Disability Pension Help?

[Tom]

Just wondering if anyone has recently applied for the disability pension lately (in Australia) and whether the stories about their doctors being arseholes when they check you over are true, can anyone let me know about their experiences with the doctors and the Centrelink review panel?

 

[mull]

No recent experience Tom sorry. But in about 98 you could just see your own GP for a certificate. Just had to take the certificate into centrelink. It was very painless then, no lining up, straight in. Straight on disability P. Worked out less than the rock and roll, but important for health care card.

I never heard of the review panel, sounds like theyre trying to make it harder to get now.

 

Best with it mate

[postman]

A little off topic, but i saw on one of the curent affair programs last night where centrelink sent a letter to a mentally and physically (wheelchair) disabled man informing him they were cutting off his mobile allowance and that he had to find employment or lose all of his benifits. If this is the organisation you are coming up against you need to have one foot in the coffin before they will even consider your case.

On topic is the case of a relative of mine that went before this panel of useless imported, incompetent, arse-licking, unemployable, over the hill filth that call themselves doctors to get reviewed for a disability pension, (need i say more). We paid for a legal representative to accompany him to this so called review, (much to the horror and dismay of the fucked up panel) even then it was the first of many battles with letters and specialists reports going backwards and forwards until the panel of fucked up scum agreed that he was entitled to a pension.

My advice would be to have a talk with a solicitor, and good luck.

[postman]

Forgot to mention on my previous post that he had work related back in juries, three operations including bone fusions, all to no avail. Workers compensation paid him out after having to go thru another legal battle and another review panel of "doctors". All this drama on a guy that was down and out thru no fault of his own.

 

Did i mention i dont like review panels of "doctors" privately hired by organisations. They know who pays there wages.

Edited May 22, 2006 by postman

[nitram]

Hi Tom,

 

Yes, it is more difficult to get doctors to approve a dissabili9ty allowance now than it was before the election.

 

Also, once approved there is a review done now evey year or 2.

[AndyAmine]

DSP is pretty hard to get onto these days unless you have a long history wiht your Dr/centerlink, the better option is to try and get onto sickness allowance, while it only lasts 3 months, it is easier to get because your Dr jst writes out another med cert and you end up getting more cash in the end (although not as many medical benifits)

[Gazza2001au]

tom, u need to make an appointment to see someone at centrelink and get refered to the "personal support program" once u go see these people u have two options pays $200 to see a specialist (all depends whats wrong with you) this will get u nearlly in the door or pay $400 and ur in the door i have already seen the PSP and been told this by my case worker in my case the special Dr i need to see is for my paranoia only thing stopping me is the pension paper work theres a catch 22 in there that fucks me up so i cant get on the pension its bull shit but if u were to apply for the pension directly to centrelink without any good referals ($200-$400) u have fuckin no chance unless u are dieing or crippled ive already gone thru it all but as i said the only thing stopping me is the catch 22

[WantDaChronic]

the dsp is extremely hard to get on these days like unless you are completely mentally fucked up, totally disabled, etc. they will refuse to put you on the dsp

 

im not sure if there is an age limit to the personal support program that gaz suggested, but im on the same payment and its the bee's knee's of centrelink payments i hand a form in every 3 months to prove to centrelink im alive and i have a monthly interview with a youth worker at wesley uniting to discuss my insomnia, treatments available, what kind of work i would like to get into if i get better, etc. best part of the program is that i dont have to look for work unless i want to (i hate centrelink and am always looking for work though) and the program goes for 2 years

 

imho, you have a much higher chance of getting on the psp and if after the 2 years you havent got your shit sorted, they can renew the psp for another 2 years or refer you to another payment the great thing is if you can convince the person you have the monthly interview with that you deserve to be on the dsp, they'll fight tooth and nail to get you on that payment but even if that fails, they'll simply renew your 2 year psp program and keep trying

[Gazza2001au]

imho, you have a much higher chance of getting on the psp and if after the 2 years you havent got your shit sorted, they can renew the psp for another 2 years or refer you to another payment the great thing is if you can convince the person you have the monthly interview with that you deserve to be on the dsp, they'll fight tooth and nail to get you on that payment but even if that fails, they'll simply renew your 2 year psp program and keep trying

the lady im seeing i didnt even tell her that i tryed getting dsp she found out now wont fuckin drop it i cant exactly say look bitch im using another address muahahaha so ur right bro they keep hounding at it untill ur on it anyone would think they get a bonus btw i know a dude thats about 40yo he just got on the personal support program all he said to centrelink was hes an alcho

[WantDaChronic]

hehehehe one of the main things that will allow a person to get on a psp payment is drug or alcohol dependance but having said that, they expect you to get off the drugs/booze and will refer you to a rehab clinic eventually

[AndyAmine]

Yes I agree, the PSP is the next best thing, Im also on it, most of the time it takes 6-12 months of being on the PSP waiting list before you get it too which is good because you dont have to do anything other than hand in your 3-monthly while your waiting, IMHO your better off getting as long as you can wiht med certs before applying though because that 2yrs can go faster than you think and jst adds to the time you can add to your recovery.

 

One of the best parts of PSP is if you cant drive or get to the appointments they will come to a cafe or a park near you or jst do it over the phone.

They also help you with all sorts of things and will do all they can to get you the DSP too, so if you get a good psych/psp-worker and have legit reasons, its one of your best bets to get it.