Switzerland Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04033000

In Switzerland, social security is based on a three tier model of compulsory contributions, usually through deductions from paid employment, compulsory and voluntary occupational schemes and private savings.

Contributions insure individuals against disability and unemployment and provides for income in the form of a pension once the person reaches retirement age.

The first pillar of the Swiss system covers most workers and the self-employed and includes minimum pensions and non-contributory benefits for those with low income.

The legislation and collection of contributions is the responsibility of the Swiss government but administration and payment of pensions is the responsibility of the centralised institutes for social security and employment and individual cantons.

Wife Pension and Bereavement Allowance

Wife Pension was sunsetted in 1995 and, along with Bereavement Allowance, ceased to be paid from 2020. See:

• Wife Pension
• Bereavement Allowance

The Agreement with Switzerland started on 1 January 2008. There are no previous versions.

For Australia:

Department of Social Services (DSS)

For Switzerland:

• Federal Department of the Interior
• Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (EDI)
• Département fédéral de l'intérieur (DFI)
• Dipartimento federale dell'interno (DFI)

For Australia:

Services Australia

For Switzerland:

• Central Compensation Office
• Zentrale Ausgleichsstelle (ZAS)
• Centrale de Compensation (CdC)
• Ufficio Centrale di Compesazione (UCC)

For Australia:

• Centrelink International Services (CIS)

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for anything relating to double coverage. See Double coverage.

For Switzerland:

• Central Compensation Office in Geneva
• Disability Insurance Office for people living abroad
• IV-Stelle für Versicherte mit Wohnsitz im Ausland (IVST)
• Office AI pour les assurés résidant à l'étranger OAIE
• Ufficio AI per gli assicurati residenti all'estero (UAIE)

Under the Agreement with Switzerland, information held about customers may be exchanged between the Liaison Agencies to determine entitlement to payments under the Agreement (Article 21.1).

Information can only be exchanged when a person:

• wishes to make use of the Agreement, or
• claims payment after the Agreement started, or
• was in receipt of a payment when the Agreement started and provides authorisation

Forms for authorisation were obtained from those in receipt of payments when the Agreement started. A specific authorisation form is included with claims for Swiss pension for non-Swiss nationals. See the Claim forms and processes on the Swiss payments tab.

For more information on bulk data exchange, see International Data Exchange Program and auto indexation of foreign pensions.

The following liaison form is completed by International Services (CIS) and sent to Switzerland:

• Australia/Switzerland Social Security Agreement (AUS187CH)

For assistance with creating and completing the liaison form, see: Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

These forms are completed by Switzerland or the customer and are returned to International Services (CIS).

Switzerland sends a copy of the customers Notice of Grant (NOG) and uses the European form E205 to confirm insurance periods in Switzerland.

Specifically created requests are sent to CIS where individual liaison is required.

Under the Administrative Arrangements each country will arrange for an agreed report to be and sent with claims for disability pensions.

Medical examinations may also be undertaken upon request. Provisions for reimbursement of costs may apply.

For Australia

For Australian DSP claims, Switzerland arrange for the Detailed Medical Report (AUS175) to be completed and sent to Australia.

For Switzerland

For Swiss invalidity claims, International Services (CIS) arrange for a version of the generic European form E213 to be completed and sent to Switzerland. See Foreign pension medical assessments.

Note: Switzerland will often send requests for information to customers as part of the claim process in foreign language. Translations are available through International Services (CIS). See the Resources page for a link.

Any enquiries about double coverage or certificates of coverage should be directed to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

The Agreement with Switzerland includes double coverage provisions. Certificates of coverage are used to confirm exemptions.

See double coverage/certificates of coverage information in International Social Security Agreements.

Any queries about taxation of pensions or the requirement to lodge a tax return should be directed to:

• In the other country - the tax authority in the other country directly
• In Australia - the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website

For general information on taxation, including issuing Australian Payment Summaries, see the Taxation information in International Social Security Agreements.

Tax treaty

Australia has a double tax agreement with Switzerland. Tax deductions from pensions by one country are allowed as a credit against tax payable for residents of the other country.

Tax deductions

Swiss pensions are not taxed at source.

Swiss tax year

Switzerland generally uses the calendar year (1 January to 31 December) as the tax year.

