Hi!
Apologies for not keeping in touch since the last update.
It has been six weeks since I lodged our petition via email to the CEO's of Centrelink and Workforce Australia, and I still have not received a genuine response.
For those of you who don't know, here is the timeline of the occurrences over the past six weeks:
Monday, July 1st
- petition lodged at 5:04pm Canberra time
- auto reply received at 5:07pm Canberra time: failed delivery to Grant Tidswell's email address as it wasn't found in the system
Monday, July 15th (two weeks after petition lodgement)
- email sent to Services Australia CEO, David Hazlehurst, with official petition document and signature list attached
Tuesday, July 16th
- response received from Mr. Hazlehurst at 8:23am Canberra time: the CEO's response had no relevance whatsoever to our petition. This was followed by an instruction to contact the Department of Social Services
- Mr. Hazlehurst's response was forwarded to the Department of Social Services at 3:24pm Canberra time with official petition document and signature list attached
Thursday, August 1st
- response received from the Complaints Officer at the Department of Social Services at 3:13pm Canberra time: expression of gratitude for delivering our petition, followed by an instruction to contact the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
- I didn't respond to this email immediately as I was on holiday, and I wanted to wait until I returned home to Canberra before I forwarded my response to the complaints team at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
Monday, August 12th
- response from the Department of Social Services forwarded to the complaints team at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations at 2:59pm Canberra time, along with all other emails which were forwarded previously.
The email I sent to the complaints team at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations reads as follows:
To whom it may concern,
I am forwarding these emails onto you upon request of the Department of Social Services.
My original email to Services Australia CEO, Mr. David Hazlehurst, mentions a petition calling on Centrelink and Workforce Australia to stop manipulating jobseekers and permanently abolish all mandatory activity requirements. Hundreds of jobseekers residing across Australia have signed it.
Mr. Hazlehurst's response about Services Australia delivering payments and services on behalf of a range of government departments and agencies is understandable, however, it has no relevance whatsoever to the message in my original email. His response was followed with an instruction to contact the Department of Social Services.
A lady by the name of Courtney responded to my email to the Department of Social Services on Thursday, August 1st. She expressed her gratitude in delivering the jobseeker manipulation petition before instructing me to contact your department as you are in charge of dealing with policies and legislations regarding mutual obligations.
On behalf of myself and the signatories of the jobseeker manipulation petition, I would like to get the message out there, without being rude, that jobseekers are done with following instructions to meet numerous obligations for what is an unattainable goal in the end. We all want the employees of Centrelink and Workforce Australia in every single state and territory who view this petition to take it seriously and take immediate action. Some of us have experienced unforeseen stress and mental/physical health issues as a result of being manipulated to undertake these so-called 'mandatory activity requirements'. Our main objective is to have all mandatory activity requirements abolished for good, and for Centrelink and Workforce Australia to enable us to freely search and apply for jobs at our own pace in the comfort of our own homes without having to attend compulsory appointments, whether they be face to face or over the phone. We have made a final plea to Centrelink and Workforce Australia, which can be found on page 38 of the official petition document (see attached with signature list from July 15th, 2024).
Looking forward to receiving a genuine response from your department manager.
Sincerely,
Ella Juric
I am expecting a response from the department manager by September 30th at the latest. If he/she hasn't responded by then, I will take further action on our behalf and file a report with the Fair Work Ombudsman, which will outline the careless actions of Centrelink and Workforce Australia over the last two years, followed by a request to have the two careless companies taken to court for treating us unfairly, with our petition as evidence.