Lost Australian disability pension in Thailand

[bapak]

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age
Age Pension
You can generally get Age Pension for the total period of absence however, after 13 weeks your rate may change. It may change again if you remain outside Australia for more than 26 weeks. If you are travelling to New Zealand your rate may be affected by the Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.

In most cases, you can be paid Age Pension outside Australia indefinitely, although the rate of payment may vary after a period.

Generally able to be paid indefinitely, proportional after 26 weeks." Source.....the friendly govt centrelink office

[Nereus]

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age
Age Pension
You can generally get Age Pension for the total period of absence however, after 13 weeks your rate may change. It may change again if you remain outside Australia for more than 26 weeks. If you are travelling to New Zealand your rate may be affected by the Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.

In most cases, you can be paid Age Pension outside Australia indefinitely, although the rate of payment may vary after a period.

Generally able to be paid indefinitely, proportional after 26 weeks." Source.....the friendly govt centrelink office

Taken completely out of context:

"How long can I receive Centrelink payments and services while outside of Australia"

The information below is a guide only. There are other rules which might affect you. You should contact Centrelink before you go to find out how your payment will be affected.

Most Centrelink payments and services can only be paid for temporary absences of up to 13 weeks outside Australia and you must remain qualified for your payment while you are absent from Australia (you continue to meet the normal qualification rules for the payment, your permanent home is still in Australia, and you are only absent from Australia temporarily, e.g. for a holiday or a visit). http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age

I dislike having to keep on the defensive about this but I would welcome you to prove that I am receiving the OAP illegally.

Simple: read and understand what the law is. If you are so sure that your are correct why do you have to "keep on the defensive?"

[bapak]

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age
Age Pension
You can generally get Age Pension for the total period of absence however, after 13 weeks your rate may change. It may change again if you remain outside Australia for more than 26 weeks. If you are travelling to New Zealand your rate may be affected by the Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.

In most cases, you can be paid Age Pension outside Australia indefinitely, although the rate of payment may vary after a period.

Generally able to be paid indefinitely, proportional after 26 weeks." Source.....the friendly govt centrelink office

Taken completely out of context:

"How long can I receive Centrelink payments and services while outside of Australia"

The information below is a guide only. There are other rules which might affect you. You should contact Centrelink before you go to find out how your payment will be affected.

Most Centrelink payments and services can only be paid for temporary absences of up to 13 weeks outside Australia and you must remain qualified for your payment while you are absent from Australia (you continue to meet the normal qualification rules for the payment, your permanent home is still in Australia, and you are only absent from Australia temporarily, e.g. for a holiday or a visit). http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age

I dislike having to keep on the defensive about this but I would welcome you to prove that I am receiving the OAP illegally.

Simple: read and understand what the law is. If you are so sure that your are correct why do you have to "keep on the defensive?"

Perhaps you had better complain to CentreLink that they have been fraudulently paying my OAP into my bank account... and why they send me a notice to my Thailand address every month of the exchange rate they have used to calculate the payment.

I do not know who you are or where you are but you are obviously not an OAP living in Thailand. There are a number living in the HH neighborhood who received the OAP in exactly the same way I do. Why do you not ask them? I can put you in contact.

Or better still, if you are out of Australia, phone CentreLink International Toll Free at 001 800 611 4136 or if in Australia 13 1673. But please, honestly report back the responses you get.

[lindosfan1]

Nereus I am not an aussie but I can read and digest. This is from the link you provided.

You can generally get Age Pension for the total period of absence however, after 13 weeks your rate may change. It may change again if you remain outside Australia for more than 26 weeks. If you are travelling to New Zealand your rate may be affected by the Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.

[Nereus]

Nereus I am not an aussie but I can read and digest. This is from the link you provided.

You can generally get Age Pension for the total period of absence however, after 13 weeks your rate may change. It may change again if you remain outside Australia for more than 26 weeks. If you are travelling to New Zealand your rate may be affected by the Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.

