Dear Here to Help, As a small business owner, I interact with government. I find these interactions complex and confusing – in particular the words they use sound like a foreign language. What do their words mean? Why don’t they seem to understand my communications with them? Do you...
Dear Here to Help, I tested positive for covid a few days ago and received a letter from the NSW government, which says “this notice confirms that you were required to self-isolate from 11-01-2022 to 19-01-2022… You may leave isolation if you do not have a...
I was talking with two parents of children with disability and the subject turned to the NDIS. Parent A (let’s call her Jane) – I’m so pleased I finally got my daughter officially recognised as being on the autism spectrum and we have qualified for NDIS...
Dear Here to Help, A couple of years ago, in summer, there was a massive seaweed event on my local beach. The weather was really hot and the seaweed started rotting, attracting flies and smelling after a couple of days. The Council did nothing! We complained...
Sometimes, dealing with bureaucracy feels like you are banging your head against a brick wall. It can feel like you are swimming against a strong tide, with nowhere to go and no lifesaver in sight. In fact, most of the time, bureaucracy works well and we...
Dear Here to Help, I often wonder who in government comes up with some of the ideas that get rolled out and have such a big impact on people and their lives. I also often wonder why or how these ideas were able to go ahead...
When government comes up with ideas (called public policy), they are designed to help us do things that are generally good for society, and help discourage things that are generally bad for society. That makes sense. Well, that’s the easy bit. It’s harder to work out the...