Transfer to international social security agreements 061-01110000

The underlying principle of agreements is to preserve customers' entitlement, not to maximise the rate of payment. This means that:

• agreements can only be used when the customer's existing entitlement ceases after leaving the country they are in, and
• where more than one agreement may apply, unless specifically requested by the customer, the agreement for the country where the customer is located should be used

A person can only use an agreement to receive a payment that is covered by the relevant agreement. All agreements cover Age Pension but may also have further limitations on other payments, e.g. severely disabled for Disability Support Pension (DSP).

Although no claim form is required, the claim requirements under the relevant agreement must be met as at the date the transfer is to take effect. Most agreements require a person to be resident in either Australia or the agreement country and also present in Australia or the agreement country. Customers must provide evidence of their location in an agreement country and a residence determination also needs to be made.

Note: where a customer loses qualification for their payment, they may also need to qualify under the relevant agreement including totalisation. For example, refugees in receipt of Age Pension who depart Australia permanently lose their qualifying residence exemption so must then be able to totalise under the relevant agreement to meet the 10 year residence requirement at the date the transfer is to take effect.

Customers who are not portable on departure, for example, former resident leaving Australia, can still be paid for reasonable direct travel time in getting to the agreement country. Customers cannot be paid for intentional stop-overs in non-agreement countries, for example, short holidays.

Customers who are suspended for portability reasons in a non-agreement country may be restored under an agreement with a break in entitlement if they subsequently go to an agreement country and meet the requirements for transfer, including providing evidence of their location. Customers who are cancelled must generally lodge a new claim although consideration should be given for reasonable delays in dealing with customers outside Australia.

Once a customer uses a provision of an agreement, for example, transfer for portability, they are then considered to be paid by virtue of the agreement and all other provisions of the agreement apply including rate of payment, for example, proportional according to Australian working life residence and altered portability provisions. For more information on agreements, see International Social Security Agreements.

Transfers from agreements to autonomous are subject to 'former resident' provisions. This means a customer paid under an agreement who ceases to be an Australian resident and again becomes an Australian resident and then transfers from an agreement to autonomous is not portable if they depart Australia again within 2 years of the date they again become an Australian resident. The customer may again transfer to an agreement to be portable if they meet the requirements for transfer, including providing evidence of their location.

An autonomous customer who transfers to an agreement while outside Australia but remains an Australian resident throughout the period of the absence is not a 'former resident'. Provided they have not been suspended, these customers will be automatically transferred to autonomous when they return to Australia.