Working Life Residence (WLR) 106-06030000

AWLR may be needed for numerous reasons including:

• for portability purposes - to ensure a customer is on the correct rate of payment if they remain overseas for longer than 26 weeks
• to pay the correct proportional rate to a customer located outside of Australia who is granted an Australian payment under an international agreement Note: Working Age Residence (WAR) is used for customers in New Zealand (NZ)
• foreign pension claim processing - to assist a customer to qualify for a pension in an agreement country. Note: NZ uses Working Age Residence (WAR).

Verified Australian employment periods during AWLR may also be requested by certain agreement countries instead of AWLR or together with AWLR. Refer to the agreement country claim forms and processes in the relevant International Social Security Agreement country OB file for information.

Staff must confirm and verify all periods.

Partner or former partner’s AWLR may be used for:

• paying an Australian pension under an international agreement (except the New Zealand Agreement)
• paying under the pre-20 September 2000 portability provisions
• claiming a survivor or widow pension from an agreement country

Where the customer might be paid according to their current or former partner's AWLR ensure partner/former partner’s Australian residence periods are verified in the same manner as for the customer, by following this process.

Check existing documentation on the customer and/or partner’s record for information they have already provided.

For AWLR verification requests, the customer and/or partner can provide details of Australian residence and copies of relevant evidence on any the following forms. Note: Certain AUS027 forms also contain a section for Australian employment periods information:

• AUS140 Claim for an Australian payment (including all country/language versions of this form)
• Mod O Residence in Australia and other countries
• AUS027 Verification of working life residence in Australia
• AUS027US Verification of working life residence and periods of employment in Australia
• AUS027JP Verification of working life residence in Australia and periods of employment in Australia (Japanese translation)
• AUS027KR Verification of working life residence in Australia and periods of employment in Australia (Korean translation)

Note: for foreign pension claims for Japan and Korea the form AUS027JP/KR - Verification of working life residence and periods of employment in Australia is included in the original foreign pension claim pack.

Australian residence details, especially containing Australian employment period information, may exist in a decommissioned uploaded form:

• AUS168 Request for information (various country/language versions of this form)
• AUS160 Verification of Employment or Self-Employment in Australia (USA)
• AUS191 Verification of Employment or Self-Employment in Australia, Korean Agreement
• AUS196 Verification of Employment or Self -Employment while residing in Australia- Social Security Agreement between Australia and Japan
• AUS197 Request for information – Social Security Agreement between Japan and Australia

Note: If the customer is lodging a claim for a survivor or widow pension from an agreement country, the AWLR needs to be calculated for the deceased partner. The form should include details for the deceased partner.

Check for a historical:

• AWLR request - if a completed form has been returned at any time by the customer/deceased partner and/or residence verification DOCs exists on the customer’s record. This includes documents previously uploaded on Document Tools and archived DOCs via ACE.
• employment periods request – if an AUS027 or relevant decommissioned Verification of Employment or Self-Employment in Australia form has been received at any time
• DOC on the DL screen or in ACE explaining that AWLR has been verified and how it was determined

Have all the customer’s residence/employment period(s) already been fully verified, determined and DOC’d?

• Yes - and the customer has:
• no residence/employment periods, see Table 3 > Step 1
• residence/employment periods, see Table 3 > Step 2
• No, residence periods need to be verified - go to Step 4

Does AWLR need to be verified for portability purposes only?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, verification is required as part of the international agreement:
• foreign pension claim process, go to Step 5
• Australian new clam process, go to Table 2 > Step 1.
  Note: where an AUS140 form has not been received, see Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements

Check if the customer has already been sent an AUS027 - Verification of working life residence in Australia form.

Suggestions for where to check include:

• the Document List (DL) screen for relevant DOC
• the History Summary (HS) screen
• the Archiving and Culling Engine (ACE)
• a request for information (RFI) transaction in Process Direct
• a review on the Future Activity List (FAL) screen for return of the form

Has the customer already been sent an appropriate AUS027 form (e.g. AUS027US for US pension related requests)?

• Yes, and it has:
• been returned - go to Table 2 > Step 1
• not been returned - check if the request for return DOC has come due. If it has:
  come due – go to Step 11
  not come due - procedure ends here until DOC comes due
• No, go to Step 6

Has the agreement partner requested verification of the customer’s Australian employment periods during their AWLR (may include a request for both AWLR and employment periods)?

