You usually need to be an Australian resident to get a payment from us. This page explains how we define an Australian resident.
Australian resident
You are an Australian resident if you live in Australia and are either:
- an Australian citizen
- a permanent residence visa holder, or
- a protected Special Category visa (SCV) holder
Living in Australia
Living in Australia means Australia is your usual place of residence.
Australia includes:
- the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- the Territory of Christmas Island
- Norfolk Island, and
- Lord Howe Island
How we decide
When we are deciding whether you live in Australia, we’ll look at:
- where you live and who you live with
- if you have family in Australia or overseas
- your employment, business or financial ties in Australia and overseas
- your assets in Australia and overseas
- how often and how long you travel outside Australia, and
- anything else we think is relevant
Permanent residence visa holder
A permanent residence visa allows you to stay in Australia indefinitely. The Department of Home Affairs issue and administer all Australian visas.
Special Category visa (SCV) holder
Australia’s immigration authorities generally issue you with a SCV if you arrive in Australia on a New Zealand passport. They usually issue this upon your arrival. The type of SCV you get depends on when you arrived in Australia.
Non-protected SCV holder
If you are a New Zealand citizen who arrived in Australia after 26 February 2001, you’re generally a non-protected SCV holder. This means you are not an Australian resident for social security purposes.
Read more about New Zealand citizens claiming payments in Australia.
Protected SCV holder
We generally consider you a protected SCV holder if you arrived in Australia on a New Zealand passport and were:
- in Australia on 26 February 2001
- in Australia for 12 months in the 2 years immediately before this date, or
- assessed as a protected SCV holder before 26 February 2004
If you meet these rules and also live in Australia, you are an Australian resident for social security purposes.
New Zealand citizens on Norfolk Island
You are generally a protected SCV holder if you are a New Zealand citizen who was:
- on Norfolk Island on 26 February 2001, or
- in Australia including Norfolk Island, for 12 months in the 2 years immediately before this date
If you meet these rules and also live in Australia, you’re an Australian resident for social security purposes.
Family member
We may need to do a family member assessment to decide if you have:
- a newly arrived resident’s waiting period exemption, or
- an approved reason for payment overseas
The definition of a family member differs depending on the reason for the assessment.
Newly arrived resident’s waiting period exemption
For the purposes of assessing a newly arrived resident’s waiting period exemption, a person is a family member if they’re your:
- partner, or
- dependent child
Approved reason for payment overseas
For the purposes of assessing an approved reason for payment overseas, a person is a family member if they’re:
- your partner
- your sibling
- your parent
- your dependent child, or
- equivalent to one of these roles – as considered by us
Temporary protection type visas
You may be exempt from being an Australian resident, for limited payments and concessions, if you hold a temporary protection type visa including:
- subclass 060 - Bridging visa F
- subclass 070 - Bridging (Removal Pending)
- subclass 449 - Humanitarian Stay
- subclass 785 - Temporary Protection
- subclass 786 - Temporary (Humanitarian Concern)
- subclass 790 - Safe Haven Enterprise
If you’re outside Australia
We can’t usually pay you your payment if you’re outside Australia.
What may be different
If you hold a visa subclass 785 or 790, we may be able to pay your payment if you’re outside Australia, if you have an approved reason.
Read more about payments while outside Australia.
Partner provisional visas
You may be exempt from being an Australian resident, for limited payments and concessions, if you hold a partner provisional visa including:
- subclass 820 - Partner visa (temporary)
- subclass 309 - Partner visa (provisional)
If you’re outside Australia
If you hold one of the above partner provisional visas, we may be able to pay you if you’re outside Australia, if you have an approved reason.
Read more about payments while outside Australia.