Hi - my mum said the same thing to me - while other people may get retrenched or whatever, the government are not going to cut you off.

I applied for four places and was offered the one I'm in after about five weeks of looking. I put a letter with mine outlining what I was entitiled to from centrelink (they later asked for a statement from CL) that I had lived in the area for my whole life, I had a child in school nearby and worked and went to Uni nearby. To give me ties to the area and to show my stability.

I thought I would be looking for 6 months or more and my ex MIL was our landlord, so I had to put her name on application forms.

This was also the first time I have rented. I've been here almost 12 months and got a rent increase starting in January ... of $11 a week - I was so relieved it wasn't more.

good luck !