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

These payments include:

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP)
• Youth Allowance (YA)
• Austudy
• ABSTUDY
• Special Benefit (SpB)
• Disability Support Pension (DSP)
• Farm Household Allowance (FHA)
• Or the following payments paid under Special Benefit rules
• family assistance
• Double Orphan Pension (DOP) and/or
• Paid Parental Leave scheme payments

JSP, YA, AUS, ABSTUDY, FHA and SpB can usually only be paid overseas:

• in limited circumstances and,
• up to a maximum of 6 weeks to deal with the reason for which restricted portability was granted

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
• Note: Only the minimum amount of time required (usually 2 to 3 weeks) for the customer to deal with the reason restricted portability was granted should be approved. Periods beyond 2 to 3 weeks up to the maximum 6 weeks should only be considered and well documented in exceptional circumstances

SpB, family assistance, Paid Parental Leave scheme payments 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.

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
• the date they expect to return to Australia, and
• the country to which they are travelling

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.

Only Centrelink International Services (CIS) Service Officers have the delegation to approve payment overseas for an approved reason.

These special circumstances are:

• A customer who is going overseas to receive eligible medical treatment of a kind not available in Australia
• Humanitarian reasons which include attending legal proceedings (including custody cases) or adoption proceedings. Note: this does not apply to Austudy, ABSTUDY or YA students and Australian Apprentices
• Dealing with an acute family crisis such as death of a family member, or a family member suffering serious illness

Note: some payments may have portability approved due to travelling for a training camp with the Australian Defence Force Reserves. This portability reason is subject to different rules than the Approved Temporary Absence reasons, but the case must still be referred to CIS to assess entitlement.

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