Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) 101-06050000

The PCC entitles the customer and their dependants to concessions, which is funded by:

• Commonwealth, State and Local governments, and
• some private organisations

Extra concessions are available through Commonwealth, State and Local governments and private organisations.

PCCs are issued for a period of 2 years. The expiry date on a customer’s PCC is the end of the month in which the customer was born. PCCs are automatically re-issued a month before the customer's birthday every second year.

Note: Services Australia stopped sending PCC travel vouchers to Western Australian and Victorian residents from 1 January 2020 and details about reissuing travel vouchers are no longer in effect. See Public transport - state and territory.

Customers who receive the JobSeeker Payment (JSP) under the Wife Pension transitional rate are eligible for the PCC.

A PCC is automatically issued for a 2 year period to customers who:

• receive:
• a social security pension
• Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP), who were granted on or after 1 July 2006 and who have a partial capacity to work as assessed by an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)
• JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA) (Job Seeker (JSK) only) who have a partial capacity to work as assessed by an ESAt
• JSP or YA (JSK only) who is a single principal carer of a dependent child
• are aged over 55 years, when transferring to another one of these payments:
• JSP, PPP or Special Benefit (SpB), and
• have been receiving one or more of these payments (or a social security pension) for a continuous period of not less than 39 weeks ending immediately before the qualification day
• had their pension payment cancelled on 1 January 2017 because of changes to the pension assets test

To qualify for a PCC, a person must generally be in Australia and an Australian resident.

If a person is residing outside Australia, they are usually not entitled to a PCC, even if they are receiving a current social security pension.

PCCs:

• are not issued to customers who are living outside Australia, and
• cannot be issued to these customers who return to Australia temporarily

Note: a customer who is temporarily residing overseas and returns to Australia temporarily. For example, a missionary is entitled to a PCC. It is important to confirm if an absence or return is temporary in nature.

The exception to this rule is for a person who is paid under the Agreement with New Zealand (NZ) as they can receive a PCC if they are physically present in Australia even though they are not residing in Australia.

Customers who had their pension cancelled (CAN/ASS) on 1 January 2017 as a direct result of changes to the pension assets test are automatically eligible for a non-pensioner PCC:

• recipients of a non-pensioner PCC do not need to be receiving a social security pension to qualify for the card
• the card is not subject to an income assets test
• the regular PCC residence and portability provisions apply

The non-pensioner PCC replaces the non-income tested Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) and is valid from 9 October 2017. From 9 October 2017, the LIC is no longer valid. Customers who received a non-income tested Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) on 1 January 2017 can continue to use the CSHC.

Note: entitlement to the non-pensioner PCC is directly linked to a 1 January 2017 date of effect for the changes to the assets test for pensions.

Customers are not entitled to a non-pensioner PCC or non-income tested CSHC if their pensioner payment was cancelled with a date of effect of:

• 31 December 2016 or earlier, or
• 2 January 2017 or later

See Non-income tested (NOI) concession cards.

These customers may claim a LIC or CSHC and will be subject to the relevant income test requirements. For information on how a customer can claim an income tested card, see:

• Low Income Health Care Card (LIC)
• Claiming Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC)

Customers who receive their entire payment as a HEAS loan are not eligible for a PCC. A Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) or Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) can be claimed by customers in most circumstances.

To check if the customer is a HEAS-only recipient, see Home Equity Access Scheme.

The exception to this is for customers who had their pension cancelled (CAN/ASS) on 1 January 2017 as a direct result of changes to the pension assets test.

Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) - PLS-only customers:

• who are grandfathered (GRF) for the grandfathering type 2017 Rebalance Assets Cards (RAC), as per the Grandfathering Summary (GFS) screen
• are automatically eligible for a non-income tested CSHC from 1 January 2017 and a non-pensioner PCC from 9 October 2017

See Non-income tested (NOI) concession cards.

If a customer receives nil payment due to the income test and some of that income is from their (or their partner’s) employment, they:

• the customer is able to remain current at a nil rate for up to 12 consecutive fortnights
• if they otherwise still qualify for their income support payment

During an employment income nil rate period, customers (including those on Age Pension) can retain their PCC.

Customers eligible for working credits will be entitled to the PCC where the customer is in an employment income nil rate period.

If the customer is in an employment income nil rate period or extended suspension period for pension payments, PCC entitlement will be extended. Customers who have received some income support payments may also continue to be qualified for their PCC after their payment has stopped, see Extended Entitlement to Concession Cards.

To avoid any potential gaps in concession entitlement, encourage customers to claim a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) or a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) based on their circumstance.

Customers whose income support payment is cancelled following their incarceration also lose their entitlement to their PCC.

For stimulus reporting customers who are granted a pension and who are not already receiving a PCC:

• the PCC will only be issued when the customer meets the reporting requirements for the first entitlement period, and
• the pension is payable

Dependent children are included on their parents' PCC.

A young person aged under 16 years can be considered a dependent child if:

• the adult has legal responsibility for day to day care, welfare and development of the child, either alone or jointly with another person, and the child is in the adult's care, or
• the child is not a dependent child of someone else and is wholly or substantially in the adult's care, and
• they are in full time education, and
• they do not have income that exceeds the child earning limits - permissible limits. See the letter 'C' on the Rates and Thresholds page

A young person aged 16 years to 21 years of age inclusive, can be considered a dependent child if they meet all of the following:

• are wholly or substantially dependent on the PCC holder
• are not:
• receiving a social security pension or benefit, or
• a participant in a labour market program
• do not have income that exceeds the child earning limits - permissible limits. See the letter 'C' on the Rates and Thresholds page
• are undertaking full-time education at a school, college or university, and
• are not the partner of the PCC holder

Note: if a dependent child has not been automatically listed on a customer's PCC, see Dependents listed on a customer's concession card.

A PCC will not include the name of the cardholder's partner as a dependant of the cardholder if the partner does not satisfy residence requirements. The partner must meet one of the following:

• be a New Zealand citizen. The holder of the card must be in Australia receiving a social security pension or benefit solely because of the international agreement between Australia and New Zealand
• be in Australia and meet one of the following:
• an Australian resident
• a special category visa holder residing in Australia
• the holder of a qualifying visa

Customers may choose if the PCC shows their partner's name, see Preferences for concession cards.

When a customer transfers from one payment to another, and retains entitlement to the same type of concession card, a new card is not automatically issued to the customer. For example, when a customer transfers from Disability Support Pension (DSP) to Age Pension. As the customer was entitled to a PCC whilst on DSP, a new card will not be issued to the customer, unless the customer requests a new card.

Any new card issued after the transfer activity is processed, will show the primary payment that is current at the time of issue. This includes the reissued card, which is sent 1 month before the expiry date of the current card.

An exception to this is if a customer is transferring from standard pension to Blind Pension. A new card will be issued due to the physical appearance of the card being slightly different by inclusion of a tactile indicator. This is a small hold drilled in the lower left hand corner of the card.

Customers can access their digital wallet in the myGov app  or  Express Plus Centrelink app to present their concession card using their smart device. Accepting the digital card is at the discretion of the concession provider, so it is important that customers have their physical card with them.

All states and territories with rail services have automated rail travel booking systems and do not need pensioner travel vouchers. See State and territory contact details in Extra concession information.

PCCs are generally sent to the customer's postal address and show the customer's residential address. However, customers may have more than one address entered on their electronic record (for example, a term address) and so they can nominate the postal and/or display address for their card.