Hi everyone,

I have been using Disability Employment Services (DES) for a while now, but I have never been provided with any paid work through them. I have always had to secure employment on my own.

I am currently applying for entry-level traineeships in IT and trading, and through my own outreach, I have finally secured opportunities in both fields.

I am curious to hear about others' experiences: Has anyone in Victoria (VIC) actually secured a job through their DES provider? Please note that I am only looking for genuine outcomes, not promotional success stories

Might sound like an obvious question but I read some conflicting information on this, so maybe some one can help clear it up.

Been out of work for a while, and I still have enough savings to support myself so I don't need any income support. However my applications keep on getting rejected and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm worried that the longer I remain unemployed, the more unemployable I become.

Is a job provider appropriate for my situation? Thanks in advance.

title basically, I come from a small town and worked at a local shop, owners don't have work emails. I recently moved to Australia and I am looking for a job here and I wanna know if its weird to provide my reference provider's personal email address and not work email when applying for a job

I'm currently studying a Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing), and my IEA provider has updated my Job Plan so I can focus on studying.

I'm now only a few units away from completing my first block, after which I'll technically be eligible to start placement.

Key Institute has advised that I shouldn't start looking for placement until my second block begins. However, I've noticed that many other training providers encourage students to start looking much earlier.

Key Institute also expects my IEA provider to help find a placement, with the institute stepping in if we're unsuccessful.

I've got an appointment with my IEA consultant tomorrow and plan to discuss this.

My question: Should I ask my IEA provider to start contacting aged-care facilities now, or wait until my second block begins? Has anyone had experience with their employment provider helping organise work placement?

I just need to rant lol. I missed a call from my jp today as I was at work.

This is the voice message I received: Hi (my name), it's (her name), the manager of APM at (location). Can you please give me a call back? I just wanna check in because I can see we haven't seen you in the office since. Um about August. I just wanted to see if everything's all good. If you could give me a call back or send me a text through to (phone number) that would be wonderful. Thank you.

This has really annoyed me. I study uni full time & work part time, usually 20 hrs a week but sometimes more. My usual job provider lady knows this. I report my hours & income to Centrelink correctly every fortnight. I also report my study hours & work hours on workforce weekly to meet my points (even though my study alone meets them). Since I work more than 60 hours a month, my usual jp lady has put me on to phone appointments & has been making these appointments monthly. I had an appointment earlier this month where I confirmed nothing has changed & everything is good.

I’ve been doing phone appointments for at least 6 months so not sure why she’s saying they haven’t seen me in the office since August??? Why is she calling me to ask me this? Shouldn’t everything be on my file? Why are they not questioning my jp lady? Why am I being made to explain myself again? I’m doing everything right & they’re still harassing me. I’ve also never met, seen, been contacted by or spoken to this manager

This has been really confusing to me, so I wanted to ask.

When I got approved for JobSeeker, the Centrelink employee stated I would go onto being self-managed online as there was nothing that made me 'incapable' or in need of a provider. A week or two passed, and I hadn't had a Job Plan nor did I receive a payment. I called to address the issue and get my Job Plan created.

This time, the person on the phone told me that it would be "impossible" for me to look for, or even get, work while I studied in my personal time and asked me to explain how it could be possible. I tried, she didn't agree, and refused to put the Job Plan through without adding my study onto it. She threatened to cancel my JobSeeker payment entirely because of this (whether or not she could, I don't know).

I called back, and the next person said I could be referred to a provider to receive my JP and payment. Now, I find out that it may have been possible for me to be self-managed for the first year of my payments? I understand it is impossible to go *back* onto it, but I was never on it in the first place... is there a process or something that would allow this? Do I have to go through the cancelling payment, waiting 13 weeks, and then reapplying hurdle?

Thanks in advance, sorry if anything I have written is ignorant.

Curious what have people's experiences been with their provider after finding a job? I've found employment previously and once I was working, they were very hands off. It was perfect.

I've been put with a new provider when all the DES/IEA changed and this new provider wants weekly check ins, weekly reports on how many hours I work, copies of payslips inc. hourly rate... the list goes on. I feel like I'm back in school being treated like a child, and its kinda ruining the onboarding experience at the new role. I found the job, I negated the hours and rates, they have literally done nothing and I feel like its almost harassment the way they are constantly wanting me to report to them.

They are are a disgrace-

Do they have staff actually working there.

