My personal view, is that there are 2 distinct problems for widows.

In Pam's case, she has had to take very menial work that is most

likely pushing her medical/physical ability. She should be able to

go on the disability pension, but some self opiniated, unqualified

clerk at Centerlink knows better about her heart condition, than her

MD. I do believe that this decision is very appealable.

However, this is not the real problem. Pam is virtually unemployable.

This comes to the 2nd problem, which is the stay at home wife who

has reared her children & looked after the home then nursed a dying

husband. These unemployable people cannot exist on the widows

allowance. I have taken this matter up with the Minister, through

National Seniors & have been told that Canberra is not even

prepared to enter the discussion. The GENUINE widows allowance

should be increased to the single aged pension allowance, but it

will never happen whilst the Australian voter only cares about their

own pocket.

Innes, It is inappropriate for you to slander Centrelink staff the way you have. As a widow myself I know how hard it is to live on Widow Allowance. I also know working or looking for work , or doing voluntary work are not requirements to be able receive this payment as they are for those receiving Newstart Allowance.



It is my understanding that decisions regarding all Centrelink payments must be made in line with the Social Security Act and that all decisions can be appealed and that if the decision is wrong at law, the Social Security law, then it will be overturned.



My suggestion is for this widow to go to her local Centrelink office and have a chat with the staff there and see what can be done

Nothing will be done by the centrelink staff as they are of the same opinion as the politicians that it is an adequate income on which to live while looking for work.



Try doing what I have to do and that is pay a mortgage, pay all the rates, all the bills (note in WA our power and gas are going up per fortnight by an amount that is more than what the maximum rate of the widow allowance is going up - benefit up $7.40 a fortnight, charges up by approx $12 a fortnight)



What it needs is for every politician to have to live on the widow allowance for six months , no touching their super, their savings, no help from any family they have, then they may realise the criminal way they are treating us widows.



Yes we do not have to look for work, yes we get earning credits the same as those on the normal newstart get, yes if we have no earning credits then once we have earned $31 a week we get our benefit cut by 50cents in the dollar and shock horror if a person earns more than $250 a week our benefit is cut by 60 cents in the dollar and further shock horror if we get a job and for 6 fortnights do not receive any centrelink benefit then we get taken off the widow allowance and if the job finishes we are NOT allowed back on the widow allowance and have to go onto the normal newstart benefit withe all the inherent rules and regulations.



And to continue in that thought even if we have earning credits if we earn as much as ten dollars we have to report in and have to continue reporting each fortnight even if we do not earn any money until some clerk in centrelink decides ok you can stop reporting for the moment.



Sorry I will disagree, argue with those who say the widow allowance is ok and I will continue to highlight the despicable way that politicians of all persuasions continue to treat widows by making them stay on this rate of benefit, they should at least raise it to the level of the single aged pension, if they wish to keep the criteria currently in place still there then we could live with that what we CANT live on is what we get paid now.

Pam I notice you say that your GP recommends applying for a disability pension.

It is up to the GP to give a supporting statement in writing as to why you should get the pension.



I have seen on here the difficulties that widows have making ends meet after the loss of their partner, indeed it is a double hit.



I gather by innes statement that he knows the particular centerlink person that you dealt with by his statement:



She should be able to go on the disability pension, but some self opiniated, unqualified

clerk at Centerlink knows better about her heart condition, than her MD.



It is unfortunate that you had to deal with some self opiniated, unqualified clerk that innes knows but do not give up, they are not all like that, indeed I have found many at centerlink to be very helpful.



I suggest you get a statement from your GP saying in his opinion you should get the pension, get the application form, spend some time making sure the information you submit is correct as this saves them coming back to you for more info and speeds up the process.

I am a new member so I hope I am not presuming in making a comment here. I do think widows are unfairly treated. I am almost 82 years old and have been widowed for 4 years. I find that it costs just as much for utilities and insurance as it did when my husband was alive . I have several health problems - one of which is lymphoedema in both legs. I have to find $5000 a year for my compression garments and because my supplier was removed from the State Government's funding list I cannot claim any assistance. I have been with the same supplier for over ten years and receive excellent care and service. When they were removed from the list it was confirmed that the stocking were not causing me any problems, it was a matter of a accreditation that they did not have for their fabric. In order to qualify for assistance I must choose a less comfortable garment and give up the custom made comfort. The advice of my therapist was to stay with the familiar supplier as she could not recommend one which would give the same service.. I am living on my savings and hope they will last the rest of my life.

ophelia12

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments about the negative treatment for those on widow allowance.

One of the things that makes me angry is the lack of rebates and other help for payments for widow allowees under the age of 60 in NSW. In some states, people on low income health care cards receive help for travel, car rego, water payments, rates etc just as pensioners do. However in NSW, we are ineligible for everything except medicines. I keep thinking I should move to another state but then I would have to pay for accommodation.

Another big bugbear is, as already mentioned by Toot, how little we can earn before Centrelink reduces payments.

I read somewhere how few women are on the widow allowance, compared to the age pension.

It would not cost the government too much to make changes to make our conditions better.



Perhaps widow allowees on this site could band together to form a group.