to face with a person?
Yep. That’s the way it works now. Don’t have to leave the comfort of one’s loungeroom.
Don’t call us, we’ll call you.
However….. redundancy payments and a few meagre pennies in the bank means no dole til early June. :(
However…. advice is to do it ASAP, as “waiting periods” apply from when you apply, or when you finished employment, whichever is the later.
Woodie said:
Just sitting here, pondering one’s own future existence, and waiting for the inaugural call from Centrelink for my Newstart application interview.Any suggestions what I should tell them?
surely you are old enough for a pension now? runs away
it’s nice to hear someone say something positive about a centrelink employee.. most of the time it’s not the employees fault something can’t happen, they are as much ‘part of the system’ as you are.. and most of them (not all) don’t have ‘special powers’ to change things
Woodie said:
Any suggestions what I should tell them?
The truth.
Also – takes notes. Write it in a planner/diary on today’s date. Make sure you make a note of their name and the time of the call. Wish them a lovely day at the conclusion of the call, maybe ask about the weather where they are….it might give you a clue so you can hunt…I mean…track them down later.
kii said:
…it might give you a clue so you can hunt…I mean…track them down later.
Wot? Why would you threaten a public servant?
Who said anything about threatening? When we deal with DVA we usually get the person’s name so we can go back to the same person. They do a lot of work in any given day, but if you have to follow something up, it’s always better to link in with the same person you spoke to before. That applies when dealing with non government businesses too.
Most Some Many public servants work hard but are bound by and mostly likely agree with the public that many of the rules are complete bullshit. Our department has no discretion when it comes to case managing offenders, everyone is bound by the same rules regardless of individual circumstances. Centrelink would not be a fun place to work
buffy said:
Who said anything about threatening? When we deal with DVA we usually get the person’s name so we can go back to the same person. They do a lot of work in any given day, but if you have to follow something up, it’s always better to link in with the same person you spoke to before. That applies when dealing with non government businesses too.
Why then would you want to “hunt them down”? C’link staff get enough threats of violence during their working day, (aimed at the staff, their own kids, and themselves) so maybe I took the comment the wrong way.
Anyway, if you wait long enough, there will be only 5 people answering the phones so the chance of you getting the same person again would increase.
Dear oh dear….
I still remember talking to Herman from Telstra ~11 years ago. What an utter prick he was. I’d happily hunt him down and kick him in the shins, given half a chance.
Divine Angel said:
I still remember talking to Herman from Telstra ~11 years ago. What an utter prick he was. I’d happily hunt him down and kick him in the shins, given half a chance.
He’s sounds like a munster
on the flip side.. a friend of mine works with some pretty tough cases (people) .. if they piss her off (which admittedly is not hard to do) she does take some revenge. She does also get threats of violence, rape and death, and I guess there is only so much of that you can take before you start making things difficult for nasty people..
I don’t know, it would be a tough job.. not one I would do
Divine Angel said:
I still remember talking to Herman from Telstra ~11 years ago. What an utter prick he was. I’d happily hunt him down and kick him in the shins, given half a chance.
You’d probably have to travel to the subcontinent to find him.
Arts said:
on the flip side.. a friend of mine works with some pretty tough cases (people) .. if they piss her off (which admittedly is not hard to do) she does take some revenge. She does also get threats of violence, rape and death, and I guess there is only so much of that you can take before you start making things difficult for nasty people..I don’t know, it would be a tough job.. not one I would do
What does she do, prison work?
happily I have never had to deal with centrelink, except when I was getting student payments way back in the day (that was just one form and $223 per fortnight) … there are plenty of other (entirely legal) ways to make money if you actually want to do the work
Cymek said:
Arts said:
on the flip side.. a friend of mine works with some pretty tough cases (people) .. if they piss her off (which admittedly is not hard to do) she does take some revenge. She does also get threats of violence, rape and death, and I guess there is only so much of that you can take before you start making things difficult for nasty people..I don’t know, it would be a tough job.. not one I would do
What does she do, prison work?