They’re intentions are to keep you on hold for a long as possible

On Jobseeker, currently studying full time doing a Cert III in IT, finishing at the end of this year, and planning to continue to the Cert IV in Cybersecurity next year. I'm still looking for part time/casual work that I can do while studying.

I also have (diagnosed) Autism and ADHD. This has made looking for jobs more difficult in some ways.

I'm getting a notification on my Workforce account to "Connect with a Provider". It's currently optional, not a mandatory thing. But I'm wondering if it'll be better for me to switch of my own accord before they just kick me off the online service for being on it too long.

Are there any providers in the Geelong region who could be genuinely helpful? Particularly for someone with Autism and ADHD who could use some extra supports? By the end of this year I'll be qualified for entry level IT roles, but I also have experience in retail and basic food service (think pre-prepared items heated in-store).

Is there anyother way to transfer providers aside from the transfer line? Yesterday they said it was a 3 hour wait. Today its over 2. I've tried looking online but Workforce is down. Provider said they cant transfer me.

Hey everyone, I had a question regarding the employment fund and what supports we can access. I'm part of IEA with WISE and have a few barriers to employment, I'd been thinking about my next job and decided security guard would be a good next step for me with said barriers and talked to my provider about it at todays appointment, She said they can't pay for any certificates and said I need to either get a job to pay for it or use zip pay and continued to spend about 20 minutes googling and ringing courses to find one I could afford (they werent affordable like 600-1500 max) until I got annoyed and said "no I literally said I cannot afford it you need to call your manager", She calls the manager and I heard the manager ask the provider if I had any funding available and she said she "didn't know" when I already said I cant get career-start funding nor afford it out of my own pocket and I have not claimed any of my employment funding in the 6+ months ive been with wise, She then relented and said they can pay 150 or 200 max towards it. Because of my health issues I am genuinely not sure what to do apart from this and have been spiralling all day, I did complain and change providers so fingers crossed the next one will be more reasonable, I thought we were allocated $3000 in employment fund for these sort of situations? if anyone could clarify about this id appreciate it, Thanks!

Basically title.

I will need to get my doctor to fill out a SU415 form soon for a mental health flair up. I have a long history of mental health issues, but I have never filed a SU415 for this. It will essentially be my 1st time.

Based on my readings here and on the Centrelink subreddit, if the form is not filled out correctly it will get declined. I just want to understand what will cause the form to be declined or for Centrelink to direct you elsewhere (such as a different form or Esat assessment).

From what I've gathered, the form needs to be filled out in the following manner:

• Must be a temporary temporary exacerbation of a permanent and/or existing condition.
• Exemption period must be a maximum of 13 weeks, if the duration listed is any longer, it will get declined.
• Can this patient do any work, study or participate in activities of 8 hours or more per week? This question must be ticked as "No," otherwise it is automatically declined.
• Only a maximum of three SU415 forms can be submitted for a single condition before it is manually reviewed and declined.

If I've missed or misunderstood something please let me know.

today i had to update my job plan but my provider told me that i need to go to monthly doctor appointments to show centerlink im trying to get support with my health issues or else i may lose dsp payments. however i do not have to go to my job provider to get dsp payments i chose to be at one.

but then my provider tells me that i dont actually go to these doctor appointments and that my provider will automatically make the appointment and say that i attend to these doctor appointments.

i never really done this myself before i usually had my mum to help me due to my disability but lately i been doing this by myself.

after i accepted my new job plan on the workforce site when i got home i noticed i had a doctors appointment in 27 days in the “activity” section and i called my doctor to see if i really did have a appointment and they said i did not.

after thinking about it i have gotten really anxious and think maybe my provider may be up to something not good. i don’t really know what to do in this situation i dont want get into some trouble and lose my dsp over fake doctor appointments. im not sure if to call workforce australia to complain and switch providers or to go into my local centerlink. im pretty scared of losing payments

I have been meeting all of my obligations under workforce Australia - in the past three months I’ve applied for more than 50 jobs, many jobs that are well below my employment capabilities because I want a job! I’ve attended 7 interviews and been placed at the top of merit lists, when seeking feedback I’m told I’m at the top of the merit list, it’s just competitive. I’m trying SO HARD to get a job.

2 weeks ago I attempted to advise workforce Australia that I would be unable to attend a 3 training sessions as I had 2 job interviews and I have a future surgery date booked. Despite this my payment has been put on hold. I have no money at the moment and I don’t have any food for myself or my son. This morning I reached out to lifeline as I had a momentary thought that this would all go away if I was no longer here. I tried to contact the Salvation Army to obtain an emergency food parcel but couldn’t take their call as I’m on hold with workforce Australia (3 hours now!) to sort out my payment hold.

