Claiming your Pension Overseas
Pension payments overseas
Making sure you get your pension paid while you’re overseas is vital. But do you know how much you will get while you’re overseas?
If a pension is paid under a social security agreement, the rate outside Australia is governed by that agreement. For most agreements this means a proportional pension rate applies immediately after departure.
If a pension is payable long-term while absent from Australia, it will generally be paid at a proportional rate. A proportional rate is paid based on a pensioner’s ‘Australian working life residence’. ‘Australian working life residence’ is the period of residence from age 16 to Age Pension age. A person need not have worked or paid tax during this period. All a person needs to have done is to have been an Australian resident.
A full means tested pension can be paid if a person has Australian working life residence of 25 years (300 months). A proportional pension can be paid for lesser periods. For example, the rate of pension for a man who lived in Australia for 20 years from age 50 to age 70 would be based on Australian working life residence of 15 years (180 months) from age 50 to age 65 (Age Pension age). He could be paid 181/300ths of a means tested pension outside Australia - the extra month is added to all calculations.
Below is some general information from Centrelink’s website that should be used only as a guide to what you may be entitled to when living outside of Australia. Individual circumstances will be taken into consideration and if you plan to be overseas for an extended period of time, you should contact your local Centrelink office
In certain circumstances, you can continue to get your payment if you leave Australia. If you:
· continue to meet qualifications (this means, for example, if you are on a Disability Support Pension, you remain incapacitated for work or if you get Parenting Payment Single or Carer Payment, you remain an Australian Resident, i.e. you do not leave permanently)
· are not being paid the pension under a social security agreement for which there are special rules, for example the United Kingdom agreement
· are not affected by ‘former residence’ provisions
· you can be paid the payments below:
Age Pension
You can get Age Pension for the total period of absence, however, after 26 weeks your rate may change.
Disability Support Pension
You can get Disability Support Pension for a maximum of 13 weeks.
Widow B Pension
You can get Widow B Pension for a limited period*.
Wife Pension
You can get Wife Pension for a limited period* of an absence.
Carer Payment
You can be paid Carer Payment for the first 13 weeks of ‘temporary’ absence, the person being cared for must be travelling with you.
Bereavement Allowance
You can be paid Bereavement Allowance during the entire period of qualification if you leave Australia.
*Limited Period generally means 13 weeks, except in some special circumstances.
You can also download Getting Your Australian Pension Correct.
For more information on claiming your pension while overseas, visit Centrelink.
Remember, no matter how short your absence from Australia, you need to let Centrelink know.
Our Finance section keeps you up to date with Government Tax and Stimulus packages.
Overseas Centrelink pensions
About Seniors subscribers, Ed and Lloyd are both interested to find out what is their eligibility for a Centrelink pension when living overseas.
Q. I have just read your website and now realize you must be an Australian resident to claim the aged pension - does that mean that my wife can return to Australia before her 64th birthday and live with my daughter temporarily, claim the aged pension and then return overseas abd take the pension benefits with her.
Thanks again
Lloyd
A. Good morning Lloyd,
When and if your wife decided to return to Vietnam, she would more than likely be required to give up her pension, only in certain circumstances is a pension paid to those who reside outside Australia.
You should contact Centrelink who can confirm your eligibility.
Q. I am 66 years old and receiving a single aged pension. In recent years I have done volunteer work in the poorer regions of northeast Thailand. I have come to love the area and its people and I am now considering retiring there and continuing my volunteer work on a more permanent basis. However, I would like to know if I would still receive my Australian pension. I would be returning to Australia for 2 to 3 months every year to visit my family.
Ed.
A. Good morning Ed,
There are some cases where you can receive your pension while living overseas but these are limited, as a rule, you can only receive a pension when resident in Australia.
As with most things, this does depend on your individual circumstances and you should contact your local Centrelink office to enquire how the changes in residence would affect your payments.
Overseas pensioner
Q. Terry
Can you tell me as an Australian pensioner living overseas, will I be getting the bonus Kevin Rudd announced. or is only for Australian pensioners residing in Australia.
Thanks for your help and look forward to hearing from you.
A. Terry, the bonus payment will be made to all pensioners who met the eligibility requirements when the announcement was made on Tuesday 14 October. However, if you are a self-funded retireee living overseas, you will not receive the payment. Keep an eye out for our Enewsletter on Friday which will clarify the Pension Bonus Payment Scheme.