Then you should also be able to read this lindosfan1:

"Most Centrelink payments and services can only be paid for temporary absences of up to 13 weeks outside Australia and you must remain qualified for your payment while you are absent from Australia (you continue to meet the normal qualification rules for the payment, your permanent home is still in Australia, and you are only absent from Australia temporarily, e.g. for a holiday or a visit)". http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age

[lindosfan1]

I always thought some Aussies were a plank shot of a load, your hilight says most in a generalisation. My hilite was taken from the pension section. Read inwardly digest and learn. There are Aussies receiving letters and pensions in Thailand from Australia that will give you a clue too.

[margaretcarnes]

Nereus I am not an aussie but I can read and digest. This is from the link you provided.

You can generally get Age Pension for the total period of absence however, after 13 weeks your rate may change. It may change again if you remain outside Australia for more than 26 weeks. If you are travelling to New Zealand your rate may be affected by the Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.

Then you should also be able to read this lindosfan1:

"Most Centrelink payments and services can only be paid for temporary absences of up to 13 weeks outside Australia and you must remain qualified for your payment while you are absent from Australia (you continue to meet the normal qualification rules for the payment, your permanent home is still in Australia, and you are only absent from Australia temporarily, e.g. for a holiday or a visit)". http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/i ... ng.htm#age

This last paragraph indicates to me that payments OTHER than the Oz State Pension can be affected by absences of 13 weeks or more - which takes us back to the OP. He questioned his disability benefit being stopped at 13 weeks. It fits yes? What wasn't made clear though was whether his stay in Thailand was temporary or not. Either way he seems stuffed.
Just like the UK, Australia appears to have different rules for different benefits, which (quite rightly IMO) are more lenient for State Pension than for disability payments.
One problem though is that the UK's welfare system is one of the most complex in the world, so it is difficult to try to make direct comparisons. For example - I don't know if Oz has multiple disability benefits based on different criteria. The current count of such benefits in the UK is at least 9.

[charlesh]

Looks like the LOS is NOT an "agreement country" and I was told by the people in Centrelink last year that OAP were residency tested! ie. you had to be a resident in Oz for them to be valid however as bapak is 79 it stands to reason that when he perhaps took his out the rules were somewhat different as they have been getting tighter with every successful government (aka snouts in trough in government).

[ozuncle]

Nereus,

There are numerous centrelink payment such as Disability, Unemployment, Abstudy, Rent Assistance, Etc.

These are all definately affected by the 13 weeks out of Australia maximum. In my opinion the OAP is entirely different.

One thing I noticed which is important for those taking early retirement is the fact that at the time of applying for the OAP (currently 65 years of age ) you must have been a RESIDENT in Australia for the previous 2 years. Irrespective of how many total years you have lived and paid taxes in Australia.

If this is the same in the UK it would affect people such as BB.

[bapak]

Looks like the LOS is NOT an "agreement country" and I was told by the people in Centrelink last year that OAP were residency tested! ie. you had to be a resident in Oz for them to be valid however as bapak is 79 it stands to reason that when he perhaps took his out the rules were somewhat different as they have been getting tighter with every successful government (aka snouts in trough in government).

I think what you are referring to is the actual application for OAP whereas my comments are about payments after the pension has been approved. To my knowledge, payments to an OAP residing outside Australia have not changed.

Just yesterday I was with two OAPs, one 72 years old moved to Thailand about a year ago and the other 67 years old moved here this year. Both are receiving exactly the same benefits as I.

[Nereus]

Nereus,
There are numerous centrelink payment such as Disability, Unemployment, Abstudy, Rent Assistance, Etc.

These are all definately affected by the 13 weeks out of Australia maximum. In my opinion the OAP is entirely different.

One thing I noticed which is important for those taking early retirement is the fact that at the time of applying for the OAP (currently 65 years of age ) you must have been a RESIDENT in Australia for the previous 2 years. Irrespective of how many total years you have lived and paid taxes in Australia.

