Mate that is all you need to do to get back on top of things, just get started. Your M8 is a part of your network and it is working already for you just with that FB message alone, don't be shy with looking for work as you are obviously wanting to do it, get it out there far and wide, get him to share your post to others and so on. These prick's at those job centers care nothing for you or your family, all they are after is numbers on the books so they can suck off the teat of the people of this country and people like yourself.
Aim for something you like doing though, even if you have to get into it at a little lower pay range, if you like doing it already then you are happy doing it, and if you like and are happy doing it, you will learn even more all the in's and out's quicker than anybody else who doesn't like doing it as well.
Sorry for the unsolicited advice once again but, If you are not happy in your job then there is no point in doing it long term for either you or your employer over the long term. Sure get something to carry you through and all that but , THINK LONG TERM.
For yourself mostly as when you give it some thought... What do you want to be doing in five ...ten....twenty years time ? Something you love doing and have a passion for? or the same old shit job you are doing today just for a living ?

And that does not mean that you have to live like a pauper to realize your dreams, whatever they are. I have personally known abject wrecks of people who are now very successful at what they do compared to where they came from, a heroin addict who regularly nodded off in the back of our car while giving them a lift here and there back in the day who all us would of thought would die by overdose is now a successful international artist and making a motza from her artwork and is clean as now, and living a jetset life style.
It is all about finding what you are meant for in this life and finding your niche in it somewhere. What you are meant for is all up to you, but finding that happy spot in what you expect from this life and what you deserve is also all up to you as well, and that is all based on a balance of what you think you deserve and what you are willing to put in to your life to get the best out of it.
And that Mate, all depends on what you think the best of life is all about ? Is it Family and Friends, love and Laughter, or Dollars and Things ?

Sorry Mate , didn't mean to get so deep, but I do think it is something you should think about as it is something I think we all need to think about, me included.

Good luck with it all @stocka, keep that network of friends working for you and don't be shy with it at all. Aussie's love a person looking for a hand up rather than a handout and you strike me as one of those looking for a hand up more than any other I have seen for a while.