Age Pension Eligibility Australian Permanent Resident
Age Pension Eligibility Australian Permanent Resident
Age Pension Eligibility rules include a requirement for a waiting period whilst an Australian Permanent Resident. Thus the Age Pension has a Permanent Residency Qualifying period.
Australian Social Security ensures that citizens have the financial resources for at least a frugal minimal standard of living when they cannot earn an income from work.
The Australian community is willing to support Australians who are too old to work but have no other income. However the Australian taxpayer is wary of paying Age Pensions to people who have not really been part of our community.
Hence the ‘Australian permanent residency’ requirements for Age Pension.
The ‘Australian permanent residency’ test has three parts.
1 – the Age Pension claimant must be entitled to be living permanently in Australia.
2 – the Age Pension claimant must have been a long term permanent Australian resident
3 – the Age Pension claimant must currently be living permanently in Australia.
The residency rules allow for some exemptions in special cases.
Age Pension claimant must prove entitlement to live in Australia permanently
You must satisfy Centrelink that you are entitled to live permanently in Australia. Therefore you must hold Australian citizenship or have entered Australia on a visa that allowed for you to stay indefinitely as a ‘permanent resident’.
The easy way to satisfy Centrelink that you are an Australian national is to show your current Australian Passport.
A full Birth Certificate showing that you were born in Australia could be acceptable. You might need evidence that your parents were permanent residents at that time.
But if you were born overseas and became an Australian citizen as an adult, then you could show your Australian Naturalization or Citizenship Certificate.
Permanent residents who have not acquired Australian nationality have additional challenges in proving their entitlement to permanent residency in Australia.
Minimum permanent residency period to qualify for Social Security Pensions
The next part of the permanent residency check is proof that you actually lived in Australia for ten years as a permanent resident.
You must have a permanent residency period of at least five full years in one block. Your other five years could be split across a few periods of living in Australia.
Documentation to prove that you have lived in Australia for ten years as a permanent resident must be shown to Centrelink.
A full Birth Certificate showing that you were born in Australia is a good start. Alternatively an official document granting you ‘permanent residency’ shows the date your permanent residency started.
One way to prove that you were in Australia is to show your educational certificates and employment history.
Income Tax Assessment notices are also good records that you were here paying tax as a resident.
But if you have recently arrived in Australia then you must live here for the full ten years after obtaining your ‘permanent residency’ before you can apply for an Australian Social Security Pension. Any period between your entry to Australia on a valid visa, and being granted ‘permanent residency’ cannot count towards your ten year waiting period.
Exemptions from the residency requirements are possible for some very special cases.
People who come to Australia under refugee resettlement programs are allowed some exemptions from the permanent residency requirements.
Age Pension Current Permanent Residency in Australia
The Australian community is willing to support Australians who are too old to work but have no other income. But the Australian taxpayer is unwilling to support former Australian residents who choose to live elsewhere. Thus the final step of the Age Pension residency test checks that applicants are really part of our community.
The final step in the residency test is to show that you are actually living in Australia permanently when you apply for an Age Pension.
Living permanently in a home that you own
If you live in a home that you own then you can show Centrelink your last Municipal Council Rates Notice as a ‘proof’ that you own a home. Add to your Rates Notice, a Driver Licence issued to you at that address and your last Income Tax Assessment showing that same address and Centrelink could accept that you really are here permanently.
But what if you have been working overseas and have just returned to retire in Australia. If you already own a home then you would be expected to be living in your own home by the time that you applied for an Age Pension. You could show Centrelink that the electricity bill is in your name now that you have moved back into your home.
Long term renters
If you apply for an Age Pension while you are living long term in a rental property then you could show Centrelink your lease document. Check that the named tenant is yourself or your partner. A copy of your lease and your current weekly rent amount will help you claim Rent Assistance as an Age Pensioner. A Driver Licence issued to you at that address together with your electricity bill could help Centrelink.
If you have come home to Australia permanently but do not own a home here then you need to convince Centrelink that you are here to stay. If you are seriously intending to make Australia your home then you would be renting a house or a self contained apartment with a signed lease for at least six months. Retrieving your furniture, household items and personal stuff from commercial storage is also evidence that you mean to stay long term.
Beware if you leave Australia within two years of retiring here then Centrelink could cancel your Age Pension.
Short stay accommodation only
Centrelink do not accept short term accommodation arrangements as evidence that you are living in Australia permanently. Staying with family, or ‘backpacker’ style accommodation or short term rentals is not accepted as evidence of intention to stay on Australia permanently.
Similarly, maintaining a home overseas and arriving in Australia with just a suitcase is unlikely to convince Centrelink that you are here permanently.
Living permanently in a country that has a Social Security Agreement with Australia
Former Australian permanent residents who are now living in another country that has a Social Security Agreement with Australia might be allowed to apply for an Age Pension whilst living permanently in that country.
Periods of permanent residency in the other country might also count for Australian Social Security residence. But you must have lived in Australia as a ‘permanent resident’ for some time when you were aged between sixteen years and your Age Pension Age.
You can only claim an Age Pension whilst living overseas if the country where you live has a reciprocal Social Security Agreement in force at the time you apply for an Australian Age Pension. In March 2018, Australia had Social Security agreements in force with India, some economically developed countries around the Pacific Rim and many European countries.
But the agreement with the United Kingdom (UK) ended on 1 March 2001. Other Social Security Agreements could also be terminated without warning.
Help to understand how your situation fits in the Age Pension system.
Christine at Financial Care Services writes this Age Pension Guide. She can help you to understand your Age Pension situation.
Ask Christine to help you navigate your Age Pension challenge.
Contact Christine at Christine@financialcareservices.com.au or call 03 9808 0338 to book a consultation.
Christine at Financial Care Services is experienced with Pension Applications and the many Centrelink financial means tests.
Financial Care Services helps seniors with Centrelink Pension issues. Christine at Financial Care Services could help you check if you are eligible for an Age Pension.
An estimate of your potential Age Pension amount before you apply could spare you a rejection letter from Centrelink.
Financial Care Services offers ‘personal financial factual information’ consultations to help you check your asset and income position against the Centrelink Pension means tests. Christine is also able to assist with filling in your Centrelink forms ready for you to sign. She will accompany you to a Centrelink office to lodge your Pension claim form and show your proof of identity documents.
Financial Care Services charges hourly rate fees for ‘personal financial factual information’ consultations, assistance with personal data collation, completing Centrelink forms and attendance at a Centrelink office with you.
Email Christine@financialcareservices.com.au now for the Financial Care Services Client Services Guide and Financial Care Services Age Pension Personal Data Checklist.
Disclaimer This Age Pension Guide is based on our understanding of the current Social Security provisions. Your claim for a Social Security Pension will be based on your personal situation as documented to Centrelink and the Social Security legislation and Regulations in force at that date.
Updated 23 May 2018
©2018 Financial Care Services