All they care about is money

When I became a single mother I went onto parenting payment, I would report every fortnight... then one day I couldn't report anymore so I rang up to see why the woman on the other end of the phone obviously had no idea because she said to me.... have you done an annual estimate?? I said yes! And I always overestimate so not to get a debt. She said well that would be why!! I said oh ok I didn't realise you could do it annually instead of fortnightly. 3 years later I started training in the call centre at Centrelink.... and the trainer was saying you must report fortnightly or u won't be paid but u can do an annual estimate for family tax benefit. I said what!!!! I don't report fortnightly and I still get payed she said u better look into that. I rang them up and they said they didn't have me as working!!! I said I have been working the same job for the last seven years and I lodge a tax return every single year so how could u not know I was working!!!! I told them that I had rung up to see why I could not report anymore and when they looked into it the realised my reporting had been turned off when I left the county... I had gone to Bali. And if u leave the county it automatically gets turned off. So when I can back and rang to see why I couldn't report that is what I should have been told! But instead I was given the wrong information and for three years thought I was going the right thing by over estimating my annual income estimate and lodging a tax return!! No!! I had to supply three years worth of payslips and now paying back around $10000 I appealed it twice and lost told both times saying it wasn't souly administration error as they sent letters saying if any changes to my income and what I should do!!! But I still assumed from the previous conversation I was covered by my annual astimate and still working the same job so income didn't change so didn't report any changes did I!!! If the person in the other end of the phone hadn't given me the wrong information this never would have happened!! And doing that training at Centerlink it was easy to see how staff give the wrong information because they are thrown straight into phones and told to use the computer systems in place to look for the correct information for clients!!!! I left the job after two weeks training as I was also at uni and it was too much!!! The stress of that training was ridiculous!