The Hon. Alan Tudge, MP Minister for Human Services I am begging you; urgently review Centrelink’s Process regarding assessment for disability support pensions. Today my sister Kim was advised by a Disability Review Officer that Centrelink has declined her application for a Disability Support Pension. We have been waiting for this outcome since her application was lodged 6 months ago. As we waited, we hoped, desperately for good news. This was the third time she had made the same application, having been declined twice before. Kim has suffered from a ‘disability’ since her teenage years. To date, we have not determined a diagnosis – her disability is nameless and that is part of the problem. However, Kim must attend medical appointments at least once a week. She has many more bad days than good days, suffering severe pain due to the effects of being dependent on corticosteroids since the age of 16. She also suffers from depression (which is not helped by constantly having to prove her abilities, or lack of abilities, to an unfeeling bureaucracy). Those of us who know Kim, know that because of her disability she is unemployable. Yet, this is the third time Kim has jumped through Centrelink’s hoops. This is the third time she has been declined. She has no other option to earn an income. She is devastated by the outcome. I also have a disability. It’s called FSH muscular dystrophy and use an electric wheelchair permanently. Despite this, I can do so much more than Kim. Centrelink is happy to leave it to me to house my sister and to support her financially, even though I am on a disability pension myself. I am desperately trying to convince her that everything will be OK. But, I know that without a change in decision, it damn well won’t be OK! I am furious at this decision but I will do everything I can to have it reversed. Please Minister, review Centrelink’s application process for Disability Support Pensions, so that people like my sister Kim, who live with undiagnosed ‘invisible’ disabilities, are able to receive the basic financial support they are entitled to. Sincerely, Tracey Jackson