Help for a twitter follower: Aus/NZ APer in SE Asia...

[aussieinusa]

I received this question via the email addressed attached to our @auspensioner twitter account.

Confused Pensioner says:

Hi all,

can someone give me the correct answer. I get different answers from the govt. everyone time I ask them causing total confusion.

I hold a NZ passport. I left NZ when I was 22 in the 60s. I do not qualify for a NZ aged pension having worked there less than 4 years there. I lived and worked in Australia for over 30 years, married an Australian, have children and granchildren, all living in Australia, as well as a brother and his family. I am now divorced.

I have an Australian aged pension which I did not apply for until I was over 70. For the last 20 years I have been working and living in south east asia with a 3 year stint in the middle east. When I first went to Australia no passport was required and I never thought about getting an Aust. passport as there did not seem to be much point. I voted etc all the years in Australia and except for the rugby was australian.

The Government makes me return every 6 months to keep my pension going which is a severe burden on my finances as all my previous assets in Aust, house etc., went to my ex wife. I can get by in south east asia where I live on the pension but cannot save and having to return every 6 months is very difficult.

I recently checked with the pension dept. and was told having to return every 6 months was bullshit and I could live indefinitely overseas and receive the pension, at a reduced rate. I still wish to return to Aust to see family but not every 6 months, probably every year. As you can imagine I do not feel too comfortable with this uncertain state of affairs and no one seems to be able to give me definitive answer.

On one occassion just recently I enquired what my pension allowance would be in the forthcoming months and within 2 weeks got 3 letters from the Govt. giving me 3 different sums ranging from about $500 ton $800!!!!!

Would appreciate any help I can get.

Many thanks

Confused pensioner

I'm not the best to answer AP portability questions, so I'm throwing it out to the people who are... thanks guys.

[aussieinusa]

Also, just to clarify: he did tell me which country he's in, and it's not a country with an Int'l Agreement, unfortunately.

[Banjo]

If he's on the age pension he can live overseas indefinitely.
All the other is irrelevant.
If he wants he can contact Centrelink and tell them he's now an overseas resident, or, wait till the 6 months is up and see what happens.
If he's on any sort of non-indefinite portability period then he should be allowed some leeway (non-payment period) before he loses the pension.

Getting the Age pension with portability wasn't a bad trick after 20 years overseas.
Maybe they mean that his pension will be cut to 30/35th of the rate after 6 months.

[charlie]

Many thanks for your assistance. Have already had a couple of replies. It is very interesting to read about other peoples' experiences with CL. When I first aplied for the pension I got a guy on the phone who was almost abusive to me, telling me to forget it, who did I think I was. I hung up and phoned again and was put thru to a very curteous lady who helped greatly.

Lance

[charlie]

Nov 16, 2013 14:30:03 GMT 7 Banjo said:

If he's on the age pension he can live overseas indefinitely.
All the other is irrelevant.
If he wants he can contact Centrelink and tell them he's now an overseas resident, or, wait till the 6 months is up and see what happens.
If he's on any sort of non-indefinite portability period then he should be allowed some leeway (non-payment period) before he loses the pension.

Getting the Age pension with portability wasn't a bad trick after 20 years overseas.
Maybe they mean that his pension will be cut to 30/35th of the rate after 6 months.

[charlie]

Hi Banjo,

I'm going to wait until my 6 months is up this time and see what happens. Didn't know I could contact them about non residency. After 6 weeks away my pension is reduced from $827 to $773 and the first time I got the pension, about 3 years ago, I didn't go back after 6 months, thinking it was indefinite. When it stopped I contacted them and was informed of having to return every 6 months. If I didn't I had a 3 month period of grace before my eligibility expired and I would have to re-apply.

[aussieinusa]

Nov 16, 2013 15:30:12 GMT 7 charlie said:

When I first aplied for the pension I got a guy on the phone who was almost abusive to me, telling me to forget it, who did I think I was. I hung up and phoned again and was put thru to a very curteous lady who helped greatly.

That's very common, unfortunately. They've run a big scare campaign about people 'living it up' overseas, on indefinite holiday at taxpayers' expense -- see various A Current Affair stories, newspaper articles etc. Many CL staff have seen or heard BS story (I think sometimes officially through CL, as in, "this is what we're cracking down on now") so they treat us like we're criminals.

Whereas as you'd know, an Aussie pension pays for a modest but comfortable lifestyle in most other countries, i.e. a nice little place to live, good healthy food, bills, simple transport, medications, massages for bad backs or whatever else people need to help manage their health, a few outings... but not much more. Certainly not a five-star luxury lifestyle.

But if they do work out what their last overseas holiday cost and realise it was way more than $400/week for accommodation, food, souvenirs etc... then they accuse us of working over there and hiding the $$ from CL (especially us DSPers who are 'young enough' to work). Because a lot of people believe you can walk into any CL office, say "aw, me back" and immediately be granted a disability pension forever. But proving you're actually disabled is a lot tougher than that (as many on this forum know).

I jokingly call CL "the clink" (as in, the slang term for prison, which it abbreviates to very neatly) because you get treated like a criminal, they restrict a lot of our freedoms, and they keep watch on us, too.

It's also exceedingly common to get entirely different answers from different CL staff, as you've just experienced. My own experience is that every time I talk to a CL officer, they will tell me at least one thing that directly contradicts something another officer told me previously.

You'll get better advice on many CL matters here, than you will from CL themselves!

(Like many others here, that's how I came to be part of the group; Banjo's been running the place for years and when CL were giving me the runaround about something, I started googling for the right answer, wound up here and found what I needed right away -- plus links to the Social Security Law Guide which proved they were, in fact, the correct answers.)

[aussieinusa]

Nov 16, 2013 15:39:17 GMT 7 charlie said:

Didn't know I could contact them about non residency.

Calling the regular CL enquiry line isn't much use for that. You need to call Centrelink International: 131 673

(I can't find their number for calling from outside Australia... anyone?)

Nov 16, 2013 15:39:17 GMT 7 charlie said:

After 6 weeks away my pension is reduced from $827 to $773

That's normal. After 6 weeks away, they stop paying the Pension Supplement and Clean Energy Supplement, so you only get the 'basic rate' of pension. The others are to help with high cost of living in Aus, I believe.

Nov 16, 2013 15:39:17 GMT 7 charlie said:

and the first time I got the pension, about 3 years ago, I didn't go back after 6 months, thinking it was indefinite. When it stopped I contacted them and was informed of having to return every 6 months. If I didn't I had a 3 month period of grace before my eligibility expired and I would have to re-apply.

If I were you, I would write to CL Int'l and ask them for a written ruling on whether you have to return every six months, and if so, why. Ask them to show you where in the Social Security Law Guide it says that you have to do this.

It's not something I've heard of before, and if they can't find a relevant section in the Guide to justify it, it's probably wrong. It might be something to do with your NZ citizenship though, so best to ask.

[Banjo]

To call Centrelink from overseas.

www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/contact-us/international-phone-numbers