I think they delicately call it long term out of workers – so yeah I think that includes people who have been released after long prison terms as well.
According to the Geneva Convention, you need only tell them your name, rank and serial number.
Firstly keep calm and be respectful because there are signs all over every centrelink office reminding you that this is the first step or the police will be called.
Secondly, there is a phone interview followed up by a face to face interview. These are followed up by whatever your situation requires and in the case of most of us regardless of age is that some attempt to apply for work must be shown.
In which case you will also have to answer to a ‘provider’ ie: some rorting agency that pretends to get you job interviews.
roughbarked said:
FirIn which case you will also have to answer to a ‘provider’ ie: some rorting agency that pretends to get you job interviews.
They are pretty shite aren’t they, I’ve not heard much positive about any of them.
Cymek said:
roughbarked said:
FirIn which case you will also have to answer to a ‘provider’ ie: some rorting agency that pretends to get you job interviews.
They are pretty shite aren’t they, I’ve not heard much positive about any of them.
They aren’t pretty, though the woman who interviews me is rather. They are shite yes. They do openly admit that they are earning money from your circumstance.
I recall when I worked for the CES in a roundabout way because I was one of the 20 pilot project officers of the Community Youth Support Scheme. Now known as Skillshare.
Apart from the odd arsehole office worker, the CES actually got better results for the money spent.
Nopw we have multiple private industry job providers and 99% of it rorts yours and my money to do SFA.
roughbarked said:
Cymek said:
roughbarked said:
FirIn which case you will also have to answer to a ‘provider’ ie: some rorting agency that pretends to get you job interviews.
They are pretty shite aren’t they, I’ve not heard much positive about any of them.
They aren’t pretty, though the woman who interviews me is rather. They are shite yes. They do openly admit that they are earning money from your circumstance.
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:
Cymek said:They are pretty shite aren’t they, I’ve not heard much positive about any of them.
They aren’t pretty, though the woman who interviews me is rather. They are shite yes. They do openly admit that they are earning money from your circumstance.
I was quite lucky when I first visited Clink. Their printer broke down & I fixed it for them. Later I noticed that they had put a “Most Cooperative” note on my file.
If you manage to get a look a the screen, such things are possible to note.
roughbarked said:
I recall when I worked for the CES in a roundabout way because I was one of the 20 pilot project officers of the Community Youth Support Scheme. Now known as Skillshare.Apart from the odd arsehole office worker, the CES actually got better results for the money spent.
Nopw we have multiple private industry job providers and 99% of it rorts yours and my money to do SFA.
I remember the CES and yes they did put effort in.
Jobclubs basically tell you to apply for any and all jobs but don’t actually give you much if any help in doing so, they like making you do courses which are often pretty useless.
One thing you should keep in mind is that the system is designed as a one shoe fits all feet modus operandum and you simply must lay all your cards out and argue your case. You should also triple check everything because computers have to be the biggest dolts invented in the case of centreliink.
In my case the computers were often six or more years inaccurate. The computers at centrelink claimed my bank had X amount of sponduli when in fact my bank account had been closed for nine years.Cymek said:
roughbarked said:
I recall when I worked for the CES in a roundabout way because I was one of the 20 pilot project officers of the Community Youth Support Scheme. Now known as Skillshare.Apart from the odd arsehole office worker, the CES actually got better results for the money spent.
Nopw we have multiple private industry job providers and 99% of it rorts yours and my money to do SFA.
I remember the CES and yes they did put effort in.
Jobclubs basically tell you to apply for any and all jobs but don’t actually give you much if any help in doing so, they like making you do courses which are often pretty useless.
It is disgusting that such companies are making money of forcing you to do bullshit that has little other benefit than heartache.
roughbarked said:
They kept sending my 85yo Mum job questions…………..even after I produced her death certificate.
