Claiming and re-claiming Age Pension 065-03010000

A person may qualify for Age Pension if they have reached Age Pension age and they meet Australian residence and income and asset test requirements. See the Resources page for a link to age requirements.

Claims can be lodged up to 13 weeks before the person's qualification date. For example, the date they reach Age Pension age.

For information about payments and services available, see Initial contact by a customer who has retired or is about to retire.

If a customer or their nominee contacts to claim Age Pension, an online claim must be offered first. Service Officers should explain the benefits of claiming online, such as:

• help applying for the right payment through streaming questions and early warnings if they may not be eligible
• less information for them to provide, as details from their Centrelink record will be pre-populated into the online claim
• they can monitor the progress of their claim through their Centrelink online account
• customers can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app to monitor their claim.

Note: nominees can access Centrelink online account on desktop or their mobile browser (redirected through Express Plus Centrelink app) to view claim progress or provide documents.

If the customer:

• or the correspondence nominee declines the online claim offer, a Service Officer can use ACC to collect claim information from a customer or the correspondence nominee either over the phone or face-to-face
• or nominee is unable or unwilling to claim online or via ACC, run the First Contact Service Offer (FCSO) workflow to send out the correct forms (including if both members of a couple want to claim payment)
• is a member of the Pension Bonus Scheme and also wants to claim the Pension Bonus, Service Officers must recommend they contact a Financial Information Service (FIS) Officer before they lodge their claim

Separate procedures apply for Transfers to Age Pension for income support payment customers.

If a previous claim was rejected, a new claim is generally not required if the customer contacts within 13 weeks of being notified of the rejection decision, or if the customer contacts and they have not been notified of the decision. In these cases, the original claim can be used by the Service Officer. Check all information provided for the original claim is still current and obtain details of any changes.

If a favourable determination is subsequently made to grant Age Pension, payment will start from the date the person was both qualified and payable. Note: the date that qualification and payability are both satisfied may be different to the date of effect of the original claim determination.

Exceptions to this are where the previous claim was rejected because the customer was not in Australia (reason NIA) or not an Australian resident (NAU) when they lodged their claim. They must lodge a new claim as their previous claim is taken not to have been made.

A person who withdrew their previous claim must also lodge a new claim. If contact is made more than 13 weeks after being notified of the rejection, a new claim is required.

Review processes apply if a customer’s Age Pension is cancelled and they believe the decision was incorrect based on their circumstances at the time, and they:

• have not been notified of the decision, or
• were notified of the decision within the last 13 weeks

If a customer’s Age Pension has been correctly cancelled and the customer’s circumstances have changed since cancellation, a re-claim is required regardless of the length of time that has passed.

Customers or their correspondence nominee must have an ‘active’ Centrelink online account. Organisation nominees must be registered for the Business Hub to access nominee services online.

Once the customer or their correspondence nominee has linked their Centrelink online account to myGov, to start an online claim for Age Pension (and Pension Bonus) they must:

• sign into myGov and access their linked Centrelink online account
• organisation nominees must log into Provider Digital Access (PRODA) to access nominee services in Business Hub
• nominees must select the person they wish to act for
• from the menu, select My details > My profile, update and save any changes to their personal details (such as address and relationship details)
• from the home page, select MENU > Payments and claims > Claims > Make a claim
• in the Older Australians category, select Get started > Apply for Age Pension
• answer the pre-claim questions on the Eligibility check page to check their eligibility for Age Pension, including details of circumstances to help the customer determine if they are in a crisis situation. The online claim will advise why they may not be eligible and refer them to the Payment and Service Finder or tell them to contact Services Australia to discuss a more suitable payment. They can select Back to return to Make a claim page to begin another claim type

If both members of a couple want to claim Age Pension online at the same time, they usually need to complete their own online claim. If specific criteria is met, the option to complete as an Age Pension combined partner claim is offered. Step 8 of the Making an Age Pension online claim table on the Process page has information about eligibility for completing a combined partner claim.

The online claim will expire after 13 weeks if not submitted.

Notifications will be sent to the customer to advise of the claim's progress. For a full list of the notifications that the customer will receive during the Age Pension online claim process refer to the CCM Notifications Matrix in Circumstance Change Monitor (CCM).

Where specific criteria is met, a customer may be eligible to lodge a claim on behalf of their partner when claiming Age Pension online. Step 8 of the Making an Age Pension online claim table on the Process page has information about eligibility for lodging a claim on a partner’s behalf.

Partners of customers who want, and are eligible, to lodge an Age Pension combined partner online claim must also:

• have a Centrelink online account linked to myGov, and
• be subscribed to electronic messaging

The Age Pension combined partner claim will send a notification to the partner asking them to sign into their own online account to complete the task for Age Pension combined partner claim. Once the partner has completed and confirmed this task and either customer or partner has lodged all required documentation, the claim can only then be submitted as an Age Pension combined partner claim.

Note: the partner task must be completed and confirmed within 3 days of being notified of the task, or it will disappear and the claim will revert to an individual Age Pension claim for the customer only. If the partner still wants to claim, they will need to submit their own claim within 14 days to ensure the same start date of payment if eligible.

