Imagine this: you're in a hospital bed, struggling to remember your name, let alone keep up with paperwork and appointments.

For an Aussie woman, this wasn't just a nightmare; it was the reality, and it left her struggling mentally and financially.

What happened, and could this be your reality, too?

New South Wales local Kelly's ordeal began in late March when she started experiencing psychosis.

The 43-year-old's was so severe she believed she was being poisoned and watched.

'I couldn't even tell you my name,' Kelly recalled. 'I was completely just in another world.'

During this time, she missed a face-to-face appointment with her employment provider, CoAct, which was required for her JobSeeker payments.

Kelly has struggled with the lengthy process in reinstating her JobSeeker payments. Image Credits: Pexels/Kaboompics.com

After experiencing a severe episode of psychosis, Kelly was admitted to Macquarie Hospital.

Despite being hospitalised and heavily medicated, Kelly's payments were suspended.

Her doctors provided four medical certificates to explain her absence.

However, Centrelink rejected them all and claimed that psychosis was a 'medical symptom' rather than a diagnosis.

Kelly was instructed to attend an in-person appointment to restore her payments.

With her driver's licence revoked under the Mental Health Act, a hospital social worker had to drive her to the provider's office.

'I was getting my cognitive availability back slowly at that point. But I still didn't have it totally together. I was stuttering, and I was still trying to focus,' Kelly recounted.

'I signed the document; I couldn't even read and left crying.'

For two weeks, Kelly had no income.

She could not pay her rent, and the stress of navigating the system while unwell only made her recovery harder.

Sadly, Kelly's experience is not an isolated case.

Last year, another welfare recipient in Victoria had his payments suspended while he was in hospital.

The man was recovering from brain surgery and had struggled with homelessness.

Between January and April this year, government data shows there were 157,680 payment suspensions.

In February, more than one person had their payments paused every minute.

While Services Australia paused most payment cancellations in March due to concerns about their IT system, suspensions have continued at a staggering rate.

Advocates argued that these suspensions may be unlawful and called for a complete overhaul of the so-called 'mutual obligations' system.

This system has penalised jobseekers for missing appointments or failing to submit job applications—even when they're in hospital.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has expanded its investigation into the legality of payment cancellations.

Yet, for people like Kelly, the damage is already done.

'We've heard of cases of people in ICU having their payment suspended,' Jay Coonan from the Antipoverty Centre prefaced.

'We've heard of people who have been on their deathbed, and their families have been working with social support in hospitals to try and stop this from happening.'

With over 877,000 people on JobSeeker in April and the majority receiving the full rate of $781.10 a fortnight, the stakes are high.

For many, a payment suspension means immediate hardship—missed rent, skipped meals, and mounting stress.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations acknowledged these concerns, and Centrelink has apologised to Kelly while they 'worked with her to resolve this matter'.

'People seriously look down on Centrelink recipients,' Kelly shared.

'But anyone can find themselves needing their help.'

It's easy to think, 'This could never happen to me.'

Yet, as Kelly's story showed, life could change in an instant.

Illness, injury, or unexpected hardship could strike anyone, and our social safety net should be there to catch us, not make things more complicated.

Key Takeaways

• An NSW local's Jobseeker payments were suspended while she was in hospital for psychosis, leaving her out of income.
• Medical certificates from hospital doctors were repeatedly rejected by Centrelink, forcing the woman to attend a meeting she was unfit for.
• Payment suspensions continue to occur on a large scale, with advocates and the Ombudsman questioning the legality and calling for an overhaul of the mutual obligations system.
• Centrelink has apologised to the jobseeker and resolved her situation, but advocates warned that suspensions may push people into poverty.

Have you or someone you know experienced payment suspensions while dealing with illness? Should the mutual obligations system need to change? Share your thoughts about this matter in the comments section below.

MORE: Are your Centrelink payments' on hold'? Here's why you don't have to worry

 

[mylittletibbies]

Many years ago when I lived in Perth I had an appointment at Centrelink to check my benefits. The woman had my file and told me I was half owner in a certain upmarket car, I told her i'd never owned a car like that and certainly didn't co-own it. She then told me it was down on my file that I had a bad memory.
I was shocked, i'd never said I had a bad memory so I don't know who's file she was reading but it wasn't mine!

Sounds typical. They were trying to tell me we still owned a property that we sold some 15 months before. They had been provided with the settlement statement and copies of all our bank statements.
Took them weeks to sort out their stuff up and then about another 4 weeks to back pay us.
Same thing this last Xmas when I moved.
Although again I had provided all the required paperwork they had me down as owning both houses. Putting me miles over the limit and cutting my payments.
Never got back paid at all this time.

 

[7777]

Dear member deni67, sorry to hear your experience with Centrelink. Next time you feel that the person who is talking to you at centrelink, is not making sense or being rude, just ask to speak to their supervisor, and tell the supervisor how the person working there is talking to you. I have also had situations where the centrelink worker, spoke very rude to me. When I asked to speak to their supervisor, I was then given an apology, with an explination that the centrelink worker was new and still learning. It would appear that many young people, who work at centrelink feel that the hold so much power, knowing that all they have to do is press one button on the keyboard, to create financial havoc to people's lives. God bless,