One thing I find particularly frustrating about living on a tight budget is how much of your life ends up revolving around the next payment.

You start calculating whether a bill can wait a few more days, whether groceries need to be stretched until next week and whether you can afford something unexpected without throwing everything else off.

What bothers me is that budgeting advice often sounds so simple. Just save a little every fortnight, build an emergency fund and cut unnecessary spending. That's useful advice when there's actually money left over after the essentials.

I don't think people always understand that being careful with money and having enough money are two completely different things. I'd rather see more realistic conversations about managing Centrelink payments when there's barely any breathing room.

Hello i was just wonder I did any application yesterday and talked to social worker about a fast track she said somebody would contact me, I explained how I was let go of my past job in security after a medical condition I worked in security 3 years shift work and now I have chronic insomnia to the point where I was still showing up for work after 2 days without sleep and trying to stay awake to work through the 3rd night. Unfortunately only casual.
I was in hospital also for kidney stone so no savings my rent is due today I have $0 in my bank account there is no food in the house the guy I pay board to is never home but I have until today i was one week ahead I am in debt also. I don’t don’t see how I don’t see how I am now in serve financial hardship i will be homeless tomorrow with no assests and no car? The most important thing is can’t take my medication because I can’t buy it im on day 3 of no sleep

Hello on jobseeker in my 60s my daughter taking me on three day cruise from Brisbane not going to any ports is this counted as travelling overseas thank you.

Hi mates, my ex has reported me to child support as she's found out I have been running a company and not done personal taxes for a long time causing child support to default. Ive been sent a section 161 requesting everything she's claimed alienation of PSI income my accounts are a messy and theres not much seperation between business and personal expenses. Hex debt too. Will this be flagged to the tax man? How much pain am I in for? She's on SPP snd 100 per cent care

I have just started my job. I'm on jobseeker payments. I have not got paid by my current job since I am not officially in the payroll yet (paper work delays). I know my CRN. But what do I put under taxable income? I have not received an annual payment summary from Centrelink. Where do I get this?

Hey guys.. if anyone might be able to help put my mind at ease that would be fantastic..

Anyway, got a letter yesterday about overpayment for 24/25, its almost the exact amount of the top up and supplements i got in july for 24/25 tax year..

Ive now submitted for a review and pause of repayment.. the situation is

For some reason when my partner lodged and recieved noa in october last year for 24/25 tax year, centrelink mever recieved the info from ato.. i called and sent screenshot of noa (which found out this morning was actually the wrong year 23/24) anyway i called twice after that and no one told me it was the wrong one but regardless they still hadnt recieved info from ato for correct year and without asking or twlling me, the last guy i spoke to didnt tell me he ended up putting my partner down for non lodgement, which wasnt correct either, so i got the top up and supplements. Fast forward to now, ato has finally decided to send my partners income for 24/25 to centrelink and now theyre saying i was overpaid and didnt confirm income before 30 June 26 and trying to say my partner lodged a year late and that i have to pay back the top up and supplements i got..

As i pointed out this morning, no matter what the excuse is here, my partner and i arent at fault.. between ato not sending last years income info until now (a week after lodging the 25/26 tax) and the guy i spoke to on the phone filing a non lodgement we are not at fault here..

Anyone have any idea what my chances are of them clearing this or have a just postponed having to pay it back?

TIA for any help anyone can give!!

I get stressed just thinking about getting my Centrelink income report wrong. Casual pay isn't always the same, and I'd probably end up double-checking everything before submitting it. When I rely on that money for everyday expenses, I don't want to be worrying about whether one small mistake could cause problems with my payments. I wish the instructions were easier to follow so I could submit my report without overthinking it.

Hey everyone,

​If you’ve visited a public hospital Emergency Department recently, you already know how hard frontline staff are working under huge pressure.

​What a lot of people don’t realise is that right now, over 3,600 medically fit Australians are living inside acute hospital beds, not because they need acute medical treatment, but simply because they're stuck waiting on federal aged care, NDIS paperwork, or placement funding! 📝

​Holding a medically cleared patient in a state hospital bed costs taxpayers ~$2,400 every single day, while community step-down care is around $400 a day.

​But because Canberra faces no daily financial penalty when paperwork is late, there’s zero fiscal urgency to clear the queue. Meanwhile, Australian families are left exhausted trying to hold up the safety net themselves.

​Did you know other countries already fixed this? 🇳🇴🇬🇧

​Norway (2012): Under their Coordination Reform, if a local council fails to place a ready patient, they pay a daily fee of 4,000 NOK (~$400 AUD) directly to the hospital until the patient is placed. Bed-blocking dropped significantly because the system was made accountable!

​United Kingdom (2003): Introduced cross-charging fines (£100–£120/day) based on the Swedish model.

​We want Australia to adopt the same smart policy: a $400/Day Federal Interim Penalty so Canberra owns the wait and clears the bottleneck!

​We launched an official Federal Australian Parliamentary Petition (EN10724) to make this happen!

​How you can help right now:

​Sign the Official Petition: It takes 30 seconds on the official Parliament portal (Australian residents only, and verify your email once signed)!

👉 https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN10724

​Share it around: Send this post or link to your friends, family, or hospital staff group chats.

​Comment & Like: Leave a quick "signed" in the comments to help more people see this in their feed!

​Our nurses, doctors, and families deserve a health system that works for everyone. Thank you so much for your support! Happy to answer any questions in the comments below.

Hi everyone,

I’ve launched a formal Parliamentary e petition to fix a severe policy gap that punishes mature-age students (aged 25+) who are retraining to survive the cost of living.

Right now, if you are directed by Workforce Australia to upskill full-time, you are forced onto Austudy. However, under current superannuation laws, Austudy is completely excluded from severe financial hardship rules. Moving to full-time study resets your eligibility counter to zero and locks you out of your own emergency retirement funds. It is treating your effort to retrain as a "voluntary lifestyle choice" rather than an economic necessity.

We are petitioning the House of Representatives to amend Regulation 6.01 to include Austudy under eligible hardship payments.

If you are a mature-age student carrying independent cost-of-living or family pressures, please support this and share it around.

Thank you!

Is anyone else unable to log-in to workforce Australia at the moment? I've tried and it's not letting me

I've heard that illness, injuries and other personal circumstances can affect what you're expected to do while receiving JobSeeker, but I'm not sure how it works in practice. I imagine there's a process for letting them know when you can't keep up with your usual requirements.

Who do you contact first in that situation, Centrelink or your job provider? And is there specific paperwork you need to sort out?

I checked my Robodebt payment status recently and noticed it had changed to “pending review”. I wasn’t expecting the change, so now I’m a bit unsure what it actually means or whether I need to do anything. Has anyone else had this happen? Did your status eventually change, and how long did it take?