Return to Australia procedures for Centrelink International Services (CIS) staff 061-03010000

Use the Portability Script - Departures and Returns to assess a return to Australia. The purpose of the portability script is to assess the return rules associated with the payment and, where possible, update the record. If the script cannot complete the assessment or coding, follow the procedures to manually action the return to Australia.

Determine if the customer has any portability savings provisions, for:

• Disability Support Pension (DSP) customers, go to the Residence Savings (RSS) screen. If the DSP Port. 1 July 2004 status field has a value of Y, the customer has savings provisions
• all customers other than DSP, go to the Pensions Savings Provisions and Entitlement (PSVI) screen. If the 20 Sept 2000 Portability Savings Ind field has a value of Y recorded, the customer has savings provisions
• all customers including DSP and those paid under an international agreement, go to the Residence Savings (RSS) screen. If the 300 month denominator Ind field has a value of 'Y' recorded, the customer is subject to 1 July 2014 savings

Is the customer currently subject to any portability savings provisions?

• Yes, if the:
• pre 1 July 2004 provisions apply, go to Step 3
• pre 20 September 2000 provisions apply, go to Step 4
• pre 1 July 2014 provisions apply, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 2

Check if any of the following apply to the customer:

• record in Environment I
• returning after having lived outside Australia. Check the Country of Residence (CRES) screen
• paid under an International Agreement (go to Additional Residence Details (ARD) screen)
• returning from New Zealand (NZ)

Do any of the above apply to the customer?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, see Return to Australia procedures for service centre and Smart Centre staff for pension payments. Procedure ends here

It is very important to ensure that correct information is given to the customer. Not providing the information or giving incorrect information can be financially damaging to the customer and may lead to a claim under the Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA) scheme.

Advise the customer that if they return to Australia temporarily, they will retain their savings and will be payable indefinitely for any future absence from Australia under the same conditions of pre-1 July 2004 departure. However, while in Australia and during the subsequent absence, the customer will not be entitled to:

• Add-ons including Rent Assistance (RA) or the full Pension Supplement (the Pension Supplement Basic Amount is still payable, if eligible). Note: a transitional rate customer will continue to be paid the outside Australia Transitional Pension rate
• Any Pension Concession Card (PCC)
• Any family assistance payments including Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care Subsidy (CCS), Parental Leave Pay (PLP) or Dad and Partner Pay (DAP)

Advise the customer that if they return to Australia for residence they will lose these savings and future payments will be impacted by this decision. If they subsequently leave Australia temporarily, payments are generally only portable for 28 days in a rolling 12 month period. If they leave to live in another country, payments will stop on departure, unless they are exempt from the ongoing residence requirement. However, the customer will have possible entitlement to:

• add-ons including RA and Pension Supplement or, if paid a transitional rate, the inside Australia Transitional pension rate
• a PCC, LIC or CSHC
• Parenting Payment (PP) and family assistance payment including FTB and CCS

Gather information from the customer (including but not limited to their intentions) in order to make a decision about where the customer is residing. Note: for more information on determining if a customer is residing in Australia, see Assessing if a customer is an Australia resident.

Record the discussion and decision in a DOC. Issue a Client has returned/is returning from overseas (XOB005) letter.

Note: customers paid a transitional rate who return to Australia for residence will have their rate reassessed. If they will receive a higher rate under the current means test, they will cease to be paid under the transitional rules. As this may have a financial impact if they leave Australia again it is very important to ensure that the customer is fully aware of the possible ramifications of a decision to return to reside in Australia.

• If the pre 20 September 2000 provisions apply, go to Step 4
• If the pre 1 July 2014 provisions apply, go to Step 5
• If no further savings provision applies, go to Step 6

It is very important to ensure that correct information is given to the customer. Not providing the information or giving incorrect information can be financially damaging to the customer and may lead to a claim under the Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA) scheme.

A customer must be advised what effect a return to Australia can have on their 20 September 2000 savings provision and the rules that would apply to any subsequent absence from Australia if they lose their savings provision.

Advise the customer that any return to Australia, either temporary or to reside, of more than 26 weeks will result in the loss of the savings provision and payment will be made under the current rules for any subsequent departure from Australia.

Customers saved under these provisions will continue to receive the Pension Supplement Basic Amount only or the outside Australia Transitional pension rate while they are in Australia and immediately on departure. Their payments can only be reassessed once they have returned for more than 26 weeks and have lost their savings provision.

If a customer is unable to depart Australia within 26 weeks, due to certain unforeseen circumstances, they may be eligible for a discretionary portability savings extension. See Customers overseas on 20 September 2000.

Record the discussion in a DOC.

• If the pre 1 July 2014 provisions apply, go to Step 5
• If no further savings provision applies, go to Step 6

It is very important to ensure that correct information is given to the customer. Not providing the information or giving incorrect information can be financially damaging to the customer and may lead to a claim under the Compensation for Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA) scheme.

A customer must be advised what effect a return to Australia can have on their 1 July 2014 savings provision and the rules that would apply to any subsequent absence from Australia if they lose their savings provisions.

Advise the customer that any return to Australia, either temporary or to reside, of more than 26 weeks will result in the loss of the savings provision and payment will be made under the current rules for any subsequent departure from Australia.

Customers saved under these provisions who later depart Australia will continue to receive their rate of payment calculated under the rules in place prior to 1 July 2014. Customers who receive a proportional rate will continue to have their rate assessed using a 300 month denominator. Customers who receive a proportional rate using their partners AWLR will continue to have access to this rule.

See 1 July 2014 savings provision for further information on the interaction between this savings provision and both the pre 1 July 2004 and the pre 20 September 2000 savings provision.

If a customer is unable to depart Australia within 26 weeks, due to certain unforeseen circumstances, they may be eligible for a discretionary portability savings extension. See Customers assessed under pre 1 July 2014 Australian Working Life Residence (AWLR) rules.

Record the discussion in a DOC. Issue the Client has returned/is returning from overseas (XOB005) letter.

Record the customer's return to Australia manually on the Customer Advised Travel Details (RSCD) screen if not recorded.

Note: coding the RSCD screen will not return the customer to Australia unless the datalink is in contingency mode. The return to Australia will only occur when the movement information has been confirmed by the immigration datalink. The Department of Home Affairs datalink activities should not be cancelled.

Has the customer physically returned to Australia?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, record details of the future return to Australia in a completed DOC. Include the discussion with the customer and the customer's decision and understanding based on the rules for their circumstances. Procedure ends here

Has the return been automatically recorded on the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, Activate the Department of Home Affairs datalink and contingency procedures if datalink is unavailable. Once the immigration data has been recorded on the customer's record, go to Step 8

Is this a temporary return to Australia?

Note: for more information on determining if a customer is residing in Australia, see Assessing if a customer is an Australia resident.

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 2
• No, see Step 1 in Table 3

A customer can provide a temporary address for the period they are back in Australia. However unless the customer is returning to Australia to live, it is not mandatory for a customer to do so. Some customers may prefer to retain their current overseas address details.

Note: check every customer's address including postal address and telephone contact details including mobile phone numbers at every contact. Update if required.

Does the customer want to add an address?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

To record an address go to the Address Summary (ADS) screen:

• select the current address and press [Enter]
• key 'TEM' (temporary) or 'HOM' (permanent) in the Address Type field
• record the Is RA being claimed on this Address? field
• key the date of return in the Address Start Date field
• key the Australian address in Address Line 1, Address Line 2 and Town/Suburb/Line 3 fields
• key the Postcode and State fields and code 'AU' or 'Australia' in the Country field
• key 'Y' in the Send all mail here? field if the customer wants their mail sent to the Australian address
• record the appropriate source in the Source field
• record the correct date in the DOR field
• if required go to the Telephone Details (TD) screen and record the current contact phone number

If the customer is paid under the 1 July 2004 portability rules or is residing overseas, ensure Country of Residence (CRES) screen is coded correctly with customer as residing in that country. For assistance coding the CRES screen, see Coding CRES, ARD and RSS screen.

Check the:

• Agreement Country field on the Additional Residence Details (ARD) screen
• Long Term Country Code field on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen

Is the customer paid under an International Agreement or are they present long-term or residing in New Zealand?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, record the information on the return to Australia in a DOC. Finalise any related return to Australia work items. Procedure ends here

Is the customer paid under the New Zealand Agreement or present long-term or residing in New Zealand?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 8

The Long Term Country Code field on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen is used to determine the rate calculation method applicable for customers paid under or affected by, the New Zealand Agreement. That is, it is used to switch the customer from the proportional to the direct deduction rate and vice versa. If the return is short term, the proportional rate should continue and this field should be left as 'NZ'. If the return is long term, this field should be changed to 'AU'. For more information, see New Zealand Agreement and foreign pension information.

Note: system rules will automatically determine present long-term for permanent movements and, for temporary movements, set reviews to automatically change after a continuous period of 26 weeks. Authorised staff in International Services may manually code the field where a person declares an intention to remain in Australia for more than 12 months.

