HANK JONGEN - General Manager Centrelink

Cus is 61 years old, has several medical conditions and consequently is virtually unemployable. Cus is assessed by a job capacity assessment (JCA) of having an 8 hours per week job capacity. Cus has achieved that and does work 8 hours per week in paid employment. Because cus's JCA says he is also capable of achieving 15 to 22 work per week with "intervention", cus is sent along by Centrelink to Salvation Army Employment Plus (SAEP) for some "intervention".

SAEP treats cus like a delinquent child and says that he should go and volunteer to sort second hand clothes so as to pay back society for Centrelink support.

Cus fails to see how sorting second hand clothes will assist him achieving his employment goal and become "self-sufficient". Cus also finds the implication by SAEP that he does not already perform voluntary work, to be offensive.

Further, SAEP inflicts a substantial amount of veiled insults on cus and cus is refused reasons for decisions because according to SAEP, it is not instructed by Centrelink but by the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and cus should complain there. Cus did that, but that is an unresolved saga that is not in Hank Jongen's jurisdiction

Problem for cus is that he is determined to be "self-sufficient" into his retirement years which is in line with Centrelink's mission statement (as above), and in addition to the 8 hours per week work performed, because of the extremely flexible working conditions cus performs up to an additional 30 hours per week unpaid work for his employer. This is not revenue raising work but business development work and provides cus with work experience so as to eventually increase the revenue and profit of his employer and keep cus in touch with the work force while providing cus with personal development. In return his employer guarantees to increase the hours of permanent paid employment to cus in a ratio that is equal to the increased profit margin.

Because of the flexible hours, cus works 7 days a week at achieving this employment goal and in his enthusiasm has even launched consumer protection legal proceedings in the Federal Magistrates Court against a competitor of his employer, to further that goal.

However SAEP's "intervention" sees all this extra work and legal proceedings as cus's hobby and refuses to support cus to further his goal. Consequently, along with the SAEP insults and hindrance, cus is required to apply for jobs that he is never going to get and because of that cus appeals to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT). Cus says the SSAT acted like attack dogs towards him, were not interested in the appeal issues before the 3 person Tribunal, but were more interested in chastising cus for being long term unemployed.

According to cus, a particular member of the Tribunal named Ms Wilhelmina McCartney (or Willy as cus was informed) bore a stunning resemblance in appearance and attitude to Barbara

in the ANZ comedy TV commercial.

As a result of all this and more, cus has had to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT file number 2009/5878) and cus's medical condition has deteriorated as a direct result of all this drama. Consequently cus is now under a medical certificate declaring him totally unfit for work.

The washup is.... Centrelink's forced "intervention" is a bloody disaster for cus but of course, Centrelink doesn't see it that way.

THE QUESTIONS FOR HANK : Questions emailed to Hank at hank.jongen@centrelink.gov.au on 4 Feb 2010.

Cus acknowledges he has to satisfy Centrelink's Activity Test and section 601 of the Social Security Act states:

•

(1) Subject to subsections (1A) and (5), a person satisfies the activity test in respect of a period if the person satisfies the Secretary that, throughout the period, the person is:
(a) actively seeking; and
(b) willing to undertake;
paid work in Australia, other than paid work that is unsuitable to be undertaken by the person.

•

JUSTICE TAMBERLIN DEFINITION OF THE ACTIVITY TEST
"In my view, the requirement in s 522 [superseded by s 601] that a claimant actively seek paid work, calls for a claimant to make a genuine positive effort to secure work......"

Hank, please identify the laws (i.e. relevant sections of relevant legislation) as set down by Parliament:

	that requires a refusal to accept that the additional 30 hours unpaid work by cus, satisfies the Activity Test according to the definition of Justice Tamberlin;
	that requires cus to apply for jobs he is never going to get, thereby wasting the time of cus and the employers he has to approach;
	*that requires the "intervention" as described above;*
	that requires cus to be treated in such a degrading and insulting way that in fact hinders cus's employment goal, self-sufficiency goal and deteriorates his medical condition.
And finally:
	how does the conduct of Centrelink and SAEP assist cus to achieve "self-suffiency"?