Restricted portability for payment during overseas absences where customer has special circumstances 061-01100000

Some payments can be payable outside Australia for specific reasons. Approval of portability for these reasons is limited to CIS. These approved reasons fall into 2 distinct categories with different periods of payment depending on the type.

Approved temporary absence reasons are:

• to attend an acute family crisis (AFC)
• for humanitarian reasons (HUM)
• to get medical treatment not available in Australia (MED)

Required duration absence reasons are:

• to attend a training camp with the Australian Defence Force Reserves (MIL)
• to do overseas study that is part of a full-time Australian course (Overseas Full Time Study (OFS))

The customer will need to provide appropriate documents and evidence to verify the reasons for the overseas absence.

A customer travelling for an approved reason may be paid for the period required to deal with the reason for absence. This period:

• is generally no longer than 2 to 3 weeks
• can be up to 6 weeks (4 weeks for DSP)

Only exceptional situations are granted the maximum portability period and the decision must be clearly documented.

A customer travelling for a required duration absence may be paid for as long as the circumstances require.

Initially, the Service Officer talking to the customer assesses whether the customer is travelling outside of Australia for one of the approved reasons. If approval is a possibility, staff must refer the case to CIS. CIS staff will decide whether the:

• customer's situation fits within the strict guidelines, and
• verification of the reason for the absence is acceptable

Note: CIS are not responsible for assessing Overseas Full-time Study (OFS), except for DSP customers. For all other customers, the Students Processing area assesses OFS.

Payments that restricted portability for special circumstances can apply to include:

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Youth Allowance (YA)
• Austudy (AUS)
• ABSTUDY
• Special Benefit (SpB)
• Disability Support Pension (DSP)
• Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• The following payments paid to holders of certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments:
• Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
• Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP)
• Double Orphan Pension (DOP), and/or
• Parental Leave Pay (PPL)

DSP customers can usually only be paid overseas for 4 weeks in a rolling 12-month period. Customers may also be paid for an additional period:

• in limited circumstances, and
• up to a maximum of 4 weeks to deal with the reason for which the restricted portability was granted

SpB, FTB, CCS, PPL and DOP paid to customers holding a temporary visa subclass 309, 785 (granted on or after 16 December 2014), 790 or 820 are payable overseas in limited circumstances. For customers receiving these payments, but holding a different temporary protection type visa (for example, subclass 449), payment is not portable at all and will cancel on departure. See:

• Certain temporary visas that qualify customers for some payments, and
• Temporary Protection, Humanitarian, Safe Haven and Return Pending Visas.

If the customer is travelling for an approved reason the CIS Service Officer will determine whether the payment can continue before getting acceptable proof of the absence. In most cases, CIS will tell the customer an assessment will happen once they give evidence.

Service Officers may consider payment before getting evidence in the following circumstances:

• customer is travelling because of the recent death of a family member
• the reason for travel would clearly meet grounds for payment and customer would be placed in significant hardship with suspension of payment. Note: these cases must be discussed with a Service Support Officer before approval

If a Service Officer makes an approval before receipt of evidence, the customer must supply supporting documentation on their return. Services Australia will raise a debt if the customer does not supply documentation or it is not acceptable.

In all other cases, for both approved temporary absence reasons and required duration absence reasons, the customer should give acceptable proof of the absence before approving payment. This is to prevent raising unnecessary overpayments because of unacceptable evidence.

Where a Service Officer has not granted a pre-approval, payment will stop from the date of departure, unless the customer is:

• receiving a limited portability payment, and
• still has a period of general portability available

Once the customer gives acceptable proof of the absence, a Service Officer will make an assessment and issue arrears to the customer if eligible.

The customer should contact CIS if:

• the agency granted portability for an approved reason, and
• they cannot return to Australia by the approved end date

If they do not contact the agency, their payment will stop.

If more time overseas is required, the CIS Service Officer can discuss their circumstances to determine if they may extend the approved reason.

Services Australia has the discretion to extend the period of portability under certain circumstances, if:

• the customer is unable to return to Australia for a reason other than an approved reason (for example, they are hospitalised themselves), or
• they are still required overseas at the end of the maximum portability period

If a 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, the agency can restore their payment if they return to Australia within 13 weeks of their payment stopping.

Service centre and Smart Centre Service Officers are responsible for handling the portability interview and any departure coding where a customer clearly does not satisfy necessary criteria for an approved reason.

The service centre and Smart Centre Service Officer must confirm with the customer the reason(s) for travel and also the:

• date of departure
• date they expect to return to Australia, and
• country they are travelling to

If a customer has advised that their overseas travel meets the initial criteria for an approved temporary absence, the case must be referred to Centrelink International Services (CIS) to assess entitlement and code the departure. The Portability Script will guide service centre and Smart Centre staff when it is necessary to refer to CIS.

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.