DisillusionedScot

I'm still another year and a bit away from citizenship. Just got this email from Murdoch Uni: Thank you for contacting Murdoch University. There is no fee assistance or payment plans for permanent residents. All fees must be payed upfront. Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us. Regards, The Student Centre Team. There goes that dream

Ali, hi. Yep done all that. Employments guy is useless. Fed up doing courses that lead nowhere. Spoke to Peel MH just two days ago, they're an acute service and quote, 'can do nothing to help'. Actually the psyche there was the one who suggested Uni.

Hi, yeah my name is down for Woolies, Coles and Bunnings but they seem more picky than I had imagined. I have been to the consulate in Perth and could get an emergency passport, but I guess Im frightened about what would happen at the other end. I'd have nowhere to go. I don't think you're right about my depression contributing I have to say. It is what it is really. I attend my employment consultant every week, I have alerts set up on all the major job sites which come through daily. And I have even had the occasional interview. I do hear what you're saying about the debt but I figured it would be a while before I earned enough to start paying it back, so was more interested in just doing something that im interested in and would help. My housemate works in Woolies and even she can't get me in. Maybe I should just accept that my working life is actually over and I'll never have anything more than benefits? I've been trying for almost three years and just can't get anyone to take me on. I'm out of ideas now if im honest, seems like I can't even do anything to help myself out of this mess :-/

Does anyone have any experience of getting into Uni as a permanent resident? I've got no money for fees, surely there must be a way to do it. I need to go full time.

Hmmm, social housing. I did ask about it. As a single male I would be put on the waiting list. The current wait for a single male is approx....20 years. I'll be dead before I get a house. Last year I was homeless and slept in an old car with my old dog for a while, not good. I would post another thread but the last time I did that I don't think people appreciated it so I'll pass, reluctantly. Besides, what would I do? All I want to do is to go to Uni and make a life for myself.

I can't get into voluntary work doing what I used to do because the various services take their volunteers from the NDRI counselling course. I tried to get on to the counselling course but demand is such that it appears to be booked solid until hell freezes over so that's out. I get Newstart benefit here, but if I went back to the UK I'd be barred. I looked into this and contacted Glasgow Social Work who's advice was, 'stay where you are'. I'm really rotting away here. I'm living in a box room with no hope. If I can't get into Uni then, well, I don't see any other solution. :-(

Yep. I can't even get voluntary work doing what I used to do. Tried, but they won't have me. I can't get back to the UK: passport expired, no money, barred from benefits for six months and I'd have nowhere to stay. I couldn't even get into a homeless shelter because you have to have a local connection to the area and I no longer have any - no family left. So, I'm stuck here, no job, no prospects and I can't even try to better myself because I'm not rich enough to get into Uni. I'm kinda resigned to Uni not happening now. If there's no way in, there's no way in. As to what to do, phew, no idea. Actually, Uni was my last idea. Honestly, I'm pretty scared. I've got no savings left, no pension either. If I can't do something, or at least be working towards something, and soon, I'm going to be in a fairly bad place. Hmmmm, lost for ideas now. :eek:

I hear you Melza but I could start my own practice . I know that I have no chance of being employed by anyone (I do try, had an interview only a few weeks ago). It would allow me to do something I'm genuinely interested in and at the very least give me an identity. I can't stay in this room just decaying any longer :-(

Melza, I appreciate what you're saying but a. I don't have a car and b. I can't do physical work any more. I had a small heart attack last year and I have a number of other health problems that effectively mean my days of physical labour are well and truly over. Right now I can just about make it to Woolies and back (maybe a couple of hundred metres). I've never worked in a bar in my life and I don't have an RSA. And I'm teetotal so not an ideal candidate for that. I'm nearly 50, I have no savings, no pension, no car and I'm living in a box room, I suffer from high BP, differential arterial weakness on the right side, I have partial kidney failure and I have major depression for which I'm on a lot of medication and I've been diagnosed with BPD. On top of all that none of my qualifications or experience are recognised in Australia. I can't even get volunteer work doing what I used to do. I need to get back to Uni to get a qualification that's going to allow me to make a career. No one (in their right mind) would employ me, I wouldn't employ me! Without that qualification that I know I can do I'm pretty much stuffed. I'm effectively rotting away here. I see no one other than my house mate from day to day, week to week, this is a living death.

Ok, so I take it the bottom line here is there's no way into Uni for me. Last call, anyone got any ideas as to how I can get loans to pay the fees? Anyone?

Sorting rubbish isnt going to happen. I live in secret harbour the company is in Perth. I'd spend more on travel than I'd probably earn. I assume you aussie nephew has a degree in electrical engineering with CAD? If I had that would I be unemployed? No. I sure wouldn't. Anyway this is ofg6 topic. I need to find a way into Uni. It's the only way I can get qualified. I've tried to get a job for nearly three years now and no one will take me on. I'm nearly 50 so options are very limited.

Hi Ali, I see an employment counsellor from Rocky Bay employment services each week, but tbh, it's a complete waste of time. They offer nothing. It was the same when I was in Melbourne (they persuaded me to do the TAE course because they had an employer interested), the truth was it was a quick way for them to record a result and there was no employer interest at the end of it. The only thing I've been offered is sorting rubbish. Seriously. I've looked into going back to Scotland but I'm barred from benefits for six months and I no longer have any local connections so I'd literally be be out on the streets. Not got money to go back now anyway (ex partner took everything last year and has now gone back to the UK). No relatives there either. And my passport has expired (but not my visa). Yeah, caught between a rock and a hard place. Going back to Uni would have at least kept me occupied and may even have led to some sort of career at the end of it. Just can't get a break. :unsure:

Hi Sammy, I've just done a Cert IV TAE40110 (Training and Assessment). I already have two degrees from the UK (which aren't recognised here). I have an extensive background in therapy and counselling (again not recognised here), so, I wanted to do the Psychology course at Murdoch: http://www.murdoch.edu.au/Courses/Social-and-Developmental-Psychology/ Really don't want to do any more TAFE courses as they're not doing me any good - got no 'currency' in anything. I need the degree course in order to be recognised by the psychology council, without that I'm, well, stuffed really. My age is catching up on me *fast* hence the need to get back to Uni full time. I'm still a long way from citizenship so that's no help. Pretty grim situation really.

Thanks Sammy, but no, I'm not eligible for Citizenship. Part time study isn't an option (I need this qualification as quick as possible). I've emailed Murdoch but all they're saying is that fees have to be paid up front. At this point I couldn't even afford one unit (or even a tenth of one unit!). I can't even afford the TISC fee. I've been trying to get work in Aus since Jan 2012 but I'm not employable. Going back to Uni was my last hope really. Gutted :-( Just doesn't seem right.

Damn. Even domestic fees would be a lot. I don't have time to do a part time degree. Anything more than about 50c rules me out! Well, guess that means I won't be going to Uni then. Dammit. Edit: I've just looked at the fee calculator on the Murdoch Uni site. Am I imagining things or would it actually cost me at least $6.5K per annum even paying domestic rate fees? Surely there must be some financial help available. I wouldn't be able to claim Newstart because I'd be at Uni more than 15 hours a week, so I'd need to be able to get Austudy (which I assume I would be entitled to???). I think I might be looking at going back to the UK at this rate as this was really my last hope. Does anyone have any ideas as to ways around this?

Hi there guys. Just wondering if anyone can shed light on what financial assistance might be available if I wanted to return to study at University? I'm a 176 visa holder. When I looked on the study assist site it seems to be saying that I would need to pay all my fees up front - presumably that could be $0000s. Here's the quote: "New Zealand citizens and permanent visa holders enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place must pay their student contribution upfront to their provider by the census date. If their student contribution amount is left unpaid after the census date then a provider must cancel a student’s Commonwealth supported place." I'm confused. Can anyone shed light on what might be available? I'm on Newstart and got no savings. Cheers Alan

Anyone know of a removal company in Melbourne that can do a small move to Secret Harbour outside Perth this Friday who won't a. Trash my stuff and b. Change the price with 3 days to go. Cheers. [emoji20]

Thank you so much. Appreciated.

