Completing, assessing and coding the Residence in Australia and other countries Mod O 106-07100090

Eligibility for most Australian pensions and allowances is based on a customer's Australian residence and financial circumstances. A customer must satisfy the residence requirements for the applicable payment before grant. Once granted, a customer's rate of payment may be affected by their Australian residence in certain circumstances, and they may also be required to lodge a claim for a foreign pension.

Residence information is required to determine if the customer:

• has lodged a valid claim
• has continuing qualification for most payments
• can satisfy waiting periods which apply to many payments or has an exemption from these, or
• can satisfy qualifying residence periods, or has an exemption from these

In any case when a person has lived overseas, a Service Officer must determine when assessing the claim whether the person:

• is an Australian resident, and
• satisfies minimum residence requirements (or has an exemption from them)

Lived overseas means when a customer has lived long-term or for a long period in a country other than Australia. It does not mean holidays or short trips. Generally, a customer can be outside Australia temporarily for up to 3 years. Significant periods outside Australia should be investigated but not coded on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen if the customer was still residing in Australia. For more information, see Assessing if a customer is an Australian resident.

Details of all periods of living overseas (from date of birth to the present) are required, to check whether a customer is entitled to a comparable foreign payment.

The customer may need to provide evidence that they have actually lived in Australia for specified periods. The following documents are acceptable as evidence:

• Certificate of Australian citizenship
• Document of Identity issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Overseas passport stamped for entry to Australia
• Overseas documents, if offered with a passport stamped for entry to Australia
• Australian passport
• Taxation notices of assessment
• Australian birth certificate for the customers child/children
• Any other official documents issued to the customer while they were living in Australia. For example, school reports or drivers licence

If there is an active link between a customer’s Customer Reference Number (CRN) and their Department of Home Affairs record, the Immigration Datalink will record details of their visa and movement information from 1 September 1994 and grants of Australian citizenship, if available.

If the datalink is unsuccessful, the residence information will need to be manually recorded. Data from the Immigration Datalink takes precedence over any conflicting information provided by the customer. Once the Department of Home Affairs record is matched with a customer’s record, the datalink will record ongoing updates to movement information and visa changes.

The decision about whether a customer is, or was, residing in Australia or overseas needs to be manually assessed and recorded by the Service Officer. The datalink does not provide this information.

This information can be used to help a Service Officer confirm a customer's residence in Australia and their amount of Working Life Residence.

The Mod O form is to be completed by customers who have lived or worked overseas, when required.

The Mod O is used to:

• assess Australian Working Life Residence (AWLR) to calculate the rate of payment a customer may receive if they go overseas
• see if a customer may be entitled to a pension from another country, and
• assess eligibility and rate of an Australian pension under an international agreement

The Mod O may be issued if a customer advises they are travelling outside Australia and their payment rate will be affected by their working life residence in Australia.

It may also be used to gather residence information when a customer lodges an agreement foreign pension claim. Qualifying for these payments may depend on a person's Australian residence.

Generally, a Mod O no longer needs to be issued with a claim form. Claim forms and online claims contain all the necessary residence questions.

The Mod O may need to be issued if there is a need for more information and a customer's country of birth is outside Australia, or they indicate they have lived outside Australia.

The Mod O may be issued to gather residence information:

• if a customer advises they are travelling outside Australia and will be affected by their working life residence in Australia
• when a customer lodges a foreign pension claim. Qualifying for these payments may be dependent on a person's Australian residence
• for a Random Sample review

If the Mod O is being completed for a Survivor or Widow/er Pension from a country other than Australia, the form should be completed using the deceased partner's details.