Aaaah the joys of the Disability Support Saga. I reckon if you're able to jump through all the hoops and go through all the rigmarole and be alive in the end, then that should mean that you could do any job at all. Having spent a year doing just that (and being approved....Yaaay) I can offer you this. They work on a points system. The only people to get automatic approval are these...IQ of under 80, legally blind or terminally ill with less than two years to live. (Backed up with relevant paperwork). Other than that, they don't really care what your illness is. "You have cancer?...shame...well never mind, you can work part time". "You're in a wheelchair?...What a pity...you can do a desk job". "You're deaf? Oh tut tut...never mind...you can stack shelves at Woolies...you don't have to hear the tomato sauce". What they care about is how your illness impacts on your ability to work at any...repeat...any job. They work on a points score and you have to get twenty points to qualify. So if you've had one arm chopped off...they may give you two points. If you're deaf...you may get another two points. If you're blind in one eye, you might get five and so on. All your medical issues have to be backed up with...not what your sympathetic doctor might write, but certified copies of all reports such as CT scans, X rays, Pathology reports, hospital discharge summaries, Assessments from Occupational Therapists or Physiotherapists and the like. These reports have to be dated and relevant to your assertion that what they depict, impacts on your ability to work. What is more, these reports have to state that this condition is permanent and will not reverse or improve. Naturally, this is also Means Tested and current bank records have to be submitted as well. If you google "Centrelink Disability Support Point Score" you will find a document (many Maaaany pages long) explaining how they assess these wonderous points. I suggest you print it up and fill in or circle the areas where you honestly feel you will qualify...and remember you have to back it up with the paperwork as above. Each point makes clear that (and I quote), "The assertions of the applicant and / or their doctor will not suffice". Secondly, I would go and see the Social Worker at your local hospital to help you. I had to get a referral from the Social Worker to the Community Nurse, who made a one hour assessment of me in my home. She then referred me to the Hospital Occupational Therapist, who did the same. Then I was referred to an independent organisation who deals with NDIS and disability services... sort of quasi government. Their social worker then guided me through all the hurdles about medical records and financial situation. We did a few dummy runs with copies of the Dreaded Document, until we had finessed it to a total of twenty five points. Then it was submitted and four months later it was approved and back dated to the date of submission. Then I broke out the sherry bottle and got pissed. Good luck.
Thank you very much for your advice. I am so sorry you have had to go through it all it must have been very frustrating and mentally draining. Thank you for the link to download the points score. It is sad to know how they judge people like this on what is wrong and it sounds like they are very strict. Pbviously they don't know what it is like to be in such a difficult positon. I am very happy for you that you were finally able to get on the dsp. I would celebrate to after all of the trouble you have been through. Thank you again and take care xo
