Portability of Add-ons 061-01070000

Customers who are eligible for a Centrelink payment (such as Age Pension, JobSeeker Payment (JSP)) are often also eligible to additional amounts referred to as add-on payments or supplementary payments.

Add-on payments can continue during an overseas absence outside Australia, but there are many factors influencing whether add-on payments can be paid and for how long.

Payments that are considered add-ons are:

• Carer Supplement (CS)
• Child Disability Assistance Payment (CDAP)
• Energy Supplement, referred to as quarterly supplement for Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) holders
• Incentive Allowance (IA)
• Pension Supplement
• Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA)
• Quarterly supplement
• Remote Area Allowance (RAA)
• Rent Assistance (RA)
• Telephone Allowance (TAL)
• Utilities Allowance (UA)

• Add-on payments are generally not portable if the customer ceases to reside in Australia. Payments can only be made during temporary absences from Australia (the exceptions are outlined below)
• Carer Supplement is payable to a customer outside Australia provided they qualify for an instalment of a qualifying payment in respect of a period that includes 1 July
• Child Disability Assistance Payment (CDAP) is a one-off payment paid to a customer entitled to Carer Allowance (for a child), providing payment is made for a period that includes 1 July
• Energy Supplement paid fortnightly is payable for 6 weeks from the date of a temporary departure if the customer’s main payment is payable
• Pharmaceutical Allowance and Incentive Allowance are portable for 6 weeks, or up to 26 weeks if the primary payment is portable indefinitely. PhA and IA also remain payable if the payment continues because the customer has been granted an extension of portability
• Pension Supplement (for a temporary departure) is payable for 6 weeks from the date of departure. If the customer is still outside of Australia after 6 weeks, Pension Supplement Basic Amount will be paid indefinitely if the customer's income support payment is payable
• Pension Supplement (for a customer who has ceased residing in Australia), will be paid indefinitely as the Pension Supplement Basic Amount if the customer's income support payment is payable
• Pensioner Education Supplement is payable for 6 weeks from the date of departure if the primary payment is payable
• Quarterly supplement is payable to a Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card (CSHC) holder temporarily outside Australia if the test day falls within 6 weeks of the date of departure
• Remote Area Allowance (RAA) is payable for 8 weeks from the date the customer left the remote area, whether that is to go overseas or not. For example, if a customer leaves a remote area, spends 3 weeks with their child in Sydney and then goes overseas, RAA would be payable for 5 weeks after departure from Australia
• Rent Assistance (RA) is portable for the same period that the main payment is portable if that is portable for a limited period, generally a maximum of 6 weeks for Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance (student) for example. If the main payment continues to be payable overseas for longer than 6 weeks because of approved study, RA also remains payable for as long as the main payment continues. This will also apply if the payment continues because the customer has been granted an extension of portability for a limited portability payment
• RA is portable for up to 26 weeks for a temporary absence if the main payment is portable indefinitely (Age Pension or Disability Support Pension (DSP) assessed under certain provisions). RA also remains payable if the payment continues because the customer has been granted an extension of portability
• Telephone Allowance (TAL) is paid to a person on the test date provided they have not been absent for more than 6 weeks
• Utilities Allowance is payable to a customer temporarily outside Australia if the test day falls within 6 weeks of the date of departure from Australia

None of these payments will continue if the main payment ceases to be payable or CSHC is cancelled.

To retain payment during an absence outside Australia, the customer must remain qualified for both the main payment and the add-on. For example, a customer must continue receiving JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and continue paying rent while they are away for RA to continue.

Add-on payments are not payable to any customer paid under the pre 1 July 2004 portability rules, whether in or outside Australia. This is because the customer must be living outside Australia to retain this savings provision. If they return to Australia on or after 1 July 2004 for residence they will lose their saved status.

Add-on payments are also not payable from departure to customers who are leaving Australia to live in another country or paid under the pre 20 September 2000 portability rules. Add-on payments may be portable for a customer paid under an International Agreement depending on the terms of the relevant Agreement.

Most payments (other than Age Pension and Disability Support Pension (DSP) assessed as having no future work capacity or paid under the 1 July 2004 savings provisions will cease to be payable outside Australia after 6 weeks (28 days for DSP). Some payments (such as JSP) are only payable for a specific negotiated period which may be any length of time up to a maximum of 6 weeks (28 days for DSP). Therefore, add-on payments will also cease after 6 weeks absence from Australia, or the end of the specific negotiated period. Customers receiving one of the longer term portable payments (such as Age Pension) may continue receiving RA and IA for 26 weeks.

If a customer is granted a discretionary extension, add-on payments other than Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement, TAL and UA if absence exceeds 6 weeks, will also continue while the customer continues to be qualified for the payment.

If a customer's payment continues to be payable for longer than 6 weeks because they are either studying an approved course outside Australia or attending a training camp with the Australian Defence Force Reserves, their add-on payments will also continue to be paid.

The Department of Home Affairs generally advises when a customer or child leaves or returns to Australia. The Centrelink system uses the information to assesses the portability of payments and concession cards. The assessment will happen regardless of whether the customer has told Services Australia their travel details. Note: do not cancel Department of Home Affairs datalink activities.

Where the customer gives evidence they travelled on different dates, the agency should consider using those different dates, if both the following apply:

• the new dates are logical
• the results will be a better outcome for the customer

This most often happens if a customer passes through Australian customs on one day but the flight leaves the next day.

In many cases, customers do not have to tell the agency if they are leaving Australia temporarily for less than 6 weeks, or when they have returned from a temporary absence.

When customers do need to tell us about a departure before leaving Australia or when they have returned to Australia they can use the Travelling outside of Australia service. This service is in their Centrelink online account. If the travel or portability assessment is complex the online service will ask them to contact the agency.

Services Australia website lists when customers must tell the agency they are leaving or returning to Australia. The Resources page has a link.

If a customer is residing outside Australia and temporarily returns to Australia for a holiday, the customer is not entitled to any concession card, Energy Supplement, Pension Supplement, RA, or RAA. UA can be paid to a customer who is temporarily in Australia on a UA test day. Note: Customers who are paid under the New Zealand Agreement are qualified for Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) if they are physically located in Australia, regardless of where they are residing.

TAL can be paid if a customer is physically in Australia if they are an Australian telephone subscriber. Note: it is unlikely, but not impossible, for a customer temporarily in Australia to be a telephone subscriber.