Any queries about:

• Health Insurance coverage in the other country, the customer should be directed to contact the health insurance authority in the other country
• Medicare coverage should be directed to Medicare, see Medicare Consumers Program Support - Medicare Consumers Section - Medicare Branch

For general information on health insurance and Medicare coverage, see Health Insurance/Medicare information in International Social Security Agreements.

Australia does not have a reciprocal health agreement with Switzerland.

There are no health insurance deductions taken out of Swiss pensions.

German, French and Italian are the major languages used in Switzerland. Romansch is an official language but is not widely used.

Naming conventions and pronunciation for:

• German
• French
• Italian

Telephone country code is +41.

Street address

Herr [title]

FirstName Surname [name of addressee]

Bovetstrasse 4/8 [street name + number/apartment or floor number]

3007 Bern [postcode + name of town]

SWITZERLAND [country]

Post Office Box (Postfach) address

Herr [title]

FirstName Surname [name of addressee]

Postfach [P.O Box]

3000 Bern 8 [postcode + name of town + post box number]

SWITZERLAND [country]

Note: the second last line must say P.O Box. Any additional number for the P.O Box location must appear on the last line after the postcode and town.

A claim for Australian payment may include Italian Patronati documents or references. There are Patronati arrangements in Switzerland due to the many Italians working there. There may be instances where an Italian born claimant has Swiss contributions but has never resided in Switzerland. They live in Italy but travel over the border into Switzerland for work only. Customers who are resident in one country cannot use contributions from another country to claim Australian payment.

Switzerland recognises same-sex registered partnerships.

For Australia, the Agreement with Switzerland (Article 2.1) covers:

• Age Pension
• Disability Support Pension (DSP) for severely disabled
• Parenting Payment Single (PPS)
• Double Orphan Pension (DOP)
• Carer Payment (CP)

Notes:

• While CP is covered, the Agreement cannot be used to be paid CP outside Australia and the person must be autonomously qualified in Australia. This means that a person cannot be granted or transferred to CP under the Agreement
• Only a ‘widowed person may be granted PPS under the Agreement. 'Widowed person' means a person (either sex) who stops being a member of a couple because of the death of their legal partner (de jure) and who is not currently a member of a couple (Article 1)
• Additional child amounts, also known as Overseas Child Component and Additional Child Payment, are included in the proportional rate calculation
• The DOP and Bereavement Smart Centre Processing Team assess and code all DOP claims. Re-categorise DOP claims to ZIAM_DOP_NCL. For assistance, see Bereavement/Double Orphan Pension Helpdesk
• While BVA cannot be claimed after 20 March 2020, claims lodged prior to this date may still be received. See Assessing Bereavement Allowance (BVA) new claims

Claims for Australian payments under agreements use the same methods and processes as domestic claims. See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements.

Forms to claim an Australian payment in Switzerland can be obtained by contacting the Swiss authorities or International Services (CIS). Forms can also be downloaded from Services Australia website. See the Resources page for a link.

Forms required

Forms are available in either bilingual English/French or English/German.

For all payments:

• AUS140CHF/AUS140CHG - Australian pension claim - Agreement with Switzerland
• Mod(iA)CHF/Mod(iA)CHG - Income and assets - French/German

Additional medical forms:

• DSP:
• AUS142CHF/AUS142CHG - Work Capacity - Customer Information - French/German

Forms can be lodged at the Swiss Compensation Office in Geneva.

Under the Administrative Arrangements, the Swiss Liaison Agency will verify the customer's identity and send the claim to CIS with a completed Liaison Form including periods of coverage in Switzerland and Swiss pension details, see the Exchange of information and liaison forms on the General information tab for the Swiss Liaison Forms.

If a person is not an Australian resident and in Australia on the date the claim is made, they may use the Agreement to meet the residence rules for claims if, on that date, they are:

• an Australian resident, a resident of Switzerland or a third Agreement country that accepts claims for Australian pension under another agreement (Article 17.1(a)), and
• physically present in Australia, Switzerland or that third country (Article 17.1(b))

Australian claims under the Swiss Agreement may be lodged in some other Australian social security agreement countries.

Switzerland will not accept claims for Australian benefits under other Australian social security agreements. This means that a claim lodged under another agreement in Switzerland will not be successful even if that other agreement allows it.

See Claim Lodgement Matrix (CLM).

