Residence rules
On the day you claim JobSeeker Payment, you must be an Australian resident, and in Australia.
If you've recently arrived as a resident in Australia, you usually have to wait to get this payment. We’ve temporarily removed this newly arrived resident’s waiting period for JobSeeker Payment. This is due to coronavirus (COVID-19).
You must continue to meet the residence rules to keep getting this payment.
You can also get JobSeeker Payment for a single period up to 6 months if both of the following apply:
- you hold a non-protected Special Category visa (SCV)
- you’ve lived in Australia without a break for at least 10 years right before you claim.
Page last updated: 11 November 2020
This information was printed 25 February 2021 from https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/jobseeker-payment/who-can-get-it/residence-rules. It may not include all of the relevant information on this topic. Please consider any relevant site notices at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/site-notices when using this material.