I was once a Payroll Officer, working for a contractor to a government department, earning over $80,000 per year. I lived in a 3-bedroom house with my puppy and a massive backyard.
Following domestic violence, I was unlawfully evicted from my home, in 2020 during COVID lockdowns, and forced into six months of homelessness. In crisis accommodation, I was housed beside newly released male ex-prisoners, which was terrifying.
I am in safe social housing now. But I am struggling to barely survive on JobSeeker.
To make ends meet each week I need to spend a large amount of time sourcing help, mainly from charities, with food, covering bills, or to put petrol in my car. I am also still dealing with the trauma from the abuse I suffered, which means I can become dysfunctional, sometimes for days on end, sometimes I’m unable to even answer my phone.
My employment services provider has been little to no help. They disregard my illness, trauma impacts and barriers to employment. I have repeatedly been cut off my entire JobSeeker payment until I “re-engage”, which puts me in a continuous cycle that seems to go nowhere.
Dealing with the reality of domestic abuse involved putting time and energy into Intervention Orders and court hearings, extending over years – with little or no support from service providers.
This made it difficult for me to find suitable employment at the same level or role as I previously held, or even at a lower level. I now have a gap in my resume that’s difficult to explain and makes it even harder to get back into the workforce.
My once high level of confidence to find work has sunk to zero.
I am an intelligent, resourceful, considerate woman, with a great deal of potential, still, and a unique skill set, yet I am suffering in a social entrapment and cycle of poverty and unachievable obligations. I feel shame and embarrassment at my situation which exacerbates my depression, contributing to the cycle that I can only pray for respite from.
I, like thousands of others, don’t feel that I have a life. I barely survive on JobSeeker.