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binchicken9000.bsky.social
Bin Chicken
@binchicken9000.bsky.social
380 followers 120 following 1.1K posts
She/Her
Australian
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Reposted by Bin Chicken
crikey.com.au
Despite the government's case that the teen social media ban will help young people's mental health, you'll be hard pressed to find a major mental health support group that wanted it.
Australia's peak mental health groups didn't want the teen social media ban, but they're ready for its consequences
Despite the government making a mental health argument for the teen social media ban, leading experts have grave concerns about its impact — a case that's been bolstered by new research.
www.crikey.com.au
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
clairefield.bsky.social
This may well be the most important paragraph in the report, kudos to the Ombudsman’s office (after justified criticisms in the Robodebt scandal) to now be transparently and critically investigating and reporting on issues like this:
Extract reads: “There is an inherent danger in applying what is effectively a default process that automatically shuts down a job seeker’s receipt of vitally needed income support. This is compounded for job seekers in a vulnerable state who could have difficulty responding in a timely manner in their own interests or who for whatever reason may not have received the notification. As noted in our first report on the TCF, job seeker payments are below the poverty line, so recipients are very vulnerable. It is also likely that the current state of the employment market and the current unemployment rate together mean that many job seekers are unlikely to find ongoing employment no matter how hard they try to comply with the requirements placed on them.”
December 9, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
clairefield.bsky.social
As a young single Mum I was reliant on income support for a couple of years - nothing like the requirements on jobseekers now but the experience dealing with the bureaucracy stays with you. It’s devastating to read the latest report of the Commonwealth Ombudsman www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/asset...
Extract from the report’s overview: “ We found DEWR’s remediation approach to compensate the 964 job seekers not to be fair and reasonable, that generally the decision-making processes that resulted in the section 42AF(2) cancellation decisions were not fair and reasonable, and that DEWR’s oversight of providers in monitoring and responding to inconsistent or inappropriate decision-making by providers is poor and lacks transparency.”
December 9, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
milokei.bsky.social
This is incendiary stuff from the ombudsman. Effectively, govt doesn't give a tinkers cuss what happens to welfare recipients via 'jobs providers'.

Dept: Breach away folks! Give those bludgers a what for!

JA: Wanna see the figures?

D: Absolutely not! We trust you implicitly.

#Auspol
jeremypoxon.bsky.social Jeremy Poxon @jeremypoxon.bsky.social · 8h
Cannot overstate how bad the Department's oversight of job providers is

The ombo found that DEWR don't even have access to complaints participants make about their providers.

The government hands billions of dollars to providers to spit out unlawful punishments as they please
Given over two thirds of job seekers have providers, this represents a disproportionate number of complaints about provider services compared with online employment services. DEWR explained that while it was able to internally monitor complaint trends regarding the number and reason for the complaints by reference to providers and their sites, it did not at that time have access to or oversight of the complaints that job seekers make directly to their providers. During the investigation, DEWR were unable to provide us with the following data from 1 July 2022 – 4 July 2024 because its Customer Relationships Management System did not hold or store the data in a way that could be reliably isolated and reported on: • number and percentage of provider decisions that were challenged by job seekers • cohort data on job seekers making complaints about providers • the outcome of complaints about providers • reliable advice on the number of people who requested a transfer between providers and the reasons for these requests • reliable advice on provider transfer requests via the National Customer Service Line. The lack of outcome reporting means DEWR was not able to explain how complaints about providers were being managed and resolved, including whether the following outcomes which it told us were possible are in fact occurring
December 9, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
welfarerightscentre.org.au
Everyone has the right to live with dignity — yet in Australia, many people who rely on social security are being pushed into poverty by payment rates that are simply too low.
On Human Rights Day, we’re calling for change: Increase social security payments so no one is forced to live in poverty.
December 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
cunexttuesday.wtf
When do those of us on payments who have been yelling about this being unlawful for years get paid for our work?
jeremypoxon.bsky.social Jeremy Poxon @jeremypoxon.bsky.social · 7h
Significant statement from the Ombudsman on payment suspensions - the system is unfairly and unlawfully punishing people who are "below the poverty line" and are "unlikely to find ongoing employment no matter how hard they try to comply with the requirements placed upon them"
This suggests a large percentage of job seekers have their payments inappropriately suspended, given they had reasonable excuses for not complying with their mutual obligation failures. We discuss this issue further in respect to the role of providers in the TCF, however, this percentage lends weight to the argument that job seekers in the Penalty Zone should not be immediately suspended from income support. The need for proper explanation and information regarding decisions is even more important in the Penalty Zone, given the financial pressure on job seekers who face suspension and penalties. There is an inherent danger in applying what is effectively a default process that automatically shuts down a job seeker’s receipt of vitally needed income support. This is compounded for job seekers in a vulnerable state who could have difficulty responding in a timely manner in their own interests or who for whatever reason may not have received the notification. As noted in our first report on the TCF, job seeker payments are below the poverty line, so recipients are very vulnerable. It is also likely that the current state of the employment market and the current unemployment rate together mean that many job seekers are unlikely to find ongoing employment no matter how hard they try to comply with the requirements placed upon them.
December 9, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
pennyallmanpayne.com
Statement on damning report into welfare 'mutual obligations'👇