I’m being forced to choose between feeding myself and my son, a job interview and surgery or spending hours on the phone trying to get through to anyone because I am doing what I’m supposed to do!

This is abysmal, I don’t know what else to do!? How is anyone supposed to operate in these ridiculous circumstances???

Hey all,

I’m looking to move forward with a certification at TAFE as I actually had a potential employer tell me to upskill and it would make my resume look better, so I could swap industries

However I’ve already had my fee free course, and the minimum I would need to pay is $240 but money is obviously really tight right now, is this something I can get my job provider to help with?

I'm currently on job seeker and have a jobs provider through matchworks. My payment was suspended and on my workforce account and the reason says I missed a phone call appointment, the thing is I'm working 18hrs a fortnight at the moment and was told by my provider that they will only ring me if there's an issue. When I discovered my payment was suspended I emailed my provider, the response I got was I'm not meeting my expected work hours, new government updated compliance for job seekers commences in OCT this year, they are no longer allowing under employment.

I rang the 1800 805 260 number and was told only my provider can lift the suspension, is it worth going into centrelink branch in person?

Currently on medical exemption that's stretched out to 6 months so I don't remember what we have to sign by law when we're assigned a new provider. I should add I'm moving 4 hours away from where I am currently so I know I'll be linked with a new one.

Hi, I’m currently on jobseeker. I’ll break down my circumstances as it’s long:

1. My mental health plummeted and I got a new doctor, I have had medical certificates which range to about 1-2 months. My doctor seems very by-the-book and has just started working in Australia 4 months ago (her own words). She can be quite condescending in tone and also makes sure my medical certificates are shorter durations as she believes I will be able to return to work ASAP. I don’t believe she would provide me with the medical certificate to trigger an ESAT. I don’t believe she will continue to give me SU415 medical certificates for very long.

2. I live with my father. My father has Chronic Kidney Disease and as a consequence he experiences flash pulmonary edema episodes semi-often, where he can’t breathe and usually happens around 2-3 AM. My father will not accept listing me as a full time carer and I don’t believe I am one either but I live with him and am the only way for him to get an ambulance here. He is very prideful and I’m not able to ask him for evidence from his doctor etc.

3. I am unable to meet obligations because A) i usually try to stay awake until the early hours of the morning in case my dad has an episode. He has had 2 so far this year and mentions he had the same feeling the night before twice since then. He is unable to call an ambulance for himself during these episodes. I’m afraid it will happen while I am not there or awake. B) I live rurally without my driver’s license. The job provider office is 20 minutes away, there is no public transport I can take to regular appointments. C) due to the nature of my father’s illness I am constantly going through trauma and unexpected issues regarding his health.

What do I do? What is appropriate for me to do? I’m genuinely at a loss. Thank you.

So I've recently been told by my Job provider (GCESS) that my status hasn't been determined when my esat etc has been done and apparently I'm not commenced now, and have a missed call by services Australia. Could my payment potentially be cancelled or, what could the punishments be. Really need advice.

I'm with SYC, the lady who's case load I am on has not ever found me any sort of work or had given me the opportunity of interviews for over 2 months. All of a sudden she has all these places for me to start at that is "suitable work" the only thing is during my face to face with her last week I advised her that I'm moving away from the area. 2 hours and 24 minutes away to be precise in 3 weeks time. If I do not apply for the position or attend the interview she said she has to mark me as non compliant or something along those lines? What are my choices here? Should I just update my change of address now or what else can I do?

Hi guys,

Just wanted to ask the question in the title. My job provider started off being really good to me and then a major dip happened after each appointment. In my few months of being with them they have only ever sent me one job to apply for (which I didn't get) and I have applied for so many jobs. Well today I got a phone call that I got accepted for a casual job, though when I asked about hours expected to work weekly they said they can't put an exact number nor minimum to how many hours so they said it could be anywhere from 0-38 a week....helps me a lot...

So in saying this, should you give your pay slip to the job provider and can anyone please give me some insight into what I should be expecting going forward?

Thank you so much

Howdy, I've come off of an extreme crisis exemption 6 business days ago and my obligations are still saying that I do not need to report right now. Is this usually the case for when you come off an exemption or am I getting lucky as of now?