The Gold Card Arrived - What Can Go Wrong?

I spent a day working in a school, with a 24-year old teacher who intrepidly managed a "teacher-led innovation fund" project within her school.  In my role, I supported the teachers involved in integrating a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) approach in their classrooms by observing lessons, making suggestions, asking them to reflect on their learnings, question the very core of their reasons for education, and providing relevant readings for their learning.
The project is coming to a close and so we spent the day analysing data, discussing cause and effect, and writing a report for the ministry about "scanning the school ecosystem" and "using spirals of inquiry as a framework to investigate methods for pedagogical enhancement."  It was another satisfying day in my professional capacity as an educational facilitator.
And then I went home.  In the mail was letter from the government, containing the hallowed gold card - my reward for reaching the esteemed retirement age.
There is a nice little flier about the Super Seniors website, which actually looks quite useful because there are advocates for 'positive ageing' on the site, who "challenge common assumptions about aging".  Sounds good so far.

But then, things go downhill.  There is a dreadful brochure "Keep Going For Gold" - a great start with a vibrant-looking woman on the front, but inside the brochure it tells me things which you could never imagine, having reached this venerable age, and yes, I am being sarcastic.
Eating Well.  Did you realise that you should eat a variety of foods, including vegetables and fruit, bread and cereals, milk and low-fat proteins?  And you should watch your fat, sugar and salt intake? Restrict alcohol?
Staying Active.  Who would have thought that leading an active lifestyle can keep you healthy and that exercise and fresh air would have positive effects for me?
Looking After Your Health.  Apparently, I should also listen to my body because eyesight and hearing can deteriorate as I age, and also some medicines have side effects.  Our health is at greater risk as we age. Did you know?
Being Safe at Home. The icing on this cake is also that I should now improve the lighting in my house, install handrails, stick down mats, and tidy away electric cords.  And don't forget to WEAR SENSIBLE SHOES!
So, if I didn't feel old after my day in a professionally rewarding environment, I certainly do now.  Is this when people start treating you like an idiot?  I have already suffered the smug "can I help you, dear?" from assistants in shops.  No wonder old people become grumpy! 

Excuse me from writing any more, I have to go and throw out all my heels.

Gold Card Approaching - How To Make An Application

When "husband" became a pensioner he did it the old-fashioned way. He visited the WINZ offices and they strongly urged his wife to accompany him because it would be a lot easier for her when she applies if they "gathered her details at the same time". Well, three years down the track, now it is my turn. Behold "you can apply online" said the website, if your birthday is within the next 12 weeks.



Excellent, thought I, and they already have all my information, so it will be a lot easier!

Well, first of all you have to apply for a MSD number and you can only do that by ringing some person up and they give you a number so you can log in.

Well, once that barrier is crossed you now have a MSD number and you can complete your online application. It will be easy! HUH! Well half an hour later after supplying details of what I ate for dinner last night and what my favourite colour is, the application is complete, or so they tell me.

What they don't tell me is that I still have to gather supporting documentation and take it into a WINZ office. But, me being a consientious form-filler-inner, after a few weeks when I hear nothing back, I go back in to my MSD number and it tells me on my page that there is a next step. It is showing up on my application that I have a current application that has to be completed. Oh? Okay, maybe I missed something here.




Right, well let's click on the link (not that it tells you it is a link but I am a digital technology facilitator so I can work out that the blue bit is an active link) and, lo and behold, I have to gather supporting documentation and take it into my local WINZ office. Okay, but don't they remember all that other info that I told them last time? NO, they don't. I have to visit the office. Okay, I gather more information about who pays me and when I last had fibre for breakfast, and whom I ate breakfast alongside last time. I gather my supporting documentation (3 documents supporting aforesaid information) and take it to the local office.




I submit the documents to the local office and am told it will now all be alright. (Soothing sounds and soft music). She's scanned them, she says, and it is showing up on her computer, and she has referred it on to "Maria" whom I dealt with last time. Last time? But there wasn't a "last time!" I applied online! Maybe Maria is who my husband dealt with three years ago? Just let it go, Leigh......

Right, relax, it will all happen. Check in a week later to see how my MSD number is doing. WHAT? I have an application to complete? Surely, I completed that after last time?



But no! I have an application to complete! What next then, what else do I have to do? Oh, I see, "gather supporting documentation."



Because that is what it says. Yep, I have read and agreed to obligations, but, apparently, I have not completed the application because gathering supporting documentation is not ticked. But wait, there is a line "to complete your application, you need to complete the following steps" and also "Please contact us if you have any concerns". Okay, I will ring because surely it should tell me that I have already gathered the documentation?

So let's ring the contact number. Luckily, it is open until 6pm, and, there is only a 12 minute wait period until they answer, during which they advise me periodically to go to the website to find out whatever I need to know. Just have your MSD number and you can have access to wonderous information about your benefit. Yeah right.

So, a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (no, I could not see her) voice emanates from the phone. I try to explain the problem but she just talks over me.

• "Wait," I say, "can you just listen to what I am asking? It says online that I have yet to complete my application." 
• "Do you have a reference number from your application?" she says. 
• "Yes, I say, my reference number is ...... " 
• "Oh I won't be able to see that," she says. "But have you gathered the documentation?" she says. 
• "Listen to me," I say... (repeat first line) "and I have gathered and delivered my documentation but it still tells me I have not completed my application". 
• "Oh well just delete that," she says. 
• "It is on the website when I sign in, I can't delete it," I say. 
• "Well, I can see that you have gathered the documentation, and it has been scanned in" she says after a few moments. 
• "Oh good, I say, you never said that before, but, nevermind, well, why is it still telling me that I need to complete the application?" 
• "I don't know why," she says. 
• "Are you telling me that online application website is not working properly?" I ask. 
• "Oh, I can see it is all complete," she says. 
• "But I can't," I say. 
• "Well I don't know why," she says. 
• "Okay, I will go into the WINZ office again tomorrow to find out" I say. 
• "Alright, goodnight" she says. 

I want to scream about the new and efficient system on online application but my husband reads from the website " If you're under 65 your application won't be processed until the week of your 65th birthday." So maybe that means that your application is not complete, rather than me having to complete it (which is what the website says).




I can see I am going to enjoy being a pensioner. A modern online system that still requires you to

• phone in, to get a number 
• visit an office to supply supporting documentation 
• ring in to find out what has happened to your online documentation because it does not show on your MSD page. 
• complete an online application that you have already completed 
• ring the help desk that is no help.