• Yes, and the request is from:
• the United States of America (US), go to Step 7
• Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan or Korea (Republic of), go to Step 8
• No, only verified AWLR is requested, go to Step 9

The United States require Australian employment periods to be verified, not AWLR.

Send the AUS027US - Verification of working life residence and periods of employment in Australia form to the customer to complete and return.

• In Customer Record:
• Run the Multi-Lingual Letters Script
• select GEN010 to create a covering form letter
• choose option 8 or 9 when asked which AUS027 form you are sending and why
• answer all questions asked in the script, including choosing the appropriate notification period
• advise the number of quarters the customer needs to verify, as advised by the US Agreement partner

Note: For more information on how US quarters are calculated and assessed, see United States of America Agreement and foreign pension information

Attach the GEN010 letter to the AUS027US - Verification of working life residence and periods of employment in Australia form and send to the customer.

• DOC the record, in Customer Record:
• Run the International DOC Creation script
• select WSI-US Claim DOCs
• choose option 4 - AUS027US posted to CUS

Put the DOC on hold awaiting return of form:

• 21 days inside Australia, or
• 35 days outside Australia

Procedure ends here.

Send the appropriate AUS027 – Verification of working life residence and periods of employment in Australia form to the customer to complete and return.

In Customer Record:

• Run the Multi-Lingual Letter Script
• select GEN010 to create a covering form letter
• choose the appropriate country and request option (“to obtain WLR+ Employment details” for joint WLR and employment period requests)
• answer all questions asked in the script, including choosing the appropriate notification period
• where a customer has already provided sufficient residence data, advise that only the employment details questions need to be answered in the form

Attach the GEN010 letter to a AUS027US - Verification of working life residence and periods of employment in Australia form and send to the customer. This form can also be used for non-US countries.

In Customer First:

• Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Centrelink International Services > Foreign Pension Claim > Foreign Pension claim received
• Edit the auto text in the text box with appropriate details

Put the Fast Note on hold awaiting return of the form:

• 21 days inside Australia, or
• 35 days outside Australia

Procedure ends here.

AWLR may need to be verified:

• as part of a foreign pension claim process, or
• to determine the correct proportional rate of Australian pension for portability purposes if:
• historical periods of residence have not been confirmed, and the customer is travelling, or intending to travel, for longer than 26 weeks
• the customer is disputing the current AWLR on their record

Is there enough information already on the record that can be used to verify residence periods?

• Yes, to investigate and verify periods, see Table 2 > Step 1
• No, go to Step 10

Send the appropriate AUS027 – Verification of working life residence in Australia form to the customer to complete and return.

In Customer Record:

• Run the Multi-Lingual Letter Script
• select GEN010 to create a covering form letter
• choose the appropriate AUS027 country form to be sent and “to obtain WLR details” option e.g. Choose 1 for generic AUS027 to obtain WLR details only
• answer all questions asked in the script, including choosing the appropriate notification period

Attach the GEN010 letter to a AUS027 - Verification of working life residence in Australia form and send to the customer. This form can also be used for non-US countries.

In Customer First:

• Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Centrelink International Services > Residence > Request for Working Life Residence
• Edit the auto text in the text box with appropriate details

Put the Fast Note on hold awaiting return of the form:

• 21 days inside Australia, or
• 35 days outside Australia

Procedure ends here.

Where the customer is in receipt of a Centrelink payment, suspend payment - failed to reply to correspondence.

In all cases, in Customer Record:

• Generate an AUS187 form for the relevant agreement country
• Record field Liaison Type: for
• Employment period (including joint AWLR) requests as AOT (Miscellaneous query to Australia) and note on Summ: line what information is being sent to the country
• AWLR requests as AWL (Australian Working Life Residence query) and note on Summ: line what information is being sent to the country
• On the AUS187 form, in Section 4 - Australian periods for the purposes of Article X:
• Check tick box: Not Found
• Remove any pre-filled AWLR details
• In the Other information text box, record the following:
• <Insert Australian residence request type ie. AWLR or Australian employment period or both AWLR and Australian employment periods> unable to be verified because the customer has failed to respond to our request dated <insert date AUS027 was issued> for Australian residence information. If the customer responds in the future, we will advise.

Send the AUS187 liaison to the agreement partner using the agreed transmission method for that country.

Record the action taken in a DOC on the customer’s record (including for the US noting the number of quarters the US require).

Procedure ends here.