Hi Melza, I her what you're saying but I can't go back now. Firstly my passport has expired, secondly there's the cost (got no one back home who could help me with that. No family left), and then I have to ask myself, 'what would I be going back to?' I'd get no benefits for six months and all I would have to look forward to is a homeless shelter for single men. Honestly, I wouldn't survive that. I think things are fairly low now and I know I'm just wandering from place to place but I'm lost, just totally lost. Alan

Hi folk, just an update: I've been kinda wandering about just to keep out of the house at night for the last few weeks - Pakenham to Beaconsfield and back took five hours and was probably a bit much with hindsight - anyway, I finish my TAFE course this Thursday which is my deadline to be out of this nightmare. I know I'm not going to get work in VIC now - I've got the Cert IV but no currency in anything here - so, I can't really think of anything else to do except to get on a plane and go back to WA. I know the job prospects in sleepy Secret Harbour are basically non-existent but at least I'll have a roof over my head (it's my old house-share and the room is still available), and I'll be safe. I've worked out that I'll have about $75 a month, roughly, to live off after I've paid my rent/bills etc, but that I guess is what I'll just have to live with. I've sold all my photography gear for a pittance but at least it'll get me back there. I'm almost down to the shirt on my back, well, a couple of suitcases. Yep, all the dreams and hopes have gone, it's been a long road from sitting in the board room of one of Scotland's largest retailers to a day bed in Secret Harbour. Not a great way to end ones days :-( Cheers guys. Alan

Honestly, if there was any way I could force myself through this I would. She wants me out of the house like every time she looks at me. It's just absolute abuse. I'm not allowed to use my computer, my tablet or my phone in her presence. I'm accused of being on FaceBook when she isn't around (what's it got to do with her???), apart from this forum FB is my only contact with Scotland and the outside world. If I don't compliment her on how good her cooking is (even when I'm eating my own food!) I'm told I'm inconsiderate and reminded constantly of what a horrible person I am. I don't think I am tbh. Anyone live near Pakenham/Berwick/Officer who would rent out a spare room for say two months? Just till I get through this course and then I can think about my next move. Pleeeeaaaseeeeeeeee :-(

Hi, I'm sitting in a back room. Feel absolutely abused. I told her this afternoon that I need to come off my meds and onto a new set. She was saying shed5 support me. Now tonight because I won't 'do what she wants' she's back to telling me she wants me out. She's getting more and more aggressive. I feel like this is some sort of psychological torture. Got pains in my chest again, probably stress . Can't stop crying. Somehow got to get away from here.

Hi, I get $126 a fortnight for rent assistance which is the maximum I can get. I don't have any savings left to pay for a bond/deposit and got no transport either. I've been getting the silent treatment all night tonight, Feel really dreadful. :-( Alan

Hi there guys, well, was at the doctor the other day to discuss my medication (been on anti-depressants for a long time, but it's reactive not full on). Anyway, I've got a referral to a local psychologist to try a non-chemical approach to my situation. It was my suggestion. I guess a lot of folk who've read this thread will understand that most people would be down after my experiences and especially after losing Max. My GPs prescription: why haven't you got another dog! Of-course I had to tell him that I'm not in a stable home situation. Sadly. So, six weeks to go to finish TAFE. I so want to get out of this place I'm in. Spent last Saturday night in the local park :-( Alan

Thanks, fifi, really appreciate your words. I'm not really sure how I've managed to keep going. Life is so much more difficult without Max, doesn't feel like there's much (anything) for me to hang on for now. Really tired of being used. Anyway, thanks for standing by me, muchly appreciated. Alan