One thing you should keep in mind is that the system is designed as a one shoe fits all feet modus operandum and you simply must lay all your cards out and argue your case. You should also triple check everything because computers have to be the biggest dolts invented in the case of centreliink. In my case the computers were often six or more years inaccurate. The computers at centrelink claimed my bank had X amount of sponduli when in fact my bank account had been closed for nine years.
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:They kept sending my 85yo Mum job questions…………..even after I produced her death certificate.
One thing you should keep in mind is that the system is designed as a one shoe fits all feet modus operandum and you simply must lay all your cards out and argue your case. You should also triple check everything because computers have to be the biggest dolts invented in the case of centreliink. In my case the computers were often six or more years inaccurate. The computers at centrelink claimed my bank had X amount of sponduli when in fact my bank account had been closed for nine years.
I told them where I was living and what my address was. They sent everything to my old address.
roughbarked said:
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:They kept sending my 85yo Mum job questions…………..even after I produced her death certificate.
One thing you should keep in mind is that the system is designed as a one shoe fits all feet modus operandum and you simply must lay all your cards out and argue your case. You should also triple check everything because computers have to be the biggest dolts invented in the case of centreliink. In my case the computers were often six or more years inaccurate. The computers at centrelink claimed my bank had X amount of sponduli when in fact my bank account had been closed for nine years.I told them where I was living and what my address was. They sent everything to my old address.
I got Mum removed from the electoral roll by truthfully telling them that she kept wanting to vote for “That nice Mr Menzies”
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:
Tamb said:They kept sending my 85yo Mum job questions…………..even after I produced her death certificate.
I told them where I was living and what my address was. They sent everything to my old address.
I got Mum removed from the electoral roll by truthfully telling them that she kept wanting to vote for “That nice Mr Menzies”
The electoral office wanted me to pay fines for her not voting. I said sorry, she was dead and that if they wanted someone to pay, why not ask one of my siblings? Why me?
roughbarked said:
Cymek said:
roughbarked said:
I recall when I worked for the CES in a roundabout way because I was one of the 20 pilot project officers of the Community Youth Support Scheme. Now known as Skillshare.Apart from the odd arsehole office worker, the CES actually got better results for the money spent.
Nopw we have multiple private industry job providers and 99% of it rorts yours and my money to do SFA.
I remember the CES and yes they did put effort in.
Jobclubs basically tell you to apply for any and all jobs but don’t actually give you much if any help in doing so, they like making you do courses which are often pretty useless.
It is disgusting that such companies are making money of forcing you to do bullshit that has little other benefit than heartache.
I haven’t been in one since I started work with the government and was under the assumption they’d help you write covering letters/selection criteria and also create a decent resume. What we did was sit in a room and ring up jobs we found in the paper. The best thing they told me was to sit the public sector test which I did and got a government job.
Apart from me ranting about the so called job ptoviders, I can say that I met with helpful and caring people at every turn otherwise. It is the system that is shite and under this government, it is that much worse.
Cymek said:
roughbarked said:
Cymek said:I remember the CES and yes they did put effort in.
Jobclubs basically tell you to apply for any and all jobs but don’t actually give you much if any help in doing so, they like making you do courses which are often pretty useless.
It is disgusting that such companies are making money of forcing you to do bullshit that has little other benefit than heartache.
I haven’t been in one since I started work with the government and was under the assumption they’d help you write covering letters/selection criteria and also create a decent resume. What we did was sit in a room and ring up jobs we found in the paper. The best thing they told me was to sit the public sector test which I did and got a government job.
I was actually told that I could fabricate phoney job interviews or applications. Centrelink accepts what the job provider tells them.
I’d hate to go back to being unemployed, the amount of spare time you have can be overwhelming and you get depressed because of the boredom
Cymek said:
I’d hate to go back to being unemployed, the amount of spare time you have can be overwhelming and you get depressed because of the boredom
Unfortunately, I could be employed most of the year by shonky people if I stayed here.
Again unfortunately if I go anywhere else I’m going to have to be unemployed until I make an impression upon someone with a need.
roughbarked said:
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:I told them where I was living and what my address was. They sent everything to my old address.
