Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) overseas absences 061-01070020

PES is not payable to people who are not Australian residents.

If a customer leaves Australia to live in another country PES is cancelled from the date the customer leaves Australia.

A customer who has stopped living in Australia will not be able to claim PES during any temporary returns to Australia.

A customer receiving PES can be paid for the first 6 weeks of a temporary absence to any country while the customer remains qualified for PES and entitled to their primary payment. PES is also payable for the duration of course units undertaken outside Australia when these are required as part of an Australian course.

PES will only remain payable if the customer remains eligible for their main income support payment. If the customer is outside Australia when their main payment ceases, entitlement to PES will also cease.

A person absent from Australia for more than 6 weeks for a reason other than study, (for example, holidays) who returns to Australia and leaves Australia again less than 6 weeks later is taken not to have returned to Australia. They must be back in Australia for more than 6 weeks before a new portability period can start. If it is less than 6 weeks, PES will cancel on the date of the new departure.

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.

PES portability is correctly assessed when the Portability Script - Departures and Returns is used. If the script is available, coding the absence from Australia should be done using the script.

If the customer’s primary payment (for example, JobSeeker Payment) suspends when they are outside Australia, PES also suspends. PES cannot be restored once there is a gap in entitlement. The customer will need to re-claim PES when they return to Australia, even if the suspension is less than 13 weeks.

The primary payment can still be restored, if applicable. Note: if PES is suspended (EPF/SUS) it will need to be cancelled to enable the primary payment to be restored. See Cancellation of Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES.