What the approved reasons are

To get JobSeeker Payment while you’re overseas, you must travel for an approved reason.

Family crisis, humanitarian reasons or medical treatment

You may get JobSeeker Payment if you’re travelling outside Australia for an approved reason. If granted, you’ll get your payment for the time required to deal with the reason. This will generally be 2-3 weeks. The maximum period is 6 weeks.

The approved reasons are:

  • to attend an acute family crisis - for example, to visit a family member who’s critically ill
  • for specific humanitarian reasons - for example, to adopt a child or attend custody proceedings
  • to get eligible medical treatment that isn’t available in Australia.

Defence training

If you’re attending an Australian Defence Force Reserves training camp, you’ll get your payment for the duration of the training.

Evidence we need

You need to give us a written statement from the camp commander or the person in charge. It must show all of the following:

  • camp details
  • duration of the camp including the start and end dates of the camp
  • camp location.
Page last updated: 8 May 2025.
QC 61871