I got Mum removed from the electoral roll by truthfully telling them that she kept wanting to vote for “That nice Mr Menzies”
The electoral office wanted me to pay fines for her not voting. I said sorry, she was dead and that if they wanted someone to pay, why not ask one of my siblings? Why me?
We did something the same when one, unknown, family member got speed cameraed in her car. We told them to send the fine to Heaven because that was now her place of residence.
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:
Tamb said:I got Mum removed from the electoral roll by truthfully telling them that she kept wanting to vote for “That nice Mr Menzies”
The electoral office wanted me to pay fines for her not voting. I said sorry, she was dead and that if they wanted someone to pay, why not ask one of my siblings? Why me?
We did something the same when one, unknown, family member got speed cameraed in her car. We told them to send the fine to Heaven because that was now her place of residence.
These are verging off track from the OP so I’ll only add one more. A friend went overseas and left his car at my place. Then he wrote to me and asked me to get the car registered. Seeing that my house and his were 700 Km apart, I had to tell the RTA that the car was currently goused at my place. Within a few days I got a visit from the local Sherriff wanting me to pay the huge pile of parking fines attached to the car.
I hate typos. .. housed.
roughbarked said:
I hate typos. .. housed.
Tamb said:
roughbarked said:
I hate typos. .. housed.
Groused after the fines though.
I didn’t pay them. I told the truth as I always do to the best of my ability and maybe that’s why I never heard from that acquaintance again.
Aparrt from what I’ve already said. There will be a further monthly appointment with the job provider which you must attend and provide proof that you have been searching for work.
You will also be required to do regular interviews again with centrelink such as this:
Your Newstart Allowance – appointment details
We have made an appointment for a Personal Contact Interview with you. We will review your Activity Test or participation requirements, discuss your current circumstances and look at any further help we can give you.
What you need to do
You need to attend:
6 Byron St
Byron Bay , 2481
Date:
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Time:
8:50 am
If you are required to look for work you need to provide details of your recent job search efforts at your interview. Your employer contacts and any approved activities you participated in can be included on:
•the Participation Activity Record that was sent with your Reporting Statement
•your Job Seeker Diary, if you have been issued one, or
•other suitable documentation and/or evidence.
If this time is not suitable and you would like to change it please call us on 132 850* to arrange another time.
To fulfil your requirements and continue receiving your payment you must have this interview and, depending on your circumstances, enter into or renegotiate an Employment Pathway Plan/Individual Participation Plan. It is important that you keep this appointment or reschedule to a suitable time.
Do I have to have this interview? If there are circumstances that make it hard or unreasonable for you to have this interview, you
need to talk to us about this. We will take your individual circumstances into account.
However if you do not have this interview without a good reason or if we do not hear from you, your payment may be stopped. You will then be required to contact us for your payment to be restored.
This is a notice under social security law
Hi,
Someone said earlier that ‘Centrelink would not be a fun place to work’.
I’ve worked for Centrelink and i can assure you that it is not. The office i worked in was clique-ridden, and run by people who ran it on the scapegoat/blame method.
They’d rather victimise someone for what they perceived as that person’s shortcomings than offer any positive advice or management to help them over come those ‘defects’. On occasions when positive assistance seemed to be producing positive results, the assistance was abruptly terminated, and the blaming was resumed.
The only way to be ‘comfortable’ in your job was to win the approval of one of the cliques, and this required an encyclopaedic knowledge of rugby league/cricket/golf/horse racing and/or a few other things i forget right now. There was no possibility of advancement beyond the very lower levels of the organisation – middle managers were ensconced for life, and it would take their retirement or death to open up an opportunity.
Admittedly, that office had a bad reputation, even within Centrelink. Once, when i rang another part of Centrelink, they asked me which office i was working in. When i told them, they said ‘ohh..’, in the tone they might have used if i’d told them i’d just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Other offices may have been better – i don’t know.
There was a saying in the place that ‘we get a lot of stressful stuff put on us, but very little of it comes from across the counter’.