Does customer intend to remain in Australia for more than 12 months?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 9

Update the Residence Savings (RSS) screen. Code the Date of event field with the date of return to Australia and the Long Term Country Code field with 'AU'.

Check if the customer has a New Zealand (NZ) pension recorded on the Foreign Income/Assets/Pension Summary (FIPS) screen.

If the customer has a NZ payment recorded, and the return is long-term, record an Assumed Rate for the customer.

The NZ Assumed Rate Calculator and a guide is available through the International Programme intranet page. See the Resources page for a link.

Use the NZ Assumed Rate Calculator to obtain the NZ Assumed Rate. To update the NZ Assumed Rate:

• go to the FIPS screen and select the existing NZ payment
• record the determined rate in the NZ Assumed Rate field
• using the correct Date of Receipt (DOR) date, finalise the activity ensuring the correct rate is applied

Go to Step 9.

The Temporary Return to Aust Ind field on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen is used where a customer who is paid a proportional rate under an agreement, which includes the 26 week temporary departure/return provision, returns to Australia on a temporary basis. For more information, see International Social Security Agreements.

If there is no change on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen, any movement is considered temporary and a review is set to automatically change the rate after a continuous period of 26 weeks. If a delegate determines that a person has changed their country of residence, coding the information on the CRES screen will automatically apply the correct rate calculation.

Note: if a reassessment of a record shows customer movements prior to 9 June 2018, manually code the RSS screen if the customer is paid under one of the affected agreements.

If the return:

• is permanent - the field should be coded as 'N' and the return to Australia date inserted. The direct deduction rate should apply immediately
• is temporary - the field should be coded as 'Y' and the return to Australia date inserted. The proportional rate is paid for the first 26 weeks

Ask the customer if they have a definite date they are returning overseas. If so, run the Portability Script - Departures and Returns with the new departure details.

Note: if the customer is paid under an Agreement (except NZ) the return to Australia coding needs to be done manually.

Check to see if the customer is entitled to a concession card.

Note: entitlement to a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) normally requires a person to be an Australian resident. However, customers paid under the Agreement with New Zealand are entitled to a Pension Concession Card provided they are in Australia, even if they are not residing in Australia (s1061ZA(4) Social Security Act 1991.

Record all the information on the return to Australia and concession card entitlement in a DOC. Finalise any related return to Australia work items.

Procedure ends here.

Check that the Country of Residence (CRES) screen is coded correctly with the customer as residing in Australia.

Advise the customer that as they have returned to Australia permanently, their 28 day notification obligation has changed to 14 days. This applies to all change in circumstances. See General notification provisions and exceptions.

Is the customer's record on Environment I?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 4

Transfer record to local environment. If customer is paid into an overseas bank account, new bank account details in Australia are required. Customers will need to be advised that they will be paid 2 weekly rather than 4 weekly. Transfers should be delayed until information is provided to ensure continuity of payment.

See Changing payment destination.

Note: Australian bank account information can be taken verbally.

Has customer provided Australian bank account details and understands their pay frequency will change?

• Yes,
• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen
• Record the customer's pension type in the Service Reason field
• Code 'CAN' in the Action field
• Code 'RTA' in the Reason field
• Code the date last paid to + 1 in the Effect Date field
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and finalise the activity. Ensure that no adjustment occurs when finalising the activity (that is, no overpayment created or arrears issued)
• If required, issue the customer with a Client has returned/is returning from overseas (XOB005) letter
• Determine in which environment the customer's record should be located according to their home address. Go to this environment on the system. See Inter-environment change of address (ICoA) transfer of a customer record
• Once the ICoA is complete update customer's bank account details in Australia on the Payment Destination Details (PAPN) screen
• Go to Step 3
• No,
• Advise the customer that they must provide their Australian bank account information for payment continuity
• Request the Information. See Request for Information (RFI) letter and select 21 days + Delivery for return
• If required, issue the customer with a Client has returned/is returning from overseas (XOB005) letter
• Record all information regarding the return to Australia in a DOC, complete any related work items
• When information has been provided, go to Step 1
• If customer does not provide the information within the required timeframe, payments can be suspended failure to reply to correspondence. See Suspension of payments (CLK). Procedure ends here

Check the Agreement Country field on the Additional Residence Details (ARD) screen. If a country is recorded in this field, the customer is paid under an agreement.

Check the CRES screen to determine if the customer was previously residing in New Zealand.

