u/BreakSignificant152

I have been receiving Jobseeker for just over twelve months. Recently I enrolled full time at Melbourne Polytechnic to do a Certificate IV Training and Assessment to increase my employment opportunities. It initially appeared on my reporting page in Workforce and I entered my hours for the fortnight. Now it has disappeared and I have job search and points and appointment obligations. I am 60 and was told that this is an approved course at an approved institution that will fulfil my obligations.

I called my branch but my new case manager has left. I have had four new case managers in three months. They all leave. My AKG branch has now removed my course from my obligations and have given me a compulsory appointment for tomorrow. They would not listen to my reasoning when I called. They insisted I am being reviewed and must attend or will be cut off.

This is so stressful. They are so dodgy. They have made me attend stupid budgeting workshops, eating healthy seminars, job application skills classes while all the time I am not required because of my course attendance. I have job search and points targets, which I have been achieving until my obligations stop but they never do.

I am 100% convinced that with the astonishing high staff turn over and their refusal to stop keeping me on as a regular standard Jobseeker client are signs they are working their branch metrics.

What area of Centrelink should I contact to firstly get help having my account changed to what it should be, and secondly, to report this branch and hopefully encourage DEWR to investigate AKG. Surely they must be in breach of contract conducting their operations this way.

UPDATE: As advised by several helpful folks here, I called DEWR this morning and they seemed reluctant to believe me and told me to discuss my concerns with the AKG branch. I really pushed to create a complaint and they really pushed back.They said the role of the service provider is to keep me job-ready and they have every right to force in-person engagement on a daily basis if they see fit to do so, regardless of any study I am undertaking. I was told if my study is my priority then I shouldn't be on Jobseeker and should talk to Centrelink about moving to Austudy.

I finally managed to force a complaint to be entered after really pushing for it, but I am not confident what was entered was accurate and true to my perspective.

Not a very satisfying or helpful outcome. I will now try Centrelink complaints line to see what they say.

I have been receiving Jobseeker for just over twelve months. Recently I enrolled full time at Melbourne Polytechnic to do a Certificate IV Training and Assessment to increase my employment opportunities. It initially appeared on my reporting page in Workforce and I entered my hours for the fortnight. Now it has disappeared and I have job search and points and appointment obligations. I am 60 and was told that this is an approved course at an approved institution that will fulfil my obligations.

I called my branch but my new case manager has left. I have had four new case managers in three months. They all leave. My AKG branch has now removed my course from my obligations and have given me a compulsory appointment for tomorrow. They would not listen to my reasoning when I called. They insisted I am being reviewed and must attend or will be cut off.

This is so stressful. They are so dodgy. They have made me attend stupid budgeting workshops, eating healthy seminars, job application skills classes while all the time I am not required because of my course attendance. I have job search and points targets, which I have been achieving until my obligations stop but they never do.

I am 100% convinced that with the astonishing high staff turn over and their refusal to stop keeping me on as a regular standard Jobseeker client are signs they are working their branch metrics.

What area of Centrelink should I contact to firstly get help having my account changed to what it should be, and secondly, to report this branch and hopefully encourage DEWR to investigate AKG. Surely they must be in breach of contract conducting their operations this way.