Name: Noah Gwatkin
Age: 18
Dreams of: Still working it out
I did my last shift as a Christmas casual some weeks ago and I am now officially without a job, back at the doorstep of Centrelink.
I was looking forward to having a chance to stay on as a part of their amazing staff but I wasn’t asked to. Instead I’ve found myself utterly scared. Being unemployed is a reality I haven’t been subject to for a few months. Now it is back, at the forefront of my mind like a pounding headache. Being independent from the government and my family is something I’ve been encouraged to do, but when your opportunity to work is stripped away you have very little to work from. Back to square one, I guess.
My Centrelink payment has gone to a dismal $250 a fortnight, from $850 during the pandemic. And it will go down again to $150 a fortnight in March if the federal government doesn’t increase the rate permanently. The rate during the pandemic meant I could afford bills, pay for my medical appointments, sustain a level of human decency that has dwindled to nothing. Centrelink means-tests your parents income when you’re my age, but doesn’t account for the ever growing debt each household has, nor the burdens of everyday life. It is truly a broken system. My rate is so low because I’m an only child, living with a single parent, and my mum’s income is somehow considered enough to cover me too, which is not accurate. If the system actually worked, I think it should take into account your parents’ income post bills, debts, appointments. It quickly goes down from the high number Centrelink thinks we live off to an income that can barely sustain us both.
I’ve recently been accepted into a Tafe course for a certificate IV in marketing and communications, a great step forwards to a possible career in journalism and the political sphere. I applied for Tafe after seeing the huge reductions in course fees throughout WA, and knew I shouldn’t let an opportunity like this go past. I have high hopes for the course. I will develop both professional and life skills that will help me further my career. Journalism is something I hope can give me a great purpose in life. Misinformation is a disease that has spread to every corner of the world and the only way we can change people’s perceptions is through cold, hard facts and education; that also means the world needs strong-willed people with a passion for truth.
It’s immensely rewarding to live in a state where you’re supported, given a fighting chance to aim high and achieve those goals, whether it’s through a heavily supported Tafe system, or a very affordable public transport system (which have saved me thousands). When people talk about their home, they think of their three-by-one down near the river with four walls and a garage, but for me, it’s my state.
The state of course can’t do everything; it can’t increase jobseeker, relax the restrictions for some needing emergency financial assistance when on Centrelink and many other things – that’s where the federal government steps in and steps up. I hope.
The next phase of my life, I think, is dawning. It’s something I want to grab with both hands. From financial hardship, mental health issues, breakups, leaving school, issues around sexuality, and the ever-present coronavirus, I feel I now have a sort of playbook on how to survive new challenges. Vaccination, finishing Tafe, job hunting, increasing inequality and the rising cost of living are all challenges I know I will face over the next six months, and there will be ones I don’t see too. I know I will come up to hurdles and now I am working on preparing to not just survive those experiences, but thrive. Turn them around. That will be the challenge over this new chapter.
Thank you for being on this journey with me over the last four months. I am honoured to have this opportunity to give insight to the struggles that we experience as young people, and plague us as a society. I hope we can tackle these problems head-on, together.
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