The normal rules for working out the date a claim is 'made' and the start day apply to a claim under the Agreement with Switzerland. However, the Agreement also allows the following dates to be used:

• the date of lodgement of a claim for an Australian payment in Switzerland to be used as the date of lodgement in Australia (Article 27.1)
• the date of lodgement of a claim for Swiss payment as the date of lodgement of the corresponding Australian payment (FP claim = AU claim) provided that the customer declared an affiliation with the Australian legislation (Article 26.1)

See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements) and Start Day (CLK) for coding assistance.

The Agreement allows:

• totalisation of periods of qualifying Australian residence and periods of coverage in Switzerland to meet any minimum periods to qualify for an Australian pension, for example, 10 years for Age Pension (Article 18.1)
• the total of any non-continuous Swiss periods of coverage to be considered to be continuous to meet any continuous residence requirement to claim an Australian pension (policy)

Notes:

• Only Swiss insurance that can be used to claim a Swiss payment can be used, for example, not refunded contributions. (Article 18.4)
• Overlapping periods are only counted once (Article 18.2)
• Policy advice is that adjoining periods of Australian qualifying residence and Swiss periods of coverage, with a break of up to three months in between, can also be considered to be continuous

Swiss periods of coverage are insurance periods and are periods of contributions as well as equivalent periods, which are determined or recognised as insurance periods, under the Swiss legislation.

To be able to use the totalisation provisions, a person who is not an Australian resident at the date of lodgement must have at least 12 months Australian Working Life Residence (WLR) in Australia of which six months must be continuous (Article 18.3(a)). Note: unlike WLR for rate, this period cannot be rounded.

No minimum WLR is required if the person is an Australian resident at the date of lodgement (Article 18.3(b)).

The Agreement allows the ongoing residence requirement for DSP and PPS to be met if the customer continues to reside in Switzerland (Article 5).

The Agreement with Switzerland (Article 19.1) refers to the overall rate calculation contained in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (S12(1)).

This means:

• customers paid under the Agreement who are outside Australia are paid a proportional rate according to their Australian Working Life Residence (WLR)
• the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applies, and
• additional child amounts are included in the proportional rate. These amounts are paid automatically as a component of the Australian pension if the customer is qualified (S14A, SS(IA)A 1999).

Note: this does not apply to Double Orphan Pension (DOP).

The proportional rate also includes the proportionalisation of the Swiss pension (Randisi concession) for use in the income test (Article 19.1). The rate of foreign pension used in the income test is the customer’s Australian WLR divided by 300. The Agreement determines the Randisi proportion (300 months). This is different to the legislation that is used to determine the proportional rate (420 months in most cases).

Autonomous customers who are paid a proportional rate and in receipt of a Swiss pension will also have the Randisi concession applied to their Swiss pension (Article 19.2).

Although a person may be qualified for an Australian payment or portable outside Australia, if the customer has no Working Life Residence (WLR) the rate of payment outside Australia will be nil.

When a person is paid a proportional rate under an agreement, Rent Assistance (RA) cannot be paid. Other add-ons such as Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement are payable under normal add-ons portability rules. See Portability of Add-ons.

Examples of when a customer is paid a proportional rate includes (but not limited to):

• permanently overseas
• temporarily overseas longer than 26 weeks for age pension
• former resident transferring to the agreement for portability
• resident in Australia and paid a proportional rate due to the comparison rate

Returns to Australia:

The proportional rate continues to apply for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia (Article 19.3).

If there is no change to the country of residence, any movement is considered temporary and a review is set to automatically change the rate after a continuous period of 26 weeks. If a delegate determines that a person has changed their country of residence, coding the Country of Residence (CRES) screen will automatically apply the correct rate calculation.

For returns to Australia before 9 June 2018, manually code the Temporary Return to Aust Ind on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen

Customers in Australia under the Agreement are paid a direct deduction rate (Article 19.4). That is, all Swiss payments covered by the Agreement, including social welfare payments, are not assessed as income but will be deducted dollar-for-dollar from the maximum rate of the Australian payment before the application of the income or assets test.

Note: this does not apply to Double Orphan Pension (DOP).

A Comparison Rate applies inside Australia, that is, the higher of direct deduction or proportional rate is paid (Article 19.6).

Note: it is important to remember that if a person is paid a proportional rate inside Australia they can be paid all components of the Pension Supplement, the Energy Supplement but not other add-ons such as Rent Assistance. However, all other parts of the agreement proportional rate calculation apply such as additional child amounts and the proportionalisation of the foreign pension in the income test.

