Travelling overseas? Here’s what you need to do about Centrelink payments

Travelling is one of the great joys of retirement.

No job to return to, no kids to pay for and you can take as long as you like.

If you are on Centrelink payments or qualify for a concession card, however, before you wave goodbye to your normal life, there are a few things you need to tick off your list.

Centrelink recently issued a warning about its requirements for customers travelling overseas.

“There are rules covering how travelling outside Australia may affect your payment or concession card,” Centrelink said.

“These depend on the payment or concession card you get.”

“When you leave Australia, we may adjust or stop your payment or concession card based on these rules.”

So what are the rules?

Generally, for the same payments, you must meet the same qualifications while overseas. 

The payments affected by overseas travel for older Australians include the Age Pension, Pension Supplement, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, Carer Allowance, Carer Payment, Pension Supplement, Pensioner Concession Card and Utilities Allowance. If you receive any of these benefits, you must establish a few things before you travel.

First up though, and most importantly, you must inform Centrelink of your travel plans. You will need to set up a myGov account if you haven’t already done so, and link it to your Centrelink account. 

You can get started with this Centrelink guide here.

You can only add one trip at a time to your online account, and it may affect your payment if you don’t provide a return date. 

If you struggle with tech or need some extra help you can also call the Older Australians Line on 132 300 or visit a Centrelink centre.

And if you think you can sneak out of the country, well, Big Brother is well and truly watching you. The federal immigration services will alert Centrelink when you leave the country and when you return.  

So what’s next? 

If you are on the Age Pension and are travelling overseas, you must tell Centrelink if you:

• are going to live in another country
• will be away for more than six weeks
• get the Age Pension under a social security agreement with another country
• are leaving Australia within two years after coming back to live and started getting Age Pension since then
• or your partner are employed.

To continue to receive your payment while out of Australia you must still meet the qualification rules at all times. This includes informing Centrelink of any income.

And don’t believe in out of sight, out of mind. If Centrelink tries to contact you while you are overseas and you don’t reply, your payments may be stopped. 

According to Centrelink, your payments can continue while you’re outside Australia if you intend to be away for:

• less than 12 months, and you’ll be paid every two weeks into your Australian bank account
• more than 12 months, and you’ll be paid every four weeks into your Australian or overseas bank account.

How you will get paid

Depending on which country you are visiting, if you are using an overseas bank account, your payment will either be in the local currency or US dollars. 

You can find the international banking form notification here. 

You’re having a lovely holiday so you stay a few more weeks, but notice your payments have stopped? You may be in for a bureaucratic nightmare. Centrelink may stop your payments, and unless you have a good reason for overstaying, such as a natural disaster or medical emergency, you will have to return to Australia to get them restarted. 

However, Centrelink may also be able to extend your payment if you’re both:

• in a country with which Australia has an international social security agreement
• getting Disability Support Pension, Parenting Payment single if widowed, or Carer Payment if caring for a pensioner partner.

As mentioned above, you won’t need to contact Centrelink when you return unless:

• your payments have stopped
• you are returning to Australia after living abroad
• you have not provided evidence of the reasons for your travel. 

One again, don’t muck around, Centrelink may cut your payments off if these requirements aren’t met. You can apply for payments again if you have been cut off, but you may have to wait weeks, if not months, for them to be reinstated.

How much will you get paid?

If you are living overseas your payments may change as you lose some supplements and, frankly, the list is too long to cover. For the full description of all the payments for the Age Pension while overseas visit here. 

Please be aware that these rates of payment and asset and income levels will probably change when the pension is indexed in September and March. 

If you have a question or need help with any of the above while you are overseas, you can contact Centrelink through the myGov app or the overseas help lines here.

Have you travelled overseas while receiving a Centrelink benefit? Why not share your experience in the comments section below?

Also read: How to pay your tax if you are on Centrelink payments