greens.org.au/news/media-r...

Today’s report confirms what any JobSeeker already knows: the ‘mutual obligations’ system is pointless, cruel, and rather than helping people, treats people on income support as disposable
Labor must end their unlawful JobSeeker obligations system after another damning report reveals decisions made without oversight or accountability | The Australian Greens
Today’s second damning report from the Commonwealth Ombudsman into the administration of the “mutual obligations
greens.org.au
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
pennyallmanpayne.com
For too long, dodgy companies like Sarina Russo and APM have cashed in millions of dollars on the outsourcing of massive parts of our welfare system.
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
pennyallmanpayne.com
Private job agencies take food off the table of thousands of JobSeekers with almost no accountability, transparency or oversight, and meanwhile Labor doesn’t seem to care if the system is even lawful.
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
pennyallmanpayne.com
Nothing in this report will fix the rotten soul of this system, which grants dodgy private job agencies extraordinary power over people’s lives with no oversight or accountability. The mutual obligations system needs to be abolished.
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
pennyallmanpayne.com
We can’t keep punishing people for not finding jobs which don’t actually exist.
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
awkword.bsky.social
SOON, IT MAY BE ILLEGAL TO HAVE A… ZINE

Daniel “Des” Sanchez is facing *federal charges* for “transporting a box that contained ‘Antifa materials’”:

theintercept.com/2025/11/23/p...

So whatever you do, don’t download and distribute these:

drive.google.com/drive/mobile...
December 9, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
nirebryce.breadthcharge.net
these camps in the US aren't concentration camps, they're something different and in ways worse, if a CIA blacksite was also Abu Ghraib, and the guards were doing it to pass the time.
Individuals detained at “Alligator Alcatraz” are shackled any time they are removed from the cages, including to eat or receive medical care.245 The use of shackles on everyone, including during mealtimes and medical care, amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and may amount to torture. According to the men interviewed by Amnesty International, individuals detained at “Alligator Alcatraz” may face arbitrary disciplinary action and punishment.246 According to the Nelson Mandela Rules, disciplinary action must be necessary and proportionate, and sanctioned individuals must be granted the opportunity to defend themselves against allegations.247 Moreover, disciplinary measures should only be used as a last resort. Only conduct likely to constitute a threat to good order, safety or security may be defined as a disciplinary offence.248 The four men interviewed by Amnesty International, as well as Florida-based organizations, told the organization about the ‘box’, described as a 2x2 foot cage-like structure located outside in the yard of “Alligator Alcatraz” where individuals are sent for punishment.249 Individuals are put in the ‘box’, their hands are shackled and their feet are attached to restraints on the ground. They are unable to sit down or move positions, and are forced to remain there for hours in the heat with hardly any water or protection from the sun, heat and insects.250 According to a man seeking safety, “People ended up in the ‘box’ just for asking the guards for anything. I saw a guy who was put in it for an entire day.”251 240 I
December 9, 2025 at 3:42 AM
binchicken9000.bsky.social
So I hear that if you have too many unsuccessful attempts to verify your age by face scan, you have to wait an hour till you can try again.
December 9, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
phonakins.com
"Payment suspensions cause immeasurable damage to our lives, destabilising people when we are already struggling to survive. This scandal must end, not when the government decides what tweaks it would like to make to this system, but now." @antipovertycentre.org

