Gwyneth
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Gwyneth is an older Australian with multiple sclerosis and other disabilities, but she is not old enough to receive the age pension. She has applied, and been rejected, for the Disability Services Pension (DSP) three times. She told the Royal Commission she has been surviving on unemployment benefits while she struggles to make her case for the DSP.
‘I have provided medical reports from my doctors and treating clinical psychologist, who are familiar with the DSP process, in accordance with what I have been told over the phone or when I have attended a Centrelink office. I have numerous medical reports from my GP, my consultant neurologist and my psychologist that confirm my conditions and disability.’
Gwyneth says that the rejection letters she has received from Centrelink don’t give her enough information to know what else she needs to do to successfully support her claim.
The most recent letter directed Gwyneth to services that help improve employment capacity. But she has been seeking work through three different employment placement services for the last seven years.
‘I only had a few hours [work] here and there. I was constantly told I would not find work, from several different employers.’
Gwyneth has found communications with Centrelink confusing, with different officers she speaks to providing differing and sometimes contradictory information.
She is also required to spend money on medical and psychological reports − hundreds of dollars at a time − each time she applies for the DSP or lodges an appeal.
Gwyneth would like Centrelink to provide information that is consistent, easy to understand and comprehensive, no matter who clients talk to. She believes the requirements around medical reports should be simplified so that people aren’t paying for multiple similar documents for different purposes.
‘I want to be treated as a person, not a number or a “case”. We are all people with individual needs.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.