Special Benefit (SpB) customer going overseas 003-08070040

If a SpB customer leaves Australia to live in another country, SpB and any concessions or add-ons will stop on the date of departure as the customer is no longer an Australian resident and loses qualification.

SpB customers (including principal carers of a dependent child and certain temporary visa holders) who temporarily leave Australia for an approved reason may be entitled to payment for a specific negotiated period but no more than 6 weeks.

SpB is portable for a specific negotiated period (expected to be only a few weeks but not more than the maximum portability period) for absences about:

• eligible medical treatment of a kind not available in Australia
• humanitarian reasons such as custody or adoption proceedings
• an acute family crisis such as the death of a family member or a family member suffering an illness which is serious

The allowable absence reasons are subject to very specific guidelines.

Attention should be given to the source of the funds used to pay for overseas travel and any free board and lodgings or financial support that may be provided. Make sure all general qualifications for Special Benefit will be satisfied during the period of absence.

The rate paid for SpB customers who are payable overseas will include add-ons (if qualified) for the period of the absence up to the maximum portability period.

Customers will need to provide acceptable proof of the absence to determine if they satisfy one of the approved reasons, preferably before their departure.

In an emergency, if it is accepted that the customer is leaving for an approved reason they will need to provide supporting documents on their return. If the documents are not acceptable or not provided, a debt will be raised.

If a customer provides evidence or supporting documents to a service centre about a previous temporary absence, which was not for an approved reason at the time, there is no need to run the Review officer script as a decision on their portability has not yet been made. Refer the case to Centrelink International Services (CIS). See Resources for contact details.

SpB will stop from the date of departure if the reason for leaving Australia is not acceptable or proof of the reason is not provided either before or after the absence.

Use the Portability Script - Departures and Returns to assess the customer's entitlement to payment while they are outside Australia. If the script is available, use it to code the absence from Australia.

Service centre and Smart Centre staff are responsible for handling the portability interview and any departure coding where a customer clearly does not satisfy an approved reason or where the customer is leaving Australia to live in another country.

If a customer has indicated their overseas travel meets the initial criteria for an approved reason, refer the case 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.

Only CIS have the delegation to assess, approve and record an approved absence.

A customer's portability period starts on the day they leave Australia. For portability purposes, a customer is not 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. They are considered to be inside Australia on that day, and therefore no longer affected by portability. If they leave and return on the same day, this is not considered a departure from Australia for portability purposes.

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.

If a customer who is travelling for an approved reason advises they are departing on a specific date, and then departs Australia more than 3 days before or more than 3 days after the advised date:

• Any specific negotiated period of portability approved for the original date of departure will no longer apply
• The customer's approved reason for travel outside Australia may no longer be valid, and payments will stop when the immigration datalink verifies the customer's actual date of departure
• It is essential that a customer advises of any change in their departure details before they travel if they want to be paid for the absence

If the customer is unable to return to Australia at the end of the specific negotiated period, they should contact Centrelink International Services (CIS) or their payment will stop. If more time overseas is needed, this can be discussed and any approved absence possibly extended.

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), or
• the customer is still needed overseas at the end of the maximum portability period

In both situations, refer the customer to CIS for assessment and coding.

If the customer is the principal carer of a dependent child (or children) and that child (or all dependent children) leaves Australia, it can affect the customer's entitlement. It may also have an impact on the mutual obligation requirements of a customer.

If the child goes overseas to live in another country, they stop being a dependent child and the customer will stop being considered the principal carer for that child immediately on the child's departure. Any payment or concession paid to the customer for the care for the child will stop on departure.

If a child leaves Australia temporarily or was born outside Australia, the customer will generally still be regarded as the principal carer for up to 6 weeks, even if the customer remains in Australia.

A person cannot be the principal carer of any child who has been outside Australia for more than 6 weeks, unless:

• the customer is outside Australia with that child, and
• they are still entitled to the social security payment they were receiving when they left Australia (that is, the customer's maximum portability period has not stopped)

If the customer returns to Australia without the child and the child has already been outside Australia for more than 6 weeks, the customer will stop being considered the principal carer for that child from the date of their return.

The customer will stop being the principal carer of that child for the entire period of the later absence, if:

• a customer has stopped being the principal carer of a child because the child has been outside Australia for more than 6 weeks, and
• the child returns to Australia for less than 6 weeks before going overseas again

If the child returns to Australia and the customer remains overseas, the customer continues to be the principal carer for the child for the remainder of the customer's portability period. If the child leaves Australia again less than 6 weeks from return and re-joins the customer overseas, the customer will continue to be considered the principal carer for that child for the remainder of the customer's 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, payment can be automatically or manually restored, if they return to Australia within 13 weeks of their payment stopping. See Returning to Australia.