Check the most recent entry on the Customer Advised Travel Details (RSCD) screen. If New Zealand is displayed in the Country field, go to the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen. Check if the customer was outside Australia for 26 weeks or more. If so, then the customer is considered present long term in New Zealand.

Is the customer, paid under an international agreement or changing from residing in New Zealand to residing in Australia, or returning from present long term in New Zealand?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 10

Is the customer paid under New Zealand agreement, present long-term or was residing in New Zealand?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 6

The Long Term Country Code field on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen is used to determine the rate calculation method applicable for customers paid under, or affected by, the New Zealand Agreement. It is used to switch the customer from the proportional to the direct deduction rate and vice versa. If the return is long term, change the field to 'AU'. See New Zealand Agreement and foreign pension information.

Note: system rules will automatically determine present long-term for permanent movements.

Check if the customer has a New Zealand (NZ) pension recorded on the Foreign Income/Assets/Pension Summary (FIPS) screen.

Is the customer paid a NZ payment?

• Yes, record an Assumed Rate for the customer. See Step 7 in Table 2 for details on how to record an Assumed Rate. Go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 7

Customers paid under an agreement outside Australia must return to Australia for residence before their payment can be transferred to an autonomous pension. Some customers are only paid under an agreement because they have been outside Australia for more than the maximum portability period of their payment. These customers will generally be automatically transferred to an autonomous rate of payment. See Transfer to international social security agreements for more information.

On return to Australia, the system will check:

• If the customer is an Australian resident (that is, residing in Australia) (according to the Country of Residence (CRES) and Legal Residence Status (RSLEG) screens)
• If the customer is located in Australia (according to the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) and/or Customer Advised Travel Details (RSCD) screens), and
• Whether they were paid the same payment autonomously immediately prior to their departure from Australia

Does the customer satisfy the above criteria?

• Yes, the payment will be automatically transferred back to autonomous. Go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 7

Manually check if the customer is now autonomously qualified. For example, a customer who claimed their Australian payment when living in an agreement country may have decided to move to Australia for residence.

The customer's Australian residence qualification is automatically assessed based on the residence information recorded. Check the Australian Historical Residence (RSAHR) screen. It displays the customer's Australian historical residence derived from information recorded on the Country of Residence (CRES) and Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screens. It displays each individual period of residence including relevant start and end dates, number of years, months and days and total historical residence. If the customer has the 10 years qualifying Australian residence for payment, they are considered autonomously qualified.

Is the customer autonomously qualified for payment and are they in Australia?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

Transfer them to an autonomous payment manually.

• Go to the Additional Residence Details (ARD) screen:
• Record the date of return in the Date of Event field in the second block
• Delete the agreement country from the Agreement Country field
• Delete the year from the Agreement Year field
• Update the RSS screen
• If they were residing outside Australia and have returned for residence record a Former Residence Over-Ride. Use the date of return as the date of event with an expiry 2 years later
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen, check results before finalising the activity

Go to Step 10.

Customer will continue to be paid under an agreement while residing in Australia. The rate of payment will generally alter once the customer is in Australia, as they will be paid a direct deduction rate.

Note: the Agreements with Austria, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the United States of America allow the customer to be paid the higher of the inside and outside Australia rates.

Is the customer's payment current?

• Yes, go to Step 11
• No, go to Step 10

If customer's return date is more than 13 weeks after their payment was cancelled/suspended a new claim is required.

Note: for restorations of Double Orphan Pension (DOP), see Restoration of Double Orphan Pension (DOP). For restorations of Child Care Subsidy (CCS), a new claim activity must be actioned as a manual workaround. See Processing Child Care Subsidy (CCS) claims.

Is the customer required to lodge a new claim?

• Yes, encourage the customer to apply online
• If payment cannot be claimed online, run the First Contact Concessions, Carers and Seniors workflow or manually issue appropriate claim forms
• No, payment can be restored from date of return to Australia:
• go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen
• record the relevant payment in the Service Reason field. Code 'RES' in the Action field
• leave the remaining field blank as the system will restore from the correct date
• record the correct date on the DOR field
• go to Step 11

Note: customers who were paid on Environment I must have Australian bank account details recorded before payment is restored in the new environment.

To finalise:

• check if the customer has any change in income or assets. Update if required
• the system issues the concession card automatically based upon Legal Residence Details. See Concession Entitlement System and Confirming concession card entitlement and issuing interim vouchers
• Encourage and educate customers to self-manage their own affairs online now they have returned to Australia. See How customers create a myGov account and link services
• record all information regarding the return to Australia in a DOC
• complete any related return to Australia work items