New Zealand citizens claiming payments in Australia
If you’re a New Zealander living in Australia you can get Centrelink payments if you meet eligibility.
Who can get payments
To get most Centrelink payments in Australia you must meet all of the following criteria:
- be an Australian resident
- meet the eligibility rules for the payment
- serve any waiting periods.
What payments you can get
The payments you can claim depends on the visa you have.
You must also meet criteria for the payment or card you claim.
Permanent resident visa holder
A permanent resident visa lets you live in Australia and will allow you to claim all Centrelink payments. Use visa finder on the Department of Home Affairs website to read more about Australian visas.
Special Category Visa (SCV) holder
If you came to Australia on a New Zealand passport and you didn’t apply for a visa first, you’ll normally be given a SCV. The type of SCV you have depends on when you arrived in Australia.
To work out which SCV applies to you, read more about Protected and Non-protected SCV’s.
Protected SCV holders
If you live in Australia and have a Protected SCV you can claim all Centrelink payments.
Non-protected SCV holders
If you live in Australia and you have a Non-protected SCV, you can claim any of the following payments:
- Family Tax Benefit
- Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement
- Single Income Family Supplement
- Child Care Subsidy
- Double Orphan Pension
- Health Care Card.
You may also be able to claim:
- Low Income Health Care Card
- Foster Child Health Care Card
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
- Parental Leave Pay
- Dad and Partner Pay
- Assistance for Isolated Children.
If you’ve lived in Australia continuously for at least 10 years, you may be able to get a one off period of payment. This is a single period of up to 6 months for the following payments:
The 10 year period of living in Australia needs to be after 26 February 2001.
Other services
Use the jobactive employment services to help you look for work. At jobactive you can access computers, newspapers, and other facilities.
Read more about jobactive on their website.
Claiming under an international agreement
Claiming under an international agreement may help you meet the eligibility rules.
We have an agreement with New Zealand that allows New Zealand citizens living in Australia to claim the following payments:
- Age Pension
- Disability Support Pension if you're severely disabled
- Carer Payment if you're the partner of a disability support pensioner.
Read more about the International Social Security Agreement between Australia and New Zealand.
Page last updated: 30 March 2020
This information was printed 6 July 2020 from https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/topics/non-medical-rules-disability-support-pension/51251/residence-rules/residence-descriptions/new-zealand-citizens-claiming-payments-australia. 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.