If this is the same in the UK it would affect people such as BB.

Yes, you are quite correct, and the Social Security Legislation is part of it also, which is not mentioned by Centre Link. There have been some cases in Thailand where that resident rule has been applied, which lead to a couple of families being split up as the man concerned could not fund his own retirement. Centre Link then demanded that he prove that he had no property in Thailand, and that his wife was not working. It is more than just a mine field to try and get through, and one of the big problems is that a lot of case officers in local Centre Link offices just don`t know, and have misled people in the past.

I was told by Centre Link in Mandurah that I could not live in Thailand and get the OAP, regardless of being otherwise entitled. I have since been gone from Oz too long now, so it is a dead issue for me.

What gets up my nose with this whole issue is the fact that some people get the OAP, and others just get screwed. There are many reasons why some regulations have to be enforced, and I believe that 2 year rule was an attempt to stop a well known group from rorting the system.

[Nereus]

I always thought some Aussies were a plank shot of a load,
your hilight says most in a generalisation. My hilite was taken from the pension section. Read inwardly digest and learn. There are Aussies receiving letters and pensions in Thailand from Australia that will give you a clue too.

The sarcastic use of some childish quote that you cannot even spell just goes to show the level of your mentality. If you have something constructive to contribute in place of your cryptic effort lets see it. There are many types of “pensions”, and even I receive “letters” from Australia.

[Nereus]

I do not know who you are or where you are but you are obviously not an OAP living in Thailand.

Why am I not "obviously living in Thailand"? Who I am is completely irrelevant, but what I am is the point. I am an Australian born citizen, whom has been informed by Centre Link that I cannot live in Thailand and receive the OAP. It does not prevent me from living here, I just go about it in s different way.

As you seem to be sure that you are correct and in receipt of the OAG pension, then I suggest that this BS by closed now, as somebody with an axe to grind will eventually pick up on it and you may suddenly find yourself in a different situation.

[Elaine]

I have been viewing this topic from day 1, and found it very hard at times to restrain myself with some of the ill-informed / misinformed statements. bapak has been correct from the start.

My story. Just on 14 months, whilst living in Brisbane, I became eligible for the Aged Pension. I applied and it was approved at the time of my application. Several months later, I advised CentreLink that I was moving to Thailand. Their only request was "how long"... I told them at least 12 months maybe longer. From the onset to this day the pension has been paid into my bank account. After I had been in Thailand for 7 months, I got a notice that my pharmacy benefits would no longer be paid (they were not much use to me in Thailand anyhow). So I am now receiving my slightly reduced payment every 2 weeks.

[easyas]

I have been viewing this topic from day 1, and found it very hard at times to restrain myself with some of the ill-informed / misinformed statements. bapak has been correct from the start.

My story. Just on 14 months, whilst living in Brisbane, I became eligible for the Aged Pension. I applied and it was approved at the time of my application. Several months later, I advised CentreLink that I was moving to Thailand. Their only request was "how long"... I told them at least 12 months maybe longer. From the onset to this day the pension has been paid into my bank account. After I had been in Thailand for 7 months, I got a notice that my pharmacy benefits would no longer be paid (they were not much use to me in Thailand anyhow). So I am now receiving my slightly reduced payment every 2 weeks.

You're lucky you went 7 months before being docked, in my case 3 1/2 !!! Even a slight reduction ($35 AUD or thereabouts per fortnight?) in a pension is significant when the pension itself is low in the first place! Incidentally the reduction in your pension is not related to pharmacy benefits - it has to do with other items normally incorporated with your pension payment for which you are no longer eligible. Losing your pharmacy benefits is therefore not of any financial significance all the while you live in Thailand but could well be of great significance if you were to return to Australia, particularly if for health reasons, as they are not restored to you until you have lived in Australia another 3 months. That's your punishment for leaving in the first place!