Changing details of a customer's travel to and/or from Australia 061-03040000

Julie was taking a short break and going to New Zealand for 2 weeks from 14 to 29 January during which the JSP will not be payable. Julie is now going to leave on 22 January and will return on 5 February.

The change in the departure date means that Julie needs to continue to satisfy their mutual obligation requirements between 14 and 21 January including attending any interviews or reviews. Julie's payment will continue for a further week and will need to be restored a week later

Note: JSP granted under the New Zealand 10 year residence exemption cannot be restored if there is a gap in entitlement.

Terry received a phone call advising that a parent was critically ill in hospital. Terry booked a flight for 10 March to travel to the United States for 3 weeks. Terry phoned Services Australia on 9 March to advise of the absence and was granted payment of JSP for 3 weeks under the approved portability provisions.

Due to a mix up with flights, Terry was unable to leave Australia until 14 March. The Service Officer must make a new portability decision based on the new departure date including assessing whether the absence is still an approved absence. The Service Officer was satisfied that the delay was due to a mix up with flights and that the customer's parent was still critically ill. Terry was granted 3 weeks portability from the new departure date.

Note: problems with payment will occur if the customer does not advise of the change or the Service Officer does not redo the portability decision, where there is a difference of more than 3 days between the customer's approved absence date and the actual date of departure. Without rechecking portability, there is no way to determine whether the approved absence still applies and therefore payment would cease on the day of departure.

Angela and partner advised that they would leave Australia on 2 March. Angela was advised by the Service Officer who used the Portability Script - Departures and Returns that the payment would continue indefinitely and would be payable at a reduced rate after 26 weeks absence.

Angela later advised that they were actually leaving Australia earlier than planned, on 2 February instead due to a relative's illness. The Service Officer re-ran the script which confirmed that payment would stop on departure because Angela was identified as a former resident as at 2 February, having returned to reside in Australia less than 2 years ago. By 20 February, Angela would have been an Australian resident for the last 2 years, making Age Pension portable if they left Australia after that date. See Former resident overseas absences when a payment is based on past/prior periods of residence for further information.

Bill was originally going to leave Australia on 10 June to live in Canada. The DSP would not be payable under domestic legislation as Bill has not been assessed as satisfying the no future work capacity portability provisions, however Bill could be paid indefinitely under the international agreement with Canada if assessed as 'severely disabled'. If Bill meets the agreement qualifications, DSP would be paid at a proportional rate of 144/420 due to having lived in Australia as an Australian resident for 12 years.

However, Bill's departure was delayed by 5 weeks until 15 July. This means Bill would receive a proportional rate of 145/420 due to having lived in Australia as an Australian resident for 12 years plus 1 month.

Stephen was planning to leave Australia on 16 February to start an approved unit of study that forms part of a course in Australia. Stephen plans to return to Australia on 28 June, soon after completing the course. A Service Officer from Services Australia confirmed the YA (student) would be payable under overseas study provisions for the duration of the absence.

Stephen phoned in early June to advise of an extension to the overseas studies for a second semester, which would commence on 8 August and finish 10 November. As long as Stephen continues to satisfy the YA student qualification criteria and can provide proof of the reason for their absence to support extension of their study overseas, the YA payment will continue to be paid until completion of the semester (10 November). If Stephen decides to remain overseas for a holiday after this date, the payment would cease upon completion of the second semester. See Youth Allowance customer going overseas for further details.