The emails are heart-breaking. People, young and old, responding to the story of Julia Gilchrist, a successful young woman who has had trouble holding down a job because she is profoundly deaf, but has been told she is “not disabled enough” by Centrelink to qualify for disability support.

There is the mother fielding job application phone calls for a deaf son who was made redundant a month ago. So far ten companies have responded to his resume.

Julia Glichrist: Difficulty keeping a job due to deafness, but “not disabled enough" to qualify for disability support. Credit:Brendan Esposito

“But as soon as I mention [he] is hearing impaired they do not wish to go to the next level,” she writes.

Another woman, 50, had worked for 30 years in data entry before being made redundant. She too is deaf, and is at the mercy of a Centrelink job provider who cannot find her work.