- Published on
By Ian Simmons
WE ARRIVED in Melbourne from the UK in 1988. Within three days I was in a full-time management role and I continued in various management roles until 2016.
In 2011, with the children having finished school, we were ready for a lifestyle change. My wife left her job to supervise the completion of our new house in South Gippsland. I was working as Gippsland territory manager and my salary could support our lifestyle.
WE ARRIVED in Melbourne from the UK in 1988. Within three days I was in a full-time management role and I continued in various management roles until 2016.
In 2011, with the children having finished school, we were ready for a lifestyle change. My wife left her job to supervise the completion of our new house in South Gippsland. I was working as Gippsland territory manager and my salary could support our lifestyle.
When that job finished in January 2016, we started our first period on the Newstart allowance, with an income of approximately $500 per week. This was 50 per cent less than we needed to maintain a basic lifestyle in South Gippsland.
During May 2017 I found employment with a contract facilities company working at a major local site. The company was interested in the $10,000 subsidy for employing a worker over 60. The role lasted until Christmas Eve 2018, and I went back on to the Newstart allowance in the new year of 2019.
Here is a weekly cost breakdown of our expenses:
South Gippsland Rates $75
South Gippsland Water $20
Various insurances $80
Electricity $75
Car registration $25
Food $125
Phones $50
Gas $10
Septic $10
Petrol $50
Total $520
It leaves a shortfall for the maintenance of house/land/self and cars, for dental treatment (there is a two-year wait for the free service), and for spending money – so you have to erode your assets to survive.
Living on Newstart is immensely stressful. You have to change your diet and management of time.
With the return to Newstart in 2019 come the form filling and little action to complete the claims. Centrelink follows procedure at one speed. During my periods of Newstart I have applied for over 400 positions in a vast area of south east Melbourne. I apply for jobs via Seek/Linked in – most reply, and the interview rate is about one in 25 applications. Job providers aren't equipment to handle professional people.
My employment provider asks why my applications aren’t succeeding! I’m now approaching 65 and the job prospects look poor in the South Gippsland area. My CV doesn’t show my age or location, but a good recruiter can calculate your age from your experience.
We never expected to be living hand to mouth at this stage of our lives.
Recently I met our local MP Russell Broadbent to discuss the rate of Newstart and the effect on recipients. I had a challenge for either himself or Scott Morrison to swap salaries for a month with my Newstart allowance and measure their survival.
Russell’s comment: “I could not survive on Newstart.”
Neither can we!
Here is a weekly cost breakdown of our expenses:
South Gippsland Rates $75
South Gippsland Water $20
Various insurances $80
Electricity $75
Car registration $25
Food $125
Phones $50
Gas $10
Septic $10
Petrol $50
Total $520
It leaves a shortfall for the maintenance of house/land/self and cars, for dental treatment (there is a two-year wait for the free service), and for spending money – so you have to erode your assets to survive.
Living on Newstart is immensely stressful. You have to change your diet and management of time.
With the return to Newstart in 2019 come the form filling and little action to complete the claims. Centrelink follows procedure at one speed. During my periods of Newstart I have applied for over 400 positions in a vast area of south east Melbourne. I apply for jobs via Seek/Linked in – most reply, and the interview rate is about one in 25 applications. Job providers aren't equipment to handle professional people.
My employment provider asks why my applications aren’t succeeding! I’m now approaching 65 and the job prospects look poor in the South Gippsland area. My CV doesn’t show my age or location, but a good recruiter can calculate your age from your experience.
We never expected to be living hand to mouth at this stage of our lives.
Recently I met our local MP Russell Broadbent to discuss the rate of Newstart and the effect on recipients. I had a challenge for either himself or Scott Morrison to swap salaries for a month with my Newstart allowance and measure their survival.
Russell’s comment: “I could not survive on Newstart.”
Neither can we!
In no way did that have a sub clause of using up all of ones resources that are supposed to save them from claiming so much from the old age pension. So when do you want them to use that vs claiming against this insurance policy as they’re well entitled to???
Ian's story is very typical - he is definitely seeking work, he wants a job. But who's hiring older jobseekers?
It would seem that only employers who receive Government subsidies. And, as Ian experienced, when the handout runs out, the job runs out..
How long will we have a system that punishes people for the Federal Government's failure to create reliable pathways to accessible and meaningful employment?
When will Scot Morrison provide that fair go for those like Ian who are having a go?
I had been made redundant over the years (the perils of the early computer industry) and generally managed to find employment as the market place was bigger and healthier. Also I wasn't too proud and took whatever look interesting even if it wasn't in my preferred area of employment.
I applied for twelve jobs after arriving in Wonthaggi but, hey, I'm not local, I was judged as over qualified and I was nearing the end of my working life, so voila! I found volunteering work to meet my requirements under Newstart and waited for the pension to kick in.
I was having trouble handling my money after I spent my meagre superannuation on extending the investment property to make it liveable. Fortunately, I found a very helpful woman at the local ANZ bank who introduced me to budgeting!
To make a comparison to Ian's figures, my fortnightly budget is -
South Gippsland Rates $11.00
South Gippsland Water $17.50
Insurances (Home & Car) $27.00
Electricity $17.50
Food $150.00 (including $15 for the magpies!)
Telephone/Internet $16.50
Gas $16.50
Sewerage is included in Rates
Petrol $9.00
It is quite apparent that Ian has a different lifestyle to me and good on him. However, regardless of whether we are relying on the Government for support or our own savings, we need to be aware that neither are a bottomless pit.
Changes need to be made occasionally. Let's move on from the victim mentality and be thankful that we live in a country that provides us with all types of support. Nothing is going to match being employed full time but I've found that my needs have changed quite a bit since "retiring" and my expenses have reduced significantly. Life is not hard, it's just different and it does take a little while to adjust.
PeeBee is right.
I spent a lot more on petrol while fulfilling my Newstart commitments because the volunteer hours required were not available in Wonthaggi. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long until I reached pension age but in the meantime I used the savings I had, which is what it is all about. We should not presume that governments owe us a living, unless one is a public servant, of course.
No luck involved in my outcome, I worked for it and planned for it.
This is not America, so no comparison. My car is twenty years old and I pay more to insure than its "agreed value".
Yes, there are some hard luck stories out there but it's not because of the Newstart Allowance.
Stacking shelves in supermarkets is work that seems to be always available and I am sure it pays well above the new start.. Did you not save anything after 26 years in well paid work or have you invested it all in a new house and land? I agree with others newstart is not and should not be a replacement income instead of paid work. There are plenty of jobs out there.