A Tallangatta resident employed in Albury has been forced to seek Centrelink benefits for the first time in her life after her hopes of returning to work were dashed by more confusion surrounding the NSW border permit.
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Leeanne Hillas has been unable to travel to Albury for her job at Lighting Bonanza in the past fortnight due to Tallangatta being excluded from the border bubble.
However, Friday morning's announcement from the NSW government revealed the town was back in, but only for critical workers.
Ms Hillas met with clients in Wodonga on Friday morning and went straight to Service NSW's pop-up office at The Cube to try her luck, only be be told her situation hasn't changed.
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"It's been hard on my mental health. I've never struggled with that in my entire life but I've had days where I wonder what I can do," she said.
"The only days I can do something are when they need someone to see clients in Wodonga because they can't come over and do lighting selections for new houses.
"I've been angry, I've been sad, I've said everything under the sun, but I can't do it anymore. I've just got to get on with life as it is.
"I can't be angry, I can't do anything else about it.
"If we knew sooner I would have tried to move to Wodonga or Albury to live, but I can't."
She's also called for Centrelink to have temporary service set up in Wodonga to cater for members of the community who may not have the means of accessing assistance online or over the phone.
"There would be a lot of older people who don't have a computer or need people to help them do Centrelink stuff.
"I'm sure there's Centrelink staff who live in Wodonga.
"I don't like sitting on my bum.
"You've just got to roll with the punches and hopefully after six weeks they'll lift that border."