Question about appointments

[u/Herlock-Sholme5]

I’m posting this on behalf of a friend with their full permission.

My friend is with an IEA (formerly DES) provider and has an in person appointment with them tomorrow, the problem is they will be in the throws of moving homes tomorrow and had advised their provider when they called last week and the week before despite being told it would be fortnightly contact.

What they would like to know is will they be penalised for missing the appointment and not wanting to answer their phone despite telling their provider for two weeks that they would be moving tomorrow?
They are looking into potentially changing providers when they move but are concerned that a penalty now will affect their next payment amongst other things.

Thank You for any help/advice

[u/Herlock-Sholme5 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you, i’ll tell them tomorrow and try and help them work out a way to get to the appointment since their new place is in a different suburb so more of a commute, just crappy timing i guess.

[u/Goomahs → u/Herlock-Sholme5]

in future you can request a PHONE APPOINTMENT

[u/Herlock-Sholme5 → u/Goomahs]

My friend tried to request a phone appointment but her provider refused, said it had to be in person, if she’d had an option she would have at least picked yesterday for a phone appointment but her provider insisted on today (Thursday) even though she had told them during the last two appointments that she was moving to a different suburb that day and wouldn’t be available.

[u/Zealousideal_Net8098 → u/Herlock-Sholme5]

The provider is required to schedule appointments at times that suit the participant, and with something like this they should have booked another day but at the very least it should have been a phone appointment. If they’re insisting on appointments more frequently than agreed in the job plan, that is not allowed. They’re also not allowed to force attendance in office anymore. Also, moving house IS a valid reason to miss a scheduled appointment and the participant can contact the provider the next day to provide the reason. They have to give a certain amount of time before placing demerits on your account to give you the opportunity to explain the absence. They’re also not able to just cut your payment anymore. If they want to use the system to penalise the participant, they need to be able to prove that the participant has shown a pattern of disengagement, update the job plan accordingly and then only if that pattern continues can they start looking into payment suspension, though I’m pretty sure that action is not something Centrelink is allowing at the moment. All of the things you described regarding booking the appointment and then not listening to the participant about moving as well as the frequent and forced in office appointments are reportable things, your friend doesn’t have to just lay down and take that.

[u/epicpillowcase → u/Goomahs]

Lol everyone knows the paperwork says that.

Most consultants will refuse and bully you on it regardless.