For a period of time to be considered as ‘Australian residence’ and count towards AWLR, a person must both:

• hold permanent legal residence status, and
• be residing in Australia

Every period of residence in Australia should be examined. If there is more than one period of residence in Australia, each period needs to be verified.

Note: documentation provided may help determine the start date of a period of residence. Where a customer then:

• subsequently leaves Australia to reside overseas, the date of departure and new country of residence needs to also be determined and coded on the CRES screen
• comes back to reside in Australia this needs to be verified and a new start date with country ‘Australia’ coded on the CRES screen.

Tips:

• The onus to provide evidence rests with the customer. Staff must provide reasonable help when a customer is having difficulty substantiating periods of residence
• Assume that customers are telling the truth unless there are reasonable grounds for not assuming so
• The Immigration Datalink will attempt to match the Centrelink customer with their immigration record. If the match is successful and immigration data post 1994 available, it will be automatically applied to the residence and portability fields. If the information is not automatically updated, see Activating the Department of Home Affairs datalink and contingency procedures if datalink is unavailable. Note: CRES is never automatically populated by the Immigration Datalink.
• It is not necessary for every period of residence to be verified by documentary evidence. Staff should use discretion in establishing a picture of residence and be satisfied that the customer was a resident during the period claimed. For example, if a customer has a contribution record in another country which ended shortly before they advised they arrived in Australia, or a contribution record that began shortly after they advised they left Australia, it will indicate their dates were accurate. If contribution periods overlap, obtain more information
• It may not always be possible to verify a customer's legal residence status due to the limitations of immigration records, particularly before 1973. In these cases, the staff member must determine the residence status from the evidence available
• Customers who arrived before 1973 may have handwritten records of their arrival in National Archives. These can help to establish the general picture supporting the person's statement about when they started residing in Australia (along with documents, such as tax returns, children's birth certificates or any other documents)
• Accept all evidence provided as a valid contribution to the overall picture of residence. For example, family certificates from Italian authorities verifying the birth of children in Australia, photos, boarding passes, newspaper cuttings and statements by customers
• Don't ignore conflicting evidence. More enquiries must be made in these instances to verify the true situation to make sure decisions are based on evidence
• Contact the customer by phone if needed. Talking about the customer's residence often helps more than documents
• If the dates offered by the customer are vague, prompt the customer for more details. For example, the season when the customer left their home or arrived in Australia, any significant events which occurred shortly after their arrival or before departure
• Check similar sounding names and different combinations of their known names
• Check if the customer arrived on a maiden name rather than their married name

Other Verification

The customer may have documents which can confirm their periods of Australian residence, such as:

• tax returns
• children’s birth certificates
• any other legal documents showing the customer was physically present in Australia, such as:
• a marriage certificate
• employer reference
• school records

See Verifying residence tips using supporting documents for examples of how other documents can be used

Note: if the customer has lodged an Australian pension claim under an International Social Security Agreement, compare Australian residence with the period of contributions (or residence) in the agreement country. Check for conflicting/overlapping periods.

Do Australian employment periods during AWLR need to be verified?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, only WLR is required, go to Step 3

To verify Australian employment periods, the customer must provide evidence of employment to support the dates they worked in Australia.

The dates of employment provided in the AUS027 must match the information on the evidence.

Evidence can include:

• tax returns (not Taxation Notices of Assessment)
• payment summaries (group certificates)
• payslips, and/or
• other documents that verify actual employment (eg. letter from employer).

Where adequate evidence has not be been supplied but employer contact details have been provided, make two genuine attempts to contact employer(s) by phone to verify dates of employment.

A customer (or partner/former partner) may:

• definitely have not been an Australian resident during the requested period/s, and/or
• have provided incorrect documentation, or no supporting evidence as part of the request

Is it clear from information provided by the customer and on their record that they have no Australian residence or employment periods?

• Yes, see Table 3 > Step 1
• No, undertake further residence checks, go to Step 4

For periods the customer has advised they were residing in Australia, check if they held appropriate legal residence status and were residing in Australia (temporary absences from Australia can still count as residence).

Go to the:

Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen:

• if the Customer Immigration link status is:
• INACTIVE, activate the Immigration Datalink and obtain available details directly from the Department of Home Affairs
• ACTIVE, check the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen

Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen:

• if the customer has immigration information from 1 September 1994, this screen provides information about the customer's legal residence status. For example, citizenship including date of grant, visa subclasses and NZ residence status.

Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen:

• gives details of any arrivals and departures in Australia since 1 September 1994. This information can help determine if the customer was residing in Australia during a period of time.

Has the customer advised of Australian residence before 1 September 1994?

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

Tips for obtaining information prior to 1 September 1994:

• Where the Service Officer has access to the Department of Home Affairs Movement Reconstruction (MR) database, search for the customer or deceased partner on this database. The database has visa and movement records since 1981
• When searching the customer or deceased partner's name, include name variations (if any) and date of arrival. Update the Customer Person Detail (CPD) screen with all names known by
• Search Old Arrival Records in the National Archives of Australia (NAA):
• go to www.naa.gov.au
• select RecordSearch
• select Passenger arrivals tab
• key the surname of the customer
• Note: it is not usually necessary to include extra details such as full name, year, ship, port or flight number. This may limit the search
• select Search
• results will show the passenger’s name and date of arrival
• identify the correct customer by checking the linked digital information
• if the passenger’s name shows but has no date of arrival, select the digital copy of the passenger list manifesto. This has the date the ship/flight arrived. It is not necessary to scroll through the list to find the customer’s name
• CIS (Hobart-based) staff can also check microfilm, microfiche or request Passenger Card details if necessary. These provide details the customer gave on arrival into Australia. It may help in determining the customer's intention to reside in Australia. If referring to CIS, arrivals before 1965 require the customer or deceased partner's ship or flight details and the port at which they arrived.
• Note: specific access is required to obtain Passenger Cards. See Resources for a link to the Passenger Card Image System intranet page
• If the NAA search is unsuccessful, and the movement is prior to 1 September 1994, refer to CIS Hobart
• Create a Fast Note. Select Auto Text > Centrelink International Services > Residence > Proof of Arrival
• In the Fast Note, note the NAA search was unsuccessful

See:

• Verifying residence tips using supporting documents
• Assessing if a customer is an Australian resident to determine a customer and/or partner’s date of arrival – start date of living in Australia

Hold the claim, activity or liaison pending return of any information, if applicable. The originating officer is to continue with this process when the information is received.

Go to Step 6.

For any period declared by a customer (or their partner/former partner, if applicable) they were residing in Australia as an Australian resident, the Service Officer must make a discretionary decision and decide whether the customer was residing in Australia or not for the period.

Follow Deciding if a customer is residing in Australia to ensure all relevant factors are considered.

If a discretionary decision is made that the period in Australia was temporary, do not record it on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen.

Is there adequate evidence that verifies all residence periods?

• Yes, and the customer has:
• no periods of residence/employment, see Table 3 > Step 1
• periods of residence/employment, see Table 3 > Step 2
• No, go to Step 7

Check if names of referees have been given on any forms, such as the AUS027.

Only contact the referees to try to verify information when the customer has not provided sufficient documentation/evidence of their Australian residence.

Record the contact attempts and responses in a DOC.

Has the referee verified information provided by the customer?

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

The customer and/or partner has no residence period(s) or they have not provided sufficient evidence to verify residence periods.

Record all reasons in a DOC

For the following specific processes:

• portability - tell the customer the period of AWLR that is verified and the proportional rate decision. Go to Australian pensions paid outside Australia, the proportional rate. Procedure ends here
• foreign pension and the pension is:
• a survivor or widow pension - go to Step 3
• other foreign pension types - go to Table 4 > Step 1
• Australian agreement pension claim – go to Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements. Procedure ends here.

AWLR is calculated automatically by the system based on the data coded on the residence screens, so the customer and/or partner's residence details must be recorded accurately:

• country of birth on the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen
• country of citizenship on the Legal Residence Details (RSLEG) screen
• visa information on the RSLEG screen
• the Immigration Limiting Date is moved back on the Immigration Advised Movements (RSIM) screen as needed
• all countries resided in on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen
• any temporary absences from Australia (for example, overseas holidays) are not recorded as overseas residence
• any time spent in Australia as a visitor is not recorded as Australian residence

Ensure all accepted (verified) residence are documented clearly on the customer’s record.

Once this information is correctly coded, the system will calculate the AWLR and record it on the Australian Working Life Residence (AWLR) screen. The AWLR will also auto populate into the Aust Working Life Residence: field on the Additional Residence Details (ARD) screen in a new claim processed in Customer Record.

Note: If the deceased partner has a record, the AWLR can be calculated using the CRES and AWLR screens. If no record exists, manually calculate the deceased partner's AWLR (if applicable).

