Get back to work....or....just get a job!

So word on the streets, and around, and about.....well, everywhere really is that our esteemed government is bringing in hefty changes to our welfare system so that they can reduce the national deficit.

That's the way I understand it anyway. I'm not going to pretend I'm au fait with all things political but I do know that the Australian Welfare System is under heavy scrutiny and the fallout is not going to be pretty. From where I stand it looks as though the rich are pretty much going to stay rich and the poor, the battlers and the disabled are going to have to be the people who suck it in and bear the brunt of these cuts.

It's most certainly not going to be in your favour if you're young, unemployed, seeking work, disabled or elderly that's for sure.

The two areas that raises concern for my loved ones are the reviews of the Disability Support Pension and Newstart Allowance. Every time I hear these mentioned in the news these days my ears prick up and my heart drops. None of the news I hear is positive and the demonising language that is being used in the media to describe recipients of DSP in particular is extremely hurtful.

The President of People With Disabilities, Mr Craig Wallace stated:

“Headlines like this one talking about people with disabilities as rorters, bludgers, slackers, slouchers, that kind of language that we have seen over the past couple of months, reduces and trashes and destroys the brand of people with disabilities to employers. I say right here, we are not rorters, we are not slackers,” (Source)

I couldn't agree with him more.

In short though, from what I understand from the review into welfare, the government simply wants people with a disability to get out there and get a job. If you have some capacity to work, then you should be working. Plain and simple, right?

Wrong! It's all well and good to talk about getting people on DSP out into the workplace...but is there going to be an accompanying change in attitude from businesses in regards to actually employing people with disabilities? There are people with disabilities out there who want to work and try long and hard to find suitable employment to no avail. They actively comply with their Participation Agreement with Centrelink with no rewards.

This issue is particularly close to me because recently, someone I love finally got word via their Job Support Agency that a large, national company had agreed to employ them for fifteen hours a week according to the stipulations Centrelink had set. This person was so eager and happy to finally gain employment. They worked hard and stated that they enjoyed the work they were given. Most of all, they were thrilled to be out there in the community, earning a living, interacting with fellow employees and the general public. They came home fulfilled and satisfied.

Then the Budget happened.....and along with it came the cuts to support funding for companies who employed people with disabilities. Two days later, the young person was told that the large, national company could no longer employ them due to the cessation of the employment support funding. To say that the young person was devastated would be an understatement. They said to me that they would even work for FREE if the company would let them - just to be DOING something, contributing to something bigger than themselves, being amongst people, was enough.

Don't tell me that people on DSP are rorters, bludgers, slackers and slouchers. How many politicians in Canberra would say that they'd be happy to work for free just so that they could feel as though they were contributing something to the community?

I have never known an Australian government so out of touch with reality, so uncaring of it's people.

So we sit and wait to see what is to become of us...and while we wait the chasm between the rich and the poor stretches wider and wider. I worry about the future of our country and it's people. I really do.

The constant need to prove...

I had a job interview yesterday. Actually, it was my second interview for this job. I don't know how I did. I'm REALLY kicking myself that I didn't study the Early Years Learning Framework before I went so I  would have been more prepared. I don't know if I won't get the job because I know very little about it. Gee I hope it's not the thing that kills it for me..

This interview has really got me thinking though about how tired I am of the constant battle to prove myself. I know everyone does it in some form or another. We all have to go to interviews and practically sell ourselves, proving to the potential employer that you above all the other applicants are the one they want. But what about if you feel as though you have to prove yourself every day because you are "different". Going into this interview simply highlighted that for me. I have to prove that despite the fact that I am 117cm tall I am still more than capable of looking after babies and toddlers who, in a few short years, will be taller than me and are already half my height if not as tall as me. I have to explain to the employer how I will change the nappy of an 18 month old when putting them on the change table will be "dangerous" to them and me. I have to help the employer work out a way for me to access door handles that are "kid proof" and therefore unreachable. I have to convince them that I can do it...all of it....even what they at first glance think is impossible. And then after that, if I am employed there, I have to daily prove to the parents of the children that their little ones are safe with me, that they're not going to run roughshod over me and be uncontrollable. That I know my stuff, that I can handle their children's tantrums and accidents and that I'm able to comfort them if they are scared and sad.

But I also have to prove that I'm capable in everyday life too - holding down a job, looking after my house, changing the oil and water in my car and filling it with petrol/gas, carrying heavy items, doing my shopping.

Maybe I don't have to prove it? Maybe this is just something I have created in my own mind? Maybe people are just watching, fascinated to see exactly how I do things, rather than wondering IF I can?

Still, I had a heavy sense of having to prove myself in yesterdays interview, even though it was with people who have known me for the better part of 15 years. Maybe that's just the nature of interviews...but at the same time, a couple of those people have also witnessed how I have handled (and sometimes not handled)extremely stressful and trying circumstances over those years.

Gee I hope I get this job. I want it more than you could possibly imagine.