Disability Support Pension (DSP) overseas absence for terminally ill customers 008-03120020

If a customer is considered to be terminally ill and is intending on departing Australia to live in another country to be with or near family, or to go to their country of origin, their DSP may be payable indefinitely.

Whether a customer is terminally ill is one part of the complex portability rules for DSP. The Portability Script - Departures and Returns must still be used with this procedure to decide whether any other factors impact on a customer's entitlement while outside Australia.

DSP paid to a customer who is not terminally ill ceases to be payable when the autonomous entitlement ceases after leaving Australia, unless the customer is travelling to an Agreement country that covers DSP.

The decision about extended portability due to terminal illness is made by a Service Officer (International Disabilities) or International Services (CIS) Service Officer based on information, which must be provided by the customer's treating doctor. The information must be provided on the Centrelink form supplied by CIS. Unless the pension is a recent grant, previous decisions are unlikely to still be valid and the customer will be required to provide current medical evidence. However, a Service Officer can accept previous evidence if the customer:

• has been assessed as terminally ill within the last 2 years. For example: customer has manifest eligibility for DSP as they are terminally ill, or
• had a Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) within the previous 4 months and medical evidence indicates the customer has a terminal illness that has not been recorded

If a customer's DSP is portable indefinitely because they are terminally ill and the customer ceases to satisfy those provisions, payment of DSP will cease 6 weeks after the relevant decision.

A customer assessed as terminally ill, and who leaves Australia to live in another country and vacates their principal home to enter a care situation, may have the home exempted from the assets test for a 2 year period. Once the 2 year period is up, the customer will be assessed as a non-homeowner and the house will be assessed as an asset. For more information, see Vacation of principal home due to illness. If the customer is not entering a care situation, the house is considered an asset on departure.