Tag: money

The smell of an oily rag – lived experience advocacy in Australia

If I never have to smell wheel bearing grease again I would be very happy. Vile stuff, with a distinct smell. But with the dramas of repairing the Corolla, I’ve gotta whiff of it, or worse had to touch it, every couple of weeks while my partner solves the problem of whatever that noise is now in the car.

I’ve managed to get around to the things I’ve prioritised – paid HSC supervision, a couple of groups, but it’s been great to have it back – though there’s always just one more thing, and CV joints may be next.

After the Brereton crap this week, my post about the burden placed on the vulnerable to repeatedly share their trauma for no outcome was shared again, and I’m out of ideas on how to make it better for people, but money always helps. Making sure your talent‘s costs are covered and then their time and expertise is also compensated for. Would you pay another expert for their time? or is someone else covering their time – say if they’re already employed to do that work and be that voice of experience? That doesn’t usually happen for lived experience advocates. If they’re currently living the experience, then they’re likely to  be casually employed and/or on welfare.  They’ll have caring responsibilities – to themselves and to others – so the time you need them there will involve having to shuffle those responsibilities if that’s at all possible. How helpful is a carer’s week lunch for a full-time carer without support to make that time off happen? They may also appear unreliable having to cancel or running in late, or having to attend to family during a zoom meeting. They may have a panic attack and have to leave early, or seem unfocussed for whatever reason. But that’s the reality of lived and living experience. It’s messy. But it’s still valuable and raw and while it won’t give you a neat answer to your question, it’s worth figuring out how to incorporate into your work. Nothing about us without us is not just a slogan it’s essential for delivering services and support and changing policy and creating legislation and anything that involves real people and not just theoretical economics.

Pingers is running for parliament. He has the best of intentions and is using it to amplify his current work – calling out dodgy real estate agents and land lords. It’s a hard decision to make to participate in the system that is so messed up. He’s been critised from all angles – selling out and going for parliament, fundraising to cover his personal and promotional costs, having legal qualifications and his own property. But the tshirts are cool, subversive and a great way to support him if you can afford to.

The two organisations I work with – the Australian Unemployed Workers Union and the Antipoverty Centre – both use donations and grants to support unemployed and otherwise marginalised activists in their work. This can look like providing money to cover food, petrol  or transport or parking costs to be able to be involved in activism and actions. They pay the people with lived experience for their time and expertise as speaker or to contribute to the never ending parliamentary enquiries. They both also pay people in poverty to write articles reasonably regularly for the Power to Persuade blog.

For me, money above my DSP goes to things like buying EveryPlate meal boxes so that I don’t have to use my brain power too much to plan and make meals that are still pretty healthy and yum. If I head out to an event, I’m usually written off for the rest of the day, so money for takeaway and to keep my stash of instant cup noodles and so forth helps because “fed is best” also applies to your local antipoverty campaigners.

I’ve also get to buy things like better monitors for my PC so I can have more windows and tabs open and my new monitors allow split screens very easily with is great for having documents open while working on the social media side of things – either crafting a tweet for Nobody Deserves Poverty (I’m employed 3 hours a week to do that thanks to grants and donations to AUWU) or my personal twitter and blog.

My current phone is a hand-me-down off an amazing tweep so I cold give my last phone to my step-son-in-law or wherever he fits in so he could be contactable for his bub and for the thrill of engaging with Centrelink. Though it may not work after the 3g shutdown, I’m yet to hear.

So yeah, if you read a post that resonates with you, share the hell out of it. If you can afford to, track down the author’s tip jar or paypal and chuck them money for a drink or a meal. It’ll always be appreciated. My support page is here.

Everyplate. Buy me dinner

 

I hate the surplus

Nineteen Billion Dollars

Nineteen Billion dollars isn’t much, they say. It’s also not the amount. The fact that there was any budget surplus while people are struggling to afford food and housing, whether they have a job or not, is a failure. It’s even more insulting that it’s brought to us by the supposed party of the workers, Labor. The party that talked the talk all through opposition that JobSeeker was inadequate and promised that nobody would be left behind. That Labor.

It’s a completely different Labor labour party than the one people voted for or gave their preferences to. We saw early last year, Labor walking back enthusiasm for raising the rate of any welfare payments and then being negotiated into a little panel of selected yes men headed by Jenny Macklin who told them that raising Jobseeker significantly was essential, but they chose to ignore that in favour of almost bringing back single payment eligibility back to where they left it with Gillard, and giving Jobseeker and Youth Allowance recipients a full $20 a week extra (from September 20, none of this is in yet….) Oh and a 15% increase to rent assistance, which for me brings it to $171 to service $820 a fortnight rent.

Rent that I’m just waiting to go up. If I’m lucky, I’ll get a new lease with a substantial rent increase. If I’m unlucky they’ll decide to redevelop this land and imma back back in the rental market, crowdfunding for a houseboat. We muse about our options often, hoping to get this place for another year, while Bruce’s ex has to be our of her place by the end of the month and my stepkids baby is due August 5 (yes I’ll be a grandmother!) Hopefully the stepkids, their partner and the baby will get some emergency social housing, which they said they probably will based on the noises from the not for profits social worker… And we might get our stepson here since he doesn’t have a place yet, but works in town. I’ve adapted to the idea of him moving in. Better than another couple and a baby and cats. No, there are no cats moving in here.

Where was I?

Oh that’s right, thinking about the surplus (did you hear it was $19 BILLION?!?) And how Labor and their Stan’s feign embarrassment while saying they’ve been responsible with the budget and we must think of future expenses (like the stage three tax cuts and submarines) and do our bit by continuing to live on sub poverty welfare payments, minimum wage that won’t get you a rental let alone a home to own, and Coles and Woolies posting mega returns while aski g us to donate to Foodbank and Ozharvest at the checkout on pension day when we only queue for food every other week.

I suppose you want me to do my own budget and write solutions for the government. To say that pleading with them to raise the rate of income support above the poverty line and to build public housing NOW and not say they ought fund affordable housing (whatever the fuck that is) if their little investment pays out. Meanwhile saying the Greens are all talk even tho they are the ones with money to burn but not sharing it where it’s desperately needed

So I wait and see if I’ll be pleasantly surprised.. not by Labor, that ship sank long ago. But by a new lease on this place. For the tent increase to not be too excessive. For my stepkid to have housing of some sort before their baby is born. For them to continue to have hosuk g while they raise the kid. That the threats to exclude more people from the NDIS don’t happen. That my sister and her kids can keep their rental for as long as she wants it and they can access the NDIS supports she needs for them with less off a fight that the previous plans. That the government doesn’t make things worse for everyone. Which they are on track to buy simply fiddling around edges and trying to appease the landlord class.

Nineteen Billion dollars.