Older South African Expats Moving to Australia in for a Longer Wait for Pension

The Australian Government proposes to change its current welfare system so that migrants – from South Africa and other countries around the world – will have to wait up to 15 years before they can have access to aged or disability pensions.

Until now, a South African expat (and expats from other countries) became eligible after being an Australian resident for 10 years, of which five had to be continuous.

The proposed new law – introduced in parliament and set to be implemented in July 2018 – means that older people moving to Australia will have to wait longer for these pensions if they haven’t already spent five years working in Australia.

The proposed change is predicted to save the government almost $120-million, and is being introduced to ensure “people have some reasonable connection to the Australian economy and society before being granted a permanent pension payment”, according to Social Services.

With the new measure, migrants will be eligible for a pension after having:

a) spent 10 years of continuous residence in Australia, of which five have been spent working; or

b) spent 15 years of continuous residence in Australia.

From 1 January 2018, a pension Supplement will stop after someone spends six weeks overseas, and will stop immediately if the leave permanently.

According to SBS, “existing exemptions to Age Pension and DSP residency requirements will be maintained for Humanitarian entrants and for those whose inability to work happened while they were an Australian.”

Other changes to welfare regulations include the restriction of Student Relocation Scholarships to those whose family home or usual place of abode is in Australia. Students who relocate from overseas, or study abroad, will no longer be eligible for the relocation scholarship.