Note: customers on a Comparison Rate who are accruing Australian Working Life Residence (WLR), for example, DSP, should be reviewed every 12 months from the date of lodgement.

Customers inside Australia and receiving a Comparison Rate on 1 July 2004 are 'saved' (grandfathered) from the 1 July 2014 AWLR changes and have their rate calculated using:

• their partner's AWLR (if applicable), and
• 300 month denominator until either they:
• leave Australia, or
• move to an Inside Australia (direct deduction) rate, or
• transfer to an autonomous assessment, or
• lose entitlement

Customers receiving the Comparison Rate and saved from the 1 July 2014 AWLR changes must have this assessment made manually on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen.

The rate paid from grant of a new claim is based on where the customer is present, even if resident in the other country and irrespective of the 26 week temporary departure provision.

For example, a person who is resident in Switzerland lodges a claim while temporarily in Australia:

• If granted from a date when they were or are still in Australia, they will be paid the inside Australia rate from grant. The rate will swap to the proportional rate from the date they leave Australia
• If granted from a date when they were again outside Australia, for example, early claim, they will be paid the proportional rate immediately

Departures from Australia:

The inside Australia rate continues to be paid for the first 26 weeks of a temporary departure from Australia (Article 19.7).

The Agreement with Switzerland specifies the rate calculation that applies 'where an Australian pension is payable whether by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise to a person who is outside Australia' (Article 19.1). See Outside Australia in Rate calculation.

Note: 'or otherwise' refers to autonomous customers.

Payment's exempt under the Agreement are generally exempt for autonomous customers (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

See Assessment and exempt payments on the Swiss payments tab

Under the Agreement, provided the customer remains qualified, Australian payments are payable indefinitely in both countries, that is, for temporary or permanent absences (Article 5.1(b)).

Portability to third countries for a customer paid under the Agreement is the same as for an autonomous customer leaving Australia (Article 5.2(b)). See Portability of payments.

If necessary, a customer in receipt of an autonomous payment covered by the Agreement may be able to transfer to the Agreement if they are in Switzerland when their normal portability period expires. The portability under the Agreement then applies, see Portability.

Note:

• this does not apply to Carer Payment (CP).
• the customer must meet the transfer requirements and satisfy any payment specific requirements under the Agreement, for example, being severely disabled for DSP.

Once a customer transfers to the Agreement, they are then considered to be paid by virtue of the Agreement and all provisions of the agreement apply, including rate of payment. See Rate calculation.

See Transfers to Agreement pension/payment when travelling overseas.

A person who has sufficient Australian qualifying residence (or an exemption) can only transfer from the Agreement to autonomous if they are an Australian resident and in Australia.

On return to Australia, system processing will automatically transfer to from the Agreement to autonomous if the person is an Australian resident who has only used the Agreement to extend their portability while outside Australia.

Customers who transfer to autonomous may be affected by the former resident provisions if they leave Australia again within 2 years of becoming an Australian resident. See Former resident provisions.

For Australian payments made into bank accounts outside Australia. See Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD).

• Old Age Pension (AGE):
• Altersrenten
• Rentes de vieillesse
• Rendite di vecchiaia
• Disability Pension (INV):
• Invalidenrenten
• Rentes d'invalidité
• Rendite d'invalidità
• Survivor Pensions (SUR):
• Hinterlassenenrenten
• Rentes de survivants
• Rendite per superstiti

Note: Survivor Pensions can be paid as Widow/Widower Pensions or Orphan Pensions.

• Widow/Widower:
• witwer/witwen
• de veuve/de veuf
• vedova/vedovo
• Orphan:
• waisen
• d'orphelin
• d'orfano

Notes:

• Extraordinary pensions may be paid to residents of Switzerland who do not meet minimum pension requirements:
• Ausserordentliche
• Extraordinaire
• Straordinario

• Supplementary pension for wives:
• Zusatzrente für Ehefrauen
• Rentes complémentaires pour épouse
• Rendita completiva per moglie
• Pensions for children
• Kinderrenten
• Rentes pour enfant
• Rendite per figli
• Helplessness allowance (CAR)
• Hilflosenentschädigung
• Allocation pour impotent
• Assegno per grandi invalidi

Note: Helplessness allowance may be paid with AGE or INV if requires care and may include Supplement for Intense Care:

• Intensivpflegezuschlag
• Supplément pour soins intenses
• Supplemento per cure intense

• Personal Assistance Allowance
• Assistenzbeitrag
• Contribution d'assistance
• Contributo per l'assistenza

Note: Personal Assistance Allowance may be paid with INV (and continues if transfer to AGE)

• Rehabilitation measures (REB)
• Eingliederungsmassnahmen
• Mesures de readaptation
• Provvedimenti d'integrazione

Note: Rehabilitation measures may include cash benefits.

