Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjnettie
If you rely on Centrelink for your payments, and from what I understand these ladies were under a scheme, you do what you are told or you could have nothing to live on for months.
They are heartless. Believe me.
You can be fresh out of hospital, on morphine, but if you don't hand that form in , in person, on time, you will have your payments cut.
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I appreciate your point but I didn't get the impression they were on a scheme or being paid by Centrelink. They were the outreach workers for the unemployed.
I also found some parts of the story odd. eg Could you drive a Prado for 23hrs without refueling? They must have been stationary for a fair bit of the time. I also know I wouldn't have headed out there in a vehicle so under equipped (hey, they had to travel Beadell roads to get there) but then I've been to places like that. I know people who might be so naive, basically because they've rarely left the city and have never even seen a dirt road. Also, if they were junior, inexperienced and on a contract or other form of insecure employment they might have been reluctant to speak up - especially if the full weight of possibilities wasn't apparent to them.
The employees didn't sue the company and no there is no indication they received any money for their ordeal. The company was fined after charges were laid by Worksafe WA and the fines went into consolidated revenue. I suspect there is nothing Worksafe could do about the employees. Being ignorant is sad but it isn't in itself a crime. If they had broken established safety procedures then they also could have been liable but of course there were no procedures to break.
BTW JJJ, when I was in the Dept of Social Security back in the early 80s a person fresh out of hospital and on morphine would have got a med. cert. and gone on sickness benefit. Med certs could be written for up to 13 weeks and could be posted in. You could even post in the claim form and if necessary we would go out to conduct the interview - getting that job was a good lark because it was half a day or so out of the office. It seems that the law is now far more heartless.