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
11m ago 13.50 AEDT Cait Kelly Cait Kelly Peak welfare groups say report highlights failures across employment system Australia’s peak welfare groups have responded to the ombudsman’s report on jobseekers, highlighting the failures across Australia’s employment system. ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said: This report demonstrates widespread harmful action against low-income people and complete lack of oversight of private providers, alongside the thousands of illegal payment cancellations already identified. In a system that hands employment service providers $1.2bn a year, the lack of robust independent oversight is unacceptable. Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and JobSeeker recipient Jay Coonan called for the immediate pause of suspensions: Payment suspensions cause immeasurable damage to our lives, destabilising people when we are already struggling to survive. This scandal must end, not when the government decides what tweaks it would like to make to this system, but now. And executive director Kasy Chambers said the report shows that for-profit employment service providers and the compliance system are hurting the people who rely on them: The Ombudsman has found that providers are making incorrect decisions, keeping poor records, and giving people unclear or misleading information about their payments. These failures are leading to unfair suspensions and penalties for people on the lowest incomes. Even when suspensions are overturned, the stress and hardship that a person faces after having their income taken away is irreversible.
December 9, 2025 at 3:02 AM
binchicken9000.bsky.social
Saying "due to laws in your region" kinda implies Bluesky was bound by those laws, but they're being super tricksy with their words here
floppablecat.bsky.social 𐕣 flop 𐕣 @floppablecat.bsky.social · 7h
"Due to laws in your region," the message says. Since Bluesky isn't included in the ban, that's a blatant lie :)
December 9, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
clancyny.bsky.social
Australia and Aotearoa, UK and various U.S. states, here are ways to get around age assurance on Bluesky.
December 8, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
jcsalterego.bsky.social
ok kudos to the team. i thought this was pretty streamlined
age assurance screenshot: It looks like you haven't added your birthdate. You must provide an accurate date of birth to use Bluesky. Two buttons: - Yes, I am 38 - No, I don't belong here
December 8, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
yourdadloves.me
This is the same dude who's party just made it legal to jail underage kids for life for violent crime because it's 'getting that bad' in Melbourne.

Where the fuck are they meant to be hanging out, mate? Pick a lane.
smhaustralia.nzcow.com The Sydney Morning Herald (unofficial) @smhaustralia.nzcow.com · 8h
📢 Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is encouraging children to catch up face-to-face ahead of the under-16s social media ban.
PM Albanese delivers message to kids ahead of social media ban
www.smh.com.au
December 9, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
cameronwilson.bsky.social
Bluesky will comply with Australia's teen social media ban, according to an update that it put out today.

Although the company wasn't listed as one of the 10 companies assessed as definitely being in the ban, Australia's law is supposed to apply to all social media platforms
December 9, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
joshtaylor.bsky.social
Was wondering if this was re other codes for adult content but BlueSky's post here makes clear it is a response to the social media ban. bsky.social/about/blog/0...
December 9, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
joshtaylor.bsky.social
BlueSky had been assessed by eSafety as "very low risk" in the social media ban due to there being around 50,000 Australian users, and very few young people.

But ultimately it is up to platforms to determine if they need to comply, and eSafety is mindful teens may migrate to new places.
December 9, 2025 at 1:17 AM
binchicken9000.bsky.social
“Every young person in Queensland is entitled to receive medical care without political interference,” the letter said.

“Denying care is not a neutral act – doing nothing is not harm-free.”
alastairlawrie.bsky.social Alastair Lawrie @alastairlawrie.bsky.social · 10h
“Queensland now stands alone as the only state removing this vital support from young people.”

“A decision that defies expert medical consensus, global guidelines, community expectations and the government’s own human rights obligations.” #aushealth #qldpol
qnews.com.au/142-medical-...
142 medical professionals call for QLD trans healthcare to be restored
QNews LGBTIQA+ News
qnews.com.au
December 9, 2025 at 1:15 AM
binchicken9000.bsky.social
I mean, the one demographic who probably do need more protein is post-menopausal women, so..
December 9, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Bin Chicken
rantlaw.bsky.social
How they do not understand how bad it looks to say something like, "Spending on the NDIS is out of control. We need to tighten the rules. I will leave that to my junior minister for the details while I fly to New York for a spot of shopping."
December 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM