Raising Pension Supplement and Seniors Supplement Payment (SSP) debts 107-04020210

The Pension Supplement commenced on 20 September 2009 and replaced:

• Utilities Allowance (UA)
• Telephone Allowance (TAL)
• Pharmaceutical Allowance (PhA), and
• Goods and Services Tax (GST) Supplement

Raise a Pension Supplement debt under subsection 1223 (1) of the Social Security Act if:

• a Pension Supplement payment is made, and
• the customer who received the payment was not eligible

The only component in the Seniors Supplement Payment (SSP) is the Energy Supplement (ES), see ‘Quarterly Supplement historical information’ in Quarterly Supplement.

From 20 March 2017, ES ceased being paid to Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) holders who did not meet grandfathering provisions.

ES debts are raised as an SSP debt under subsection 1223(1) of the Social Security Act if:

• an SSP payment is made, and
• the customer who received the payment was not eligible

Pension Supplement and ES customers are subject to the general 14 day notification provisions.

ES is paid to customers with their Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card (CSHC). Customers must inform Services Australia when:

• they expect their income to exceed the CSHC limits, and
• when they know their income has exceeded the limits

Pension Supplement is paid through the pension system. It is included with a person's regular income support payment. In general, Pension Supplement debts generate as a component of a pension debt.

Energy Supplements (ES) are issued through the Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card (CSHC) system. Manual action is required to detect and raise a debt.

The provisional ES debt period starts on the date of receipt of the Notice of Assessment (NOA) which has the customer's assessable income as exceeding the income thresholds for their circumstances. See the Resources page for an example to calculate an ES quarterly supplement debt amount.

If the customer provides an estimate, the debt period starts from 1 July of the estimate year where:

• it is later determined to be incorrect, and
• the customer knew the estimate was based on false information or the facts were misrepresented

Pension Supplement debts and ES debts are not recoverable by withholdings from Pension Supplement Payments or ES respectively.

Both supplement payments are recoverable by withholdings from other payments paid under:

• Social Security Act 1991
• A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999
• Student Assistance Act 1973

The References page has a link to the relevant Acts.