Parenting Payment Single (PPS) customer and/or child going overseas 102-11210000

PPS is cancelled from the date of departure if the customer is leaving Australia to live in another country.

If the customer's child leaves Australia to live in another country, they are no longer considered a dependent child and therefore the customer is no longer the principal carer for that child under social security law. If the customer has no other PP children, PPS is cancelled from child's date of departure.

PPS is portable for the maximum portability period of up to 6 weeks for temporary absences, no matter what the reason for travel (for example, holiday, visiting relatives) unless return rules apply.

Add-on payments may continue for a limited period if the customer remains qualified and while PPS remains payable.

If the main purpose of a customer's travel outside Australia is to study units of their full-time approved Australian course, their PPS may be portable for the duration of the study as long as the customer stays enrolled in their full-time course.

If the customer intends to have an overseas holiday before their approved study, payments will stop when the total holiday period exceeds their allowable portability period (this is usually 6 weeks however, previous absences may affect this period).

A customer may be paid for an overseas holiday before studying overseas, between overseas study periods or after an overseas study period if the period paid PPS overseas (excluding the approved overseas study period) has not or will not exceed 6 weeks.

The approved study period may include additional travel time to allow them to prepare for the study and/or to finalise their affairs and return to Australia.

PPS customers may also go outside Australia for any period if attending an Australian Defence Force Reserves training camp. This would normally be a short absence but can extend for as long as the training camp.

If a customer has advised their travel is for one of these purposes, refer the case to Centrelink International Services (CIS) to assess entitlement and code the departure.

If the customer is travelling for any other reason, service centre and smart centre staff are responsible for the handling of the portability interview and any departure coding.

A dependent child can be born outside Australia or go outside Australia temporarily and the customer can still be regarded as the principal carer for that child if they remain overseas for up to 6 weeks, even if the customer remains in Australia.

After a 6 week temporary absence, the customer will cease to be the principal carer for the child, unless they are in the care of the customer outside Australia and PP is still payable to the customer while outside Australia.

If the customer returns to Australia without the child and the child has already been outside Australia for more than 6 weeks, the customer ceases to be the principal carer for that child from the date of the customer's return.

If the customer has ceased to be the principal carer for a child due to these provisions and returns to Australia for less than 6 weeks before going outside Australia again, the customer will not be the principal carer for that child for the entire period of the later absence. If there are no other children for whom the customer remains the principal carer, the customer's payment will cancel (reason NDE) on departure because they have no dependents to qualify for payment.

If a child returns to Australia and the customer remains outside Australia, the customer will continue to be the principal carer for that child while the customer remains payable. If the child leaves Australia again less than 6 weeks from return and re-joins the customer outside Australia, the customer will continue to be the principal carer for that child while the customer remains payable.

If a PPS customer remains outside Australia after their payment has stopped for a portability related reason, continuation of payment on their return to Australia may be possible. Generally, their payment can be automatically or manually restored if they return to Australia within 13 weeks of their payment stopping.

If PPS has stopped for a portability related reason and the customer commences an approved overseas study period or an Australian Defence Force Reserves training camp within 13 weeks of payment stopping, PPS may be restored (with a gap in entitlement) from the study start date or date training camp commences. Note: no arrears are payable for the period between the end of the maximum entitlement period and the study start date or the date training camp commences.

Customers travelling to an agreement country that covers PPS may be entitled to transfer to payment under an agreement if their payment has ceased for a portability reason.

If the customer is unable to return to Australia after the maximum portability period, Centrelink International Services (CIS) has the discretion to extend the period of portability under limited circumstances.

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.

Use the Portability Script - Departures and Returns to assess the customer's entitlement to payment while they are outside Australia. If the script is available, use it to code the absence from Australia. If the customer's child is leaving Australia without the customer, the script cannot be used.

Service centre and smart centre staff are responsible for handling the portability interview and any departure coding where a customer clearly does not satisfy an approved reason or where the departure is to leave Australia to live in another country.

A customer's portability period starts on the day they leave Australia. For portability purposes, a customer is not considered to be inside Australia for any part of the day they departed Australia, regardless of the time of departure. If the customer is travelling outside Australia on a cruise, the date of departure is the date the ship leaves the last Australian port.

The day a customer returns to Australia is not included as part of their absence as they are considered to be inside Australia on that day (regardless of the time of return) and therefore no longer affected by portability. If they leave and return on the same day, for example airline crew, this is not considered a departure from Australia for portability purposes.

If the customer has mutual obligation requirements they will be granted a temporary exemption from their mutual obligation requirements for the period they are payable overseas.

Defer any scheduled interview until the customer returns to Australia.