The Guides to Social Policy Law is a collection of publications designed to assist decision makers administering social policy law. The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide to relevant legislation/policy. The information is accurate as at the date listed at the bottom of the page, but may be subject to change. To discuss individual circumstances please contact Services Australia.

10.2.8.40 Outside Australia - Agreement with New Zealand

Age pension - less than 10 years residence in New Zealand

The rate of Australian Age payable to a person present long term in New Zealand who has less than 10 years residence in New Zealand is calculated as follows:

  1. Calculate the person's working age residence (WAR) (in months) in New Zealand.
  2. Deduct this from 540.
  3. Multiply by the rate the person would receive if they were in Australia and autonomously qualified, disregarding any third country pension.
  4. Divide the result by 540.
  5. Directly deduct any third country pension from the rate payable. This is the rate of benefit payable.

Age pension - more than 10 years residence in New Zealand

The rate of Australian Age payable to a person present long term in New Zealand who has more than 10 years residence in New Zealand is calculated as follows:

  1. Calculate the person's WAR (in months) in Australia (minimum period of 12 months).
  2. Multiply this by the rate the person would receive if they were in Australia and autonomously qualified.
  3. Divide the result by 540. This is the rate of benefit payable.

Disability support pension

The rate of DSP payable to a person present long term in New Zealand is calculated as follows:

  1. Calculate WAR (in months) in Australia between age 20 and date of severe disablement (minimum period of 12 months).
  2. Calculate the rate the person would receive if they were in Australia and autonomously qualified.
  3. Calculate WAR in New Zealand between 20 and the date of severe disablement.
  4. Multiply the answer in Step 1 by the answer in Step 2.
  5. Add the answer in Step 3 to the answer in Step 1.
  6. Divide the answer in Step 4 by the answer in Step 5. This is the rate of benefit payable.

Note 1: If a claimant for DSP has less than 10 years residence in New Zealand, any third country pension they receive is directly deducted from their rate.

Note 2: In all the above cases, New Zealand benefit is completely disregarded.

Carer payment

The rate of CP is calculated the same way as DSP above. This means the person receives the same proportion of CP as the person in receipt of DSP they are caring for.

Temporary departure from New Zealand

People paid under the Agreement who reside in New Zealand and travel to Australia, and are not present long term here, will continue to have their rate calculated using the outside Australia rate as specified above for a period of 26 weeks or less. Once they have been in Australia for more than 26 weeks, their rate will be calculated using the inside Australia rate in 10.2.8.30.

Act reference: SS(IntAgree)Act Schedule 3 New Zealand

Last reviewed: