Australian Pension Rejected

[Thomas]

Hey thomas, and just when you can't get screwed any more, some wag in the government here now wants to put the pension age here up to 70, hahahahahahh, wants everyone to keep working, yeah right, try getting a job here if you are over 40. if it wasn't so funny the stuff these clowns come out with you would cry. Geez I'll be glad to get away from this mob.

It's same here, but the Swedish government has decided such change allready...  :bash:   but it hasn't started yet.

(I'm among the last before they change  :) starting raising the age.)

[Ynot]

Yes, to  obtain the pension you need to meet certain criteria, a friend of mine who is now retired and lives in thailand recieves the Aussie pension. He does not receive the full pension as there a medical component to it, so if you are not living in Australia, they deduct that amount from it.  So he receives  a reduced amount which is still very good and he does not have to return to Australia to continue to get it. He has no plans to return to Aus.  Of course if you were living overseas before claiming the pension, then you would not qualify because you must be a resident and have turned 65 now 67 at the time of applying for your pension. I think the rule is that if you do not qualify because you were not resident, you need to live Aus for 2 years and then you can claim.  there is also a contribution factor as well, the number of years you have worked in Aus, so if you were a Filipino who has become an Australian resident, you need to have worked in Australia for a certain amount of time before you qualify for the pension.  Im not sure how long that period of qualifying service is now.   It used to be a minimum of 10 years for 50% pension and 20 years working to receive the full pension.  I believe the service period has increased to qualify for the pension.

[Bundy]

I have a mate who came to live here when he was 58. At age 65 he went back to Oz to claim the O/A pension which was given immediately. He had to remain in Australia for a period of two years. He is now back here and receiving his pension no worries.

I believe this ties in with current centrelink rules.

[BrettGC]

It's the same deal with Medicare here.  You have to prove residency to receive it, this despite the fact that many superannuation and military pension recipients still pay the Medicare levy even whilst living overseas as it's a compulsory deduction from many of these types of payments.  This applies only if you've resided in a foreign country for more than 5 years so it's not all bad, but it's best to contact Medicare directly for them to assess your individual circumstances.