A customer’s AWLR can be assessed as nil based on their legal residence status.

Record how AWLR was calculated in a DOC.

Is the customer claiming a survivor or widow pension from an agreement country, or claiming PPS under an international agreement?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, customer will use their own AWLR. For:
• foreign pension purposes – go to Table 4 > Step 1
• other Australian pension claims under an international agreement, go to Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements
• Procedure ends here

If the:

• customer's record is linked to their partner's record, the system will take the higher of the two AWLR, if applicable
• customer is paid according to their former partner's AWLR, the system cannot calculate the correct rate. The former partner's AWLR must be manually recorded

Is the customer lodging a foreign claim for a survivor or widow pension from an agreement country?

• Yes, advise the agreement country of the deceased partner's AWLR Note: never send unverified Australian residence information to the international agreement partner:
• continue with the foreign pension claim process including advising the agreement country via liaison form
• Procedure ends here
• No, for a PPS agreement claim, go to the Additional Residence Details (ARD) screen:
• record the higher of the customer's or their deceased partner's calculated AWLR in the customer's Aust Working Life Residence: field
• if using the deceased partner's AWLR, in a DOC record: the reason for the difference in the AWLR, the residence information used, and calculation of the AWLR for the deceased partner
• continue with agreement claim procedure or portability decision
• Procedure ends here.

Is the customer/deceased partner’s AWLR only to be provided to the international agreement partner on the Australian liaison form (AUS187)?

• Yes, go to Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information. Procedure ends here
• No, the agreement partner requires:
• Australian employment periods during AWLR only, go to Step 2
• AWLR and Australian employment periods during AWLR, go to Step 3

Note: never send unverified Australian residence information to the international agreement partner.

Are there verified Australian periods of employment during AWLR to provide to the international agreement partner?

• Yes, the customer has verified periods. In Customer Record:
• generate an AUS187 form for the agreement country
• record field Liaison Type: as AOT (Miscellaneous query to Australia) and note what information is being sent to the country on the Summ: line
• on the AUS187 form, in Section 4 - Australian periods for the purposes of Article X:
  check tick box: Found
  remove any pre-filled AWLR details and manually overwrite with verified employment periods
• in the Other information text box, note Australian confirmed employment periods have been provided. Do not record confirmed Australian periods in this section. Note any employment periods that could not be confirmed in this text box
• see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information for additional liaison processes and agreed transmission procedure
• Procedure ends here
• No, the customer has no verified periods. In Customer Record:
• generate an AUS187 form for the agreement country
• record field Liaison Type: as AOT (Miscellaneous query to Australia) and note what information is being sent to the country on the Summ: line
• on the AUS187 form, in Section 4 - Australian periods for the purposes of Article X:
  check tick box: Not found
  remove any pre-filled AWLR details
• in the Other information text box, note Australian employment periods could not be confirmed
• see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information for additional liaison processes and agreed transmission procedure
• Procedure ends here

Note: never send unverified Australian residence information to the international agreement partner.

When the agreement country has requested both verified AWLR and Australian employment periods during AWLR, record:

• AWLR in Section 4 - Australian periods for the purposes of Article X, and
• Australian employment periods in the Other information text box.

In Customer Record:

• generate an AUS187 form for the agreement country
• record field Liaison Type: as AWL (Australian Working Life Residence query) and note what information is being sent to the country on the Summ: line
• provide result of verified AWLR in Section 4 - Australian periods for the purposes of Article X.
• If WLR:
• is verified, leave tick as Found
  Ensure Australian periods section contains correct AWLR details.
• cannot be verified, remove any prefilled AWLR details and tick Not found.
  in the Other information text box, note why AWLR was not able to be verified
  do not send unverified AWLR to the Agreement partner
• has been verified as nil AWLR, leave tick as Found
  ensure both total fields are populated with 0
  in the Other information text box briefly advise reason for nil AWLR (e.g. Customer’s Australian residence information was found however customer was not an Australian resident from their date of arrival 25 February 1997 to date of departure 4 March 2001 as per s7(2) Australian Social Security Act 1991)
• record the employment periods in the Other information text box.
• note employment periods have been provided (verified) and state the verified period(s) in date format: dd/mm/yyyy e.g. 23/05/1998 to 14/08/2001. Note: do not provide periods as years only: yyyy (e.g. 1993 to 2001)
• if employment periods could not be confirmed, note that in this section
• See Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information for additional liaison processes and agreed transmission procedure.