Supplementary pensions for those with low incomes.

• Ergänzungsleistungen
• Prestations complémentaires
• Prestazioni complementari

Switzerland may pay out lump sums for either:

• Small rates of pension:
• Einmalige Abfindungen
• Indemnités forfaitaires
• Indennità forfettaire
• Refunds of contributions:
• Rückvergütung
• Remboursement des cotisations
• Rimborso del contribute

These lump sums are not subject to the Agreement and are assessable as ordinary income over 12 months from date of receipt (s1073 Social Security Act 1991). See Treatment of lump sums.

Note: the Foreign Claims Details (FGD) screen must be updated to 'FIN-NOM' when lump sum FID coding is completed.

The requirement to claim Swiss pensions applies to Swiss AGE, INV and SUR.

Note: the requirement to claim SUR does not apply to Orphan Pension. Customers may voluntarily claim Orphan Pension using the SUR claim pack. See the Claim forms and processes on the Australian payments tab.

Contributions paid by employers on behalf of employees. Can also include child-rearing periods.

The Eligibility and coding tab contains detailed information on Swiss payments that are subject to CFP legislation.

• Claim packs available: AGE, INV and SUR

Note: SUR claims may result in a reassessment of existing AGE/INV rather than grant of SUR. If so, when notified, SUR should be coded as FIN-NOM on Foreign Claim Details (FGD) screen and AGE/INV adjusted.

Claim packs for Swiss payments can be issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS).

Specific requirements for Swiss claims:

The customer is to complete and provide the following:

Note: non-Swiss nationals must complete the general authorisation form before information can be exchanged.

AGE claims:

Application for an old-age pension for persons residing outside Switzerland

INV claims:

Application for AI Benefits for Adults

SUR claims:

Application for a survivors pension for persons residing outside Switzerland

Requests for Additional Information

Where information provided with the claim for Swiss pension is incomplete, Switzerland will send requests for information direct to customers.

Return of foreign pension claim

Under the Administrative Arrangements, Swiss forms can be lodged in Australia at any service centre.

• All foreign pension claims and supporting documents must be scanned, and
• The original foreign claim form, the original Croatian workbook and (copies of) supporting documents must be sent in paper form by internal mail to International Services. See Processing a foreign pension claim.

International Services (CIS) only:

CIS will complete the following and attach to the foreign pension claim to send to the agreement country. See Agreement Liaison Detail (ALD) for method of transmission.

All claims:

Australia/Switzerland Agreement on Social Security - For Australian Liaison Form (AUS187CH)

For assistance with creating and completing the liaison form, see: Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

Note: the return of the general authorisation form must be recorded.

Code the DEX Authorisation: field on the Foreign Claim Details (FGD) screen as 'Y'. Forms should be scanned to the customer record and original sent with the Swiss pension claim.

INV claims:

E213 variant and copies of Australian disability information.

Enquiries regarding claims for Swiss payments in Switzerland or a third country should be directed to the Swiss social security authorities. See the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Swiss payments can be made in Australia by direct deposit.

Note: any queries about the non-payment of Swiss pension should be directed to the Swiss pension authorities, See the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Customers receive 12 regular monthly payments. Coded as Freq: 'MTH'.

Payments into Australia are paid in Swiss Francs. All foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency. Swiss Frances (CHF) Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

Swiss payments are increased for cost of living (CPI) in principle in January every two years but may be earlier if CPI is more than 4%.

For more information on bulk exchanges of information with other countries, see International Data Exchange Program and auto indexation of foreign pensions.

Swiss AGE/INV/SUR are:

• proportionalised according to the customer's WLR before being included in the income test where the Australian rate is proportional, including Agreement and autonomous customers (Article 19.1), and
• ordinary income in Australia for autonomous customers and direct deduction if paid under the Agreement (Article 19.4)

Assessable lump sums:

Lump sums maybe a refund of contributions or payout of a small pension. Lump sums are assessable as ordinary income over 12 months from date of receipt (s1073 Social Security Act 1991). See Treatment of lump sums.