I consider that every minute i worked for Centrelink was a minute of my life utterly wasted. When i left, that notion was only further reinforced.
That said, the majority of the people in Centrelink really do want to do their best to help the ‘customers’. It was a commonly held truism that if the design of the social security system was left up to ‘front-office’ people, it would be vastly different from what we currently have.
captain_spalding said:
…That said, the majority of the people in Centrelink really do want to do their best to help the ‘customers’. It was a commonly held truism that if the design of the social security system was left up to ‘front-office’ people, it would be vastly different from what we currently have.
I agree. The thing is that at the front desk, all of those who would fall through the cracks, have to pass you.
Oh and by the way. The centrelink website tells you to keep copies of every document. I had been thinking OK they are still there. I’ll do that when I get near a printer(who said the paperless office was coming?). Today I see that they were all wiped during the recent upgrade.
captain_spalding said:
That said, the majority of the people in Centrelink really do want to do their best to help the ‘customers’. It was a commonly held truism that if the design of the social security system was left up to ‘front-office’ people, it would be vastly different from what we currently have.
As in better I assume?
It’s silly how the powers that be dont’ listen to those public servants at the coal face even though they have many decades of experience and just because they are low level workers doesn’t mean they are stupid
roughbarked said:
Oh and by the way. The centrelink website tells you to keep copies of every document. I had been thinking OK they are still there. I’ll do that when I get near a printer(who said the paperless office was coming?). Today I see that they were all wiped during the recent upgrade.
It’s good advice.
Other Centrelink truisms:
‘Never give any government office or agency the sole copy of any document. It will be lost.’
(When it came to rent assistance, there was a hypothesis that the rings of Saturn are made up of lost rent receipt provided by Centrelink customers.)
‘Always keep a paper copy. If it isn’t on paper, it isn’t real (or it never happened).’
‘
Cymek said:
It’s silly how the powers that be dont’ listen to those public servants at the coal face…
They used to have a suggestion system, but it was highly selective. If it looked like it conflicted too much with prevailing policy, or that it might lead to any additional cost, it was ignored.
captain_spalding said:
roughbarked said:
Oh and by the way. The centrelink website tells you to keep copies of every document. I had been thinking OK they are still there. I’ll do that when I get near a printer(who said the paperless office was coming?). Today I see that they were all wiped during the recent upgrade.
It’s good advice.
Other Centrelink truisms:
‘Never give any government office or agency the sole copy of any document. It will be lost.’
(When it came to rent assistance, there was a hypothesis that the rings of Saturn are made up of lost rent receipt provided by Centrelink customers.)
‘Always keep a paper copy. If it isn’t on paper, it isn’t real (or it never happened).’
‘
Well I hope they don’t ask me for them?
roughbarked said:
Well I hope they don’t ask me for them?
They probably won’t. On the plus side, it used to be that we’d try to find a way around it, if we believed that you were genuine. Don’t know if there’s still much opportunity for that.
Sometimes, there just was no way around it, and we’d have to send you away, hoping that you could find replacements for what the system demanded.
My bro-in-law was a Centrelink regional manager for years and very popular with the troops, and highly thought of in Canberra. But getting any higher meant moving back to the mainland which he didn’t want to do, so he eventually quit for greener management pastures.
captain_spalding said:
roughbarked said:Well I hope they don’t ask me for them?
They probably won’t. On the plus side, it used to be that we’d try to find a way around it, if we believed that you were genuine. Don’t know if there’s still much opportunity for that.
Sometimes, there just was no way around it, and we’d have to send you away, hoping that you could find replacements for what the system demanded.
So far I’ve encountered only those who do think I am genuine. Probably because I tell the truth.
Anyway, I have five days to get all my documents together and make the journey back to Byron Bay or explain that I’m still two days travel from there and could I do the interview here. At the same time I have to be at the job provider in Byron Bay the week later.
So I’m goiing to get off my tootsie and do something about all of that.
roughbarked said:
So far I’ve encountered only those who do think I am genuine. Probably because I tell the truth.
