Doug wonders if it is legal to claim two pensions while living overseas.
Q. Doug
Is it possible to get two pensions? If someone resides in Australia, receives a pension and would like to move back to their original country where there are no social security arrangements between the two countries, would it be possible to keep the Australian pension and receive the minimum support income pension from that other country?
A. It is possible to receive two pensions, but it is not possible to receive more than the full amount of the Age Pension in Australia, which I think is what you are hinting at.
This is because you may be confusing the social security arrangements between two countries as the right to report your income from all sources.
You need to report all your income to Centrelink when you are living overseas, just as you do when you are living in Australia. A social security arrangement does not exist for the two countries to communicate your financial situation, that responsibility still rests with you.
Centrelink will assess as income the pension you receive from the country where you choose to reside. And if this takes you over the income limit, your pension will be reduced by 50 cents for every dollar you exceed the limit.
For example, the current limit for couples combined is $336 per fortnight and for singles up to $190 per fortnight.
When you advise Centrelink of your income and assets from overseas, it will convert the value into Australian dollars. This means that there could be some fluctuation in the value of your payment because of the exchange rate.
Centrelink uses the buying rate from the Commonwealth Bank as the exchange rate for most currencies. For other currencies it uses the rates from other banks.
Centrelink will update your income details on the first of each month and apply this rate of income to your Age Pension payment.
It’s a good idea to register for a Centrelink online account through myGov before you leave Australia. That way you can access your letters and other services online while living overseas.
Do you draw two pensions? Why not share your experience in the comments section below?
Also read: Centrelink Q&A: When can I apply for the Age Pension
I reported my income from another country and got penalized with the so-called equalization. My buddy who has a middle-European pension, didn’t report and gets both.
I wonder who the idiot is? I certainly know I work a lot harder to make ends meet than he does.
I realize he is choosing not to declare, but it seems Centrelink are so busy making sure I don’t get 50c more than I am entitled to under their rules, that others are totally ignored. The NZ system where everyone gets the pension and you pay tax over a certain income which includes the AP is much fairer and interesting, requires a lot less staff per 100,000 population to administer than our model. Hmm. What is even more important, is it doesn’t impinge on those who want to do some work and earn extra!
Our government wants to help with the employment problem here in Australia, but makes a token gesture of allowing us to work. Wake up people. Lies are lies, no matter how they are dressed.
Surely it is unfair for people choosing to live in another country , to also get a pension from Australia, while us who live here are unable to get enough pension to live on.
It’s not unfair at all. Why should the government dictate where you can live after working hard for 50 plus years and paying taxing all that time. Just remember there are a lot of people in Australia drawing the OAP and a small pension from oversea. NZ is one example. Would you deny them of the overseas pension if drawing an Australian pension whilst living in Australia.
There are rules in place already that will qualify if you are entitled to the OAP overseas and how much.
I receive a pension from the UK and from Australia and have declared the UK amount. The reason the UK pension is not indexed is because if they increased it Centrelink reduce the Australian pension accordingly. The reason I get a UK pension is because I worked for 10 years before emigrating to Australia and contributed during those ten years.
We had to apply to Centrelink & they arranged NZ to pay a part pension based on years worked there…the Oz portion goes up & down all the time due to current interest rates. NZ don’t let you apply direct….it annoys me that there are no checks & balances with some countries so dome dishonest people knowingly take 2 full pensions, I hope karma gets them in the end.