Disabilty pension and part time job

[Cranswick]

l have been on the DSP for 12 years, my main disabilty in depression and anxiety and some general health problems. People on the DSP are allowed to work and still keep the DSP as long as its under 30 hours a week. l would like to try to find a job perhaps 10 hours a week which would make my life better, but l have a fear if l either find a job or join the DES to look for a job my DSP could be reviewed or reassessed and would have to go through the stress of the review process and the risk losing my DSP and moved onto jobseekser then not being able to afford to pay the rent and bills which if that happened would seriously harm my mental health. l  would need help to find a job so l would need to sign up with the DES or jobnetwrokds but l read on the internet the the DES jobnetworks are not very helpful or useful. Could anyone whose been on the DSP and looked or found work please give me some advice 

[geoff]

Hello Cranswick, you raise a very important point here, and understand your fear of being taken off the DSP, but this would depend on the job you want to do, as restrictions may be in place so as not to aggravate your mental illness.

Remember you're not getting a job because you have been cured, you're doing this to provide more income in these costly days, and because you are already on a DSP this means that it may be possible that your condition may suddenly be affected and just because you decide to work doesn't mean that you are cured, especially if you are still seeing a psych.

Geoff.

Life Member.

[Cranswick]

thanks, l got my DSP 12 years ago and  havent seen a psych in ten years , reading on  this forum how its almost impossible to qualify for the DSP with mental health problems these days l fear if my DSP is reviewed l will lose it. l also have general health problems such as stage 1 kidney disease, A job would make my life alot better but l have a fear if even theres a tiny chance of losing my DSP and ending up in poverty on jobseeker and my mental health collapsing . its not worth the risk trying to look for work.  My other concern is reading about people saying they have bad experiences with DES and saing they are not much help

[David35]

I'm on the DSP and have been on it for about 17 years due to a head / brain injury. It depends whether you need the money or not. I didn't because I still lived at home, so I just volunteered. But your situation is different by the sounds of it. I used to report my income to Centrelink but they ended up confusing the situation. I used to pay $100 in timber to make a kids' furniture setting which sold for $150, meaning I got $50 income. Centrelink claimed I got $150 income. So I share your concern with dealing with them or anyone associated with them.

Do you want to work for the money or the feeling of contributing? If it's just for the money, then what about casual work? If you don't need the money, then does volunteer work satisfy things?

[Cranswick]

thanks its both for the money and to get out of the house and meet people, my only concern is having the deal with centrelink and the DES jobnetworks and all the stress involved in that and any risk to my DSP

[David35]

I don't think you'll risk losing your dsp. Centrelink want you working. I've had a quick look on the website and it sounds like you have interviews every 3 months to discuss what your plans are with regards to work/volunteering. I was in a similar situation many years ago and agree it is stressful. But i found that the more info i found, the less worried i became. As far as i knoe, you only look risk losing your DSP if you don't attend interviews set up by them. You still have choices regarding your future. A lot of people rubbish our welfare system but I can safely say that despite the stigma associated with being on the DSP, it was the best thing that happened to me. It allowed me to collect my thoughts, redirect my life and buy tools,etc for a woodworking hobby of mine which helped rehabilitate me moreso than volunteering.

[AnotherRandomUser]

Im on the DSP and have had small jobs in the past.

Centrelink will likely factor in any job you have towards your ability to work, but even if they somehow deem you fit to work, that doesn't necessarily mean you will lose your DSP. More likely, they'll make you attend a Job Capacity Assessment and consider if your capable of some work, for example, they deemed me fit to be able to do 8 hours of work a week, so I then had to attend a Job Service Provider to meet that requirement or Id lose my DSP. Though if your over 35 they are less strict about working hours, and might not make you do anything different.

But if they state you can do hours, and you decide you can't, you can get a letter from a treating specialist to state why you can't work, and try to get the hours reduced/removed again. If you do have a job assessment done in future there's no harm getting a letter from a healthcare professional anyway talking about your limitations/goals as evidence that your still disabled and are just wanting a small job that doesnt impact your health.

I think as far as Centrelink is concerned, they're usually happy for disabled people to have a job without changing anything to the DSP, they just want evidence your still disabled and are not lying about it. So basically just get a good letter from your doctor or specialist if questions are asked and Im sure youll be fine. Chances are though nothing will change.

If you have more questions you could try talking to a Centrelink Social Worker via the Centrelink number. They know all the rules and can give you advice on what you need to do.