Notifications will be sent to the customer and partner to advise of the claim's progress. These notifications are sent before the claim is submitted to assist with the completion of the required combined claim tasks and again once the claim is submitted. For a full list of the notifications that the customer and partner will receive during the Age Pension combined partner online claim process refer to the CCM Notifications Matrix in Circumstance Change Monitor (CCM).

Nominees acting on behalf of their principals cannot submit an Age Pension combined partner online claim. However, nominees:

• can submit an Age Pension claim for their principal as a single claim, or
• where they are appointed correspondence nominee for both members of a couple, submit individual claims separately, or
• where they are appointed correspondence nominee for both members of a couple and the couple is eligible to lodge an Age Pension combined partner claim, staff can run an ACC for an Age Pension combined partner claim. However, the nominee cannot submit it online

The online claim will expire after 13 weeks if not submitted.

Service Officers can run ACC with the customer or correspondence nominee to obtain and record the claim information. ACC can also be used for an Age Pension combined partner claim where both members of the couple are eligible and specific criteria is met. Step 8 of the Making an Age Pension online claim table on the Process page has information about eligibility for lodging a claim on a partner’s behalf.

Note: ACC is only able to be used with a nominee for an Age Pension combined partner claim where specific criteria is met, including the nominee is appointed for both members of the couple. However, the nominee cannot submit the ACC Age Pension combined partner claim online.

ACC can also be run for an Age Pension and Pension Bonus claim. Staff must recommend to customers that they contact a Financial Information Service (FIS) Officer before submitting their claim. See Initial contact to claim Pension Bonus Payment (PBP).

For more information, see Viewing and processing online and Assisted Customer Claim (ACC).

Customer declaration and submitting the claim

Once ACC has been completed by the Service Officer, the customer must either:

• Access the draft claim through their Centrelink online account or Express Plus Centrelink mobile app to upload their documents and submit the claim, or
• Accept a verbal declaration and provide all required documents before submitting their claim

Some exceptions apply. Read the customer the verbal declaration script. Tick the box on the Review your claim page if they accept. This will confirm that the declaration script has been read, and that the customer accepts it. Once the verbal declaration is accepted and ACC submitted a DOC containing 'Staff assisted verbal declaration accepted - Yes' will display in:

• Process Direct notes
• Customer First Super Case
• The Customer Claim Summary

If the customer is unable or declines to make a verbal declaration, the Service Officer must:

• invite the customer to log on to their online services, accept the customer declaration and submit their claim, or
• provide the customer with a Customer Declaration Form (CDF). The claim must not be submitted by the Service Officer without the CDF being completed, signed and returned

If the customer fails to submit their claim, it will expire after 13 weeks.

Claims for Age Pension (including Age Pension Blind) and Pension Bonus Payment (PBP) can be made by completing paper claim forms. If a customer or their correspondence nominee have completed paper claim forms (SA002 and SA369) or been issued pre-populated claim forms via FCSO, all forms must be fully completed and lodged to be assessed for Age Pension. Check forms and supporting documentation provided by the customer (and their partner if applicable).

Paper claim forms include partner details. If the partner is also claiming Age Pension at the same time as the customer, they can both claim on the one form. However, if they wish to provide their details individually for privacy reasons, they can complete and lodge separate forms.

Scan the claim and supporting documentation on Day 1 for action by processing staff. Only scan identity documents if they are required for verification purposes other than identity verification.

For information about claiming an Australian Age Pension while living overseas, see information about claim forms and processes for claiming Australian payments under the relevant agreement country. See International Social Security Agreements.

Upon lodgement of a claim, see Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements.

Service Officers must recommend to customers registered in the Pension Bonus Scheme that they contact a Financial Information Service (FIS) Officer before they lodge their claim for Age Pension and the Pension Bonus Payment (PBP).

Maximising a customer's entitlement to PBP may depend on various factors. The date a customer finishes work may not be the same as the date their bonus period ends. Customers may disadvantage themselves by lodging a claim too early or too late. See Initial contact to claim Pension Bonus Payment (PBP).

A FIS contact will determine the best time for the customer to lodge their PBP claim based on their circumstances.

Check documentation for the customer (and for their partner if applicable). Scan supporting documentation on Day 1 for action by processing staff. Only scan identity documents if they are required for verification purposes. Customers must confirm their identity (if there is no confirmed identity status recorded) to be able to submit their online claim or ACC. Some exceptions apply. Customers lodging a paper claim must have their identity confirmation status checked and if required code their identity details using the Identity Confirmation Dashboard in Process Direct.

Customers currently receiving Age Pension as a loan-only payment through the Home Equity Access Scheme may wish to claim Age Pension if their income or assets are under the limit. Customers with a loan-only arrangement have a benefit status of AGE/CZR-PLS and are:

• unable to submit an Age Pension online claim
• unable to have ACC run, and
• advised in the Age Pension online claim to contact Services Australia

To issue the appropriate claim forms, run the First Contact Service Offer (FCSO).