Lump sums ae coded on the Foreign Income Details (FID) screen as Type: 'LMP'. See Treatment of lump sums.

Note: if the customer has a claim in progress on FGS, but is not granted a foreign pension, FGD screen must be updated to 'FIN-NOM' when lump sum FID coding is completed

Each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 19.5). Amounts coded in the Social Welfare: field (Swiss supplementary pension only) are exempt for customers who are resident in Switzerland (Article 20.1). Note: SUR claims may result in a reassessment of existing AGE/INV rather than grant of SUR. If so, when notified, SUR should be coded as 'FIN-NOM' on Foreign Claim Details (FGD) screen and AGE/INV adjusted.

Supplementary pension for wives

As an entitlement of the pensioner it is considered part of the main pension.

Pensions for children

As an entitlement of the pensioner it is exempt if paid in respect of a dependent child otherwise assessable income of the pensioner but subject to same treatment as AGE/INV/SUR.

Helplessness allowance (CAR)

These benefits are covered by the Agreement and are treated the same as AGE/INV/SUR for the period maintained (see above).

Personal Assistance Allowance

Considered part of CAR.

Rehabilitation measures (REB)

Policy is that any cash benefits are exempt from the income test.

Extraordinary pensions

Treated as AGE/INV/SUR.

See Other known payments.

Amounts that are treated as a direct deduction under an agreement are exempt from the income test (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

Note: payments that are exempt from the income test are included in a direct deduction rate, for example, under an agreement rate calculation or for Special Benefit.

Under the Agreement, means-tested benefits are exempt from the income test for customers who are resident in Switzerland (Article 20.1).

For Switzerland, this is the supplementary pension:

• Ergänzungsleistungen
• Prestations complémentaires
• Prestazioni complementari

The exemption applies to a person at grant or if the person leaves Switzerland provide they have not again become an Australian resident since last residing in Switzerland. See the Assessment and exempt payments on the Swiss payments tab.

This exemption also applies to autonomous customers.

Swiss restitution payments for National Socialist (Nazi) persecution are exempt in all circumstances under s8(8)(n) Social Security Act 1991. See the Other known payments on the Swiss payments tab.

The Eligibility and coding tab contains detailed information on the coding of Swiss payments covered by the Agreement. Where a lump sum is paid, see Treatment of lump sums.

Supplementary pension for wives

Added to the pensioner's AGE/INV/SUR in the Basic Amount: field.

Pensions for children

See Foreign Pension coding.

Note: if not exempt, payment must be added to the pensioner's AGE/INV/SUR in the Basic Amount: field and clearly documented.

Helplessness allowance (CAR)

Coded as Type: 'CAR' in the Basic Amount: field.

Personal Assistance Allowance

Added to CAR in the Basic Amount: field.

Rehabilitation measures (REB)

Coded as Type: 'REB' in Social Welfare Amt: field.

Extraordinary pensions

Coded as AGE/INV/SUR

The Agreement includes embargo provisions (Article 29.1) but they are not used.

Arrears debts for customers and their partners are raised under s1228A Social Security Act 1991 and recovered via normal methods under the Act. See Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears.

A contravention debt may also occur if the customer does not advise of the grant of their Swiss payment within their notification period. See Foreign pension coding.

Life Certificates may be issued by Switzerland on an ad hoc basis.

Swiss Life Certificates can be certified by an officer of the department.

For information assisting customers with Life Certificates, see Assisting customers to claim a foreign pension.

Customers in Australia are sent notices at grant. Customers outside Switzerland will only receive notices for indexation on request.

Payments into Australia are paid in Swiss Francs. All foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency. Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts - Swiss Francs (CHF).

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

Payments to Holocaust survivors from the agreed Settlement Fund set up by Swiss banks.

Assessment: Exempt income s8(11) Social Security Act 1991 (Determination 2 of 1999 effective 20 January 1999).

Coding: Type: 'RSP' in Exempt Restitution: field on Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen.

For assistance with coding:

• other generic benefits paid by the Swiss Government (including by funds not covered by the Agreement), see Foreign pension coding
• any other income received from Switzerland, see Foreign income and assets