Stupid Youth Allowance...

 
I've been spending some time on the phone with the "helpful" people at Centrelink. Fortunately the dude I spoke to yesterday was helpful and nice.

About a month ago I lodged a claim for Youth Allowance -- a pittance per fortnight, lol -- as an independent youth (not that I feel all that young) and as a full time student. I filled in the form online, gave the bajillion irritating details they wanted and then went to the Centrelink office and provided them with my birth certificate (I had just gotten a new copy that morning because I mislaid my original...Which I found a couple of days ago), different forms of ID and group certificates from work etc. The mean lady at the office said that it shouldn't be any problem and that I'd get a letter in due course.

I did get a letter in due course which in no uncertain terms told me that my application for Youth Allowance had been REJECTED!!! And, naturally, they don't tell you why that is.

So, yesterday this guy on the phone (FYI, I hate doing things over the phone. Makes me nervous) went through all my information bit by bit and informed me that there should not have been any problems in the first place. I should have been counted as an independent because I worked for two years consecutively, I'm studying full time, don't rely on parental income even though I still live at home. He told me the reason that my claim (nearly wrote "clam") was originally rejected because I hadn't provided any proof of the hours I had worked...Even though A) I covered that in the form I filled in, and B) they didn't ask me to provide it when I went to Centrelink...

Motherfucker.

So, I called my old boss yesterday and told him that I needed a letter documenting my hours and how long I was working there for and I'll pick it up on Monday. I'll take that and some pay slips back to Centrelink and HOPEFULLY after that all will be sweet and there'll be some money coming in to at least cover my travel.

Urgh. My apologies for this rant about money and crap, but I'm glad that it's all being resolved and I don't have to deal with the weight of "what if I run out of money...". I don't like having to think about how much money I have or how much I can or cannot spend. Yuck.

P.S. Stupid bureaucracy.