You do develop a nose for the truth in that job. Sometimes, though, it’s one thing to know that the customer is lying, and it’s another thing to prove it.
Some customers seemed to know the Social Security Act inside out, and were able to use its little ‘loopholes’ in an expert way to maximise their benefits. The timings of separation of partners and their ‘reconciliations’ was one such thing, and being ‘separated under one roof’ was another. Can’t say i really blame them, as every dollar helps when you’re living on benefits (i know, i’ve done it), but some seemed to make a career of it.
We had one old-school ‘field officer’ who used methods which really weren’t approved of any more (but, he was close to retirement, so it was ‘rules be buggered’), and he used to get results in suspicious cases!
Bubblecar said:
My bro-in-law was a Centrelink regional manager for years and very popular with the troops, and highly thought of in Canberra.
Some people can do it, and do it so that it benefits everyone. I’ve worked for (a very few) bosses who’d i’d have gladly followed into the lions’ den.
I doubt that the people i worked for in Centrelink could have capably led a line of snot from their own noses with any of their fingers.
captain_spalding said:
Bubblecar said:
My bro-in-law was a Centrelink regional manager for years and very popular with the troops, and highly thought of in Canberra.
Some people can do it, and do it so that it benefits everyone. I’ve worked for (a very few) bosses who’d i’d have gladly followed into the lions’ den.
I doubt that the people i worked for in Centrelink could have capably led a line of snot from their own noses with any of their fingers.
roughbarked said:
captain_spalding said:
…I’ve worked for (a very few) bosses who’d i’d have gladly followed into the lions’ den…
I only ever met one. He was the CEO of the CES when I worked under him.
One of mine was a Commander from the RN. Ran things with an incredibly light and relaxed touch, but made sure everyone knew what was going on, what was required of them, and that they had the wherewithall to do it. Approach him any time with a problem, and you’d get all the hel you needed, but never, ever try to hide from him any difficulty you were having, or try to put one over on him. He wouldn’t kill you, just make you wish he had.
>You do develop a nose for the truth in that job. Sometimes, though, it’s one thing to know that the customer is lying
so be reassuring the purity thing I’m sure
that BenterSpank can sniff out an untruth
never a fib under their own roof of course
human’n partly machine model of honest
transition said:
never a fib under their own roof of course
human’n partly machine model of honest
The difference was that the customer could accuse staff of deceit (or of any other sin), and Centrelink (actually, more likely the individual staff member) would have to prove themselves innocent.
To accuse a customer of lying would require that you could prove that the customer was, in fact, lying, and have that proof readily at hand.
>To accuse a customer of lying would require that you could prove that the customer was, in fact, lying, and have that proof readily at hand
all good.
Woodie said:
Absolutely; the waiting period is a killer for some.
Obviousman said:
Woodie said:
However…. advice is to do it ASAP, as “waiting periods” apply from when you apply, or when you finished employment, whichever is the later.
Absolutely; the waiting period is a killer for some.
Lets try that.
the man interviewing me at centrelink had beautiful swollen eyes like eggs
Remember there quite a way back now, other was doing business studies between jobs and had been with CRS for quite a long while after hernia operation and then had later injured herself again, about the time me lad died in a car crash, anyway we were moving onto a block near town, dad sold the farm and retired properly in comfort and we were in the middle of building something to live in. Was just sheds, reckon the concrete floors hadn’t even been poured and rooves not on. Anyway the other talked to BenterSpank about getting an exemption from whatever she was doing, probably the study and job search requirements, anyway a social worker rang her, think other suggested she be needing about three months exemption, to which the lady said something like ‘even homeless people only get six weeks’ (can’t remember exacty, may have been less time than that).
Anyway ignoring the obvious device in or of any comparison, there being no need for one at all, we were sort of homeless (though didn’t think of ourselves that way) we were building something to live in.
It did make me wonder though how the stereotypical homeless person the social worker had in mind might build a home in six weeks or whatever, if they could.