Australian pensions overseas
Q.Graham
My position is I am 64 next birthday and have been living in Thailand for 4 years. I brought 80,000 AUD here and have been living on this money. I have money invested in Aust. and am still paying tax. I have been told to get the aged pension at 65 I would have to stay in Australia for 2 years or I would lose it if I travelled outside Australia. I phoned centrelink and was told that I could return now and get newstart and then get the pension. This seems unbelieveable that I have worked all my life in Australia and am a 5th generation Australian, also have paid taxes all my life. Centrelink also told me that they did not consider this. I consider this to be discrimination against someone who has done the right thing. My mother is still alive and my son and his children are in Adelaide. I travel home at least once a year to visit. I have emailed Centrelink but cannot get a personal response. I would be grateful for any information you can give me or any suggestions you may have.
A.We have passed your details to our Centrelink contact and asked them to respond to you direct. In the meantime, we suggest you contact National Information Centre on Retirement Investments (NICRI), who can advise the best course of action for money you have invested in this country and may also be able to advise on your pension issue.
For more information on NICRI, click here.
Age pension while overseas
Q.Alex
Hello my elderly mother (Australian living in QLD) may come to live with me for a while in the USA. Can she still receive her pension, benefits etc if she stays with me for 6 months? Can she get assistance in the cost of her travel to her location with me, she is elderly and suffers from several medical situations?
A.Answer provided by Centrelink General Manager, Hank Jongen.
In most cases, customers receiving Age Pension can continue to be paid if they spend time overseas. Depending on the period of time a person is away, their rate of payment may be affected. Australia has a social security agreement with the USA, which means people can sometimes continue to receive their payments for longer than they would otherwise. Because a range of factors affect whether you can receive Age Pension while overseas, it’s important your mother contact Centrelink about her planned trip as soon as possible. Contact Centrelink’s International Services Team on +61 3 6222 3455 for more information
Overseas pensions
Q.Heather
I am a Canadian by birth, Montreal 1948, and moved to Australia in 1975, and now an Australian citizen too. I worked in Montreal from 1966 to 1975 and would like to enquire about a canadian pension.
Can you advise who and where I should approach.
A.To find out how to apply for your Canadian pension or what you may be due, you should get in touch with Service Canada, which offers access and information to a wide range of Government of Canada programs and services. You can visit their website by clicking on the link below.
Service Canada
Q.Veronica
Hi there I was wondering if you can help me, I am 63 and I think I am old enough to get my Australian pension in May (although my husband still works so probably won’t qualify) but as I worked for a few years in the UK before coming to Australia and then returned to the UK in 1975 and worked for a short time, then I was wondering if I would eligible for a UK pension and if so how would I go about applying for it.
Any information you could send me on this matter would be much appreciated.
A. If you paid National Insurance contribution whilst working in the UK then you should qualify for a UK pension. The Pension Service in the UK have their own website which has many FAQ’s and information relating to UK pensions, this would be the best place to start. They also have contact details which should help you apply for what you are due. You can visit their website by clicking the link below.
The Pension Service
Overseas Pensions
Q. Nora: I am not sure if this question is within your ‘’portfolio’’. My husband and I, both Age Pensioners, are currently overseas, absent from Australia for a 6-month holiday visiting our families in two different countries. Before we left, we advised Centrelink of our intended absence giving exact dates to them. Now, a little over three months later, we have accidentally found out that they have suspended our pension because we are overseas. I rang Centrelink to find out why our pension was suspended and was told " That is the rule’’. No other was reason given. I then twice emailed the CEO of Centrelink, first time over a month ago, but he has not replied to my letter. I looked up the Centrelink website, and it clearly states there that an Age Pension continues while a pensioner is overseas on holidays, adding that it may reduce after 6 months. (So far we have been out of the country for only 3 1/2 months). We will need to terminate our holiday early if our pension has been suspended but I cannot get definite answers so you are just one hope I have left to get some answers at this distance.
Thank you. Nora.
A. Not knowing all your circumstances we cannot give you an exact answer. While you are right that you can holiday overseas for 26 weeks with no loss of the Aged Pension, there are various circumstances where this does not apply.
There is a special ‘overseas’ part of Centrelink you should talk to (or email) about this as that is their specialised area. The email address is or you can phone them on +61 3 6222 3455
And Nora replies
Thank you for your very prompt reply to my query. I appreciate that. It appears that it is not the pension itself which has been suspended but the Pensioner Concession card… to use this, one has to be actually living in Australia at the time. Hence, we are unable to claim a Rates Rebate from the Local City Council as our PCC has been suspended.
