Despite being tax-free, a crippled teacher’s pension was reduced by $500 every two weeks after winning $60,000 in the lottery.
Craig Hill, 61, routinely participates in The Lott’s Set For Life game despite having experienced considerable psychological harm as a result of being kept captive by convicts at Townsville Prison.
According to the regulations of the lottery, he won a small sum last week, and rather than receiving his money all at once, he would get $5,000 per month for a year.
His gains were not taxable income, as is the case with all gambling payments to typical bettors, according to the Australian Tax Office.
He was horrified to see that Centerlink had reduced his $820 per fortnight disability income to roughly $320 because they saw him as a “professional gambler.”
Following his request for a review, Mr. Hill alleged that Centrelink officials also reduced his wife’s carer’s allowance by about the same amount as his pension.
He told Daily Mail Australia, “I did the right thing and called Centrelink. They informed me since it was paid monthly it qualified as income from gaming.”
They said, “No, you only become a professional gambler on the day you win. So I asked whether I could deduct all of my gambling losses over the preceding 20 years.
It wouldn’t have an impact on my pension if I had won $600,000 on the Powerball, but because it is paid on a monthly basis and I am a professional gambler, it is absurd.
Mr. Hill stated Centerlink representatives advised him that although he may appeal the matter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, doing so could subject him to an audit of his whole pension for the previous seven years.
According to him, some of these departments have a culture where customers are seen as the enemy, yet without clients, they couldn’t support themselves.
Mr. Hill said that he was a very amateur gambler who only played the Powerball when the prize was large and had been purchasing Set For Life on a regular basis since 2015.
I don’t go to the casino or gamble on the horses, but I may sometimes have a little fun with the poker machines, he said.
Bill Shorten, the minister of government services, could step in, according to the former vice president of the Australian Democrats, but his office hasn’t been helpful.
In order to circumvent the problem, he also requested from The Lott that the wins be paid all at once, but he alleges that the corporation refused to do so without providing a justification.
Everyone has the ability to solve the issue, but nobody wants to, the speaker said.
Due to his employment as a prison guard, Mr. Hill was given PTSD and schizophrenia diagnoses 18 years ago, yet he was still able to continue his career as a teacher.
But since eight prisoners kept him captive and threatened to murder him, he now has acute anxiety and seldom ever leaves his Brisbane home.
He reports his intermittent home office job on a profit and loss statement that he sends to Centrelink every three months.