Residence requirements 106-06000000

The procedures within this topic cover Australian residence rules for all social security payments and concession cards, and family assistance and parental leave payments. To be considered an Australian resident, the person must be residing in Australia and they must have legal permanent residence status. Some payments and concessions can be granted to customers who are not Australian residents but they must still satisfy certain residence requirements to be considered qualified.

The Department of Home Affairs provides Services Australia with residence and movement information automatically, electronically and in near real time via a datalink. Where a datalink can be established, and a customer has a travel or visa record, Home Affairs will advise the customer's visa and movement details. Customers will generally be required to provide additional residence information with their claim or when other relevant changes occur. Where information has been provided directly from Home Affairs, the residence information from this source will take precedence over any conflicting information provided by the customer.

Australia has international agreements with a number of countries. Agreements may help a customer receive an Australian social security pension if they are not an Australian resident or in Australia, and/or if they do not meet the minimum Australian residence period to qualify.

Agreement provisions also modify the rate of payment so generally a customer is better off receiving an autonomous payment where possible.