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• What Residence Requirements does Carer Payment have?

What Residence Requirements does Carer Payment have?

To lodge a claim and qualify for Carer Payment, you must be:

• in Australia on the day you lodge your claim, and
• an Australian resident - this means you are living in Australia on a permanent basis and you are either:
  • an Australian citizen, or
  • the holder of a permanent resident visa, or
  • the holder of a Special Category Visa - someone who arrived on a NZ passport and who is not affected by the changes to residence requirements (see below), AND
• have lived in Australia for long enough to satisfy qualifying residence periods or the newly arrived resident's waiting period (whichever applies to the payment being claimed). Please Note: there are some exemptions.

Residence requirements may differ if you are able to claim this payment under Australia's International Social Security Agreements.

Please Note: Changes to the Australian residence requirements MAY affect New Zealand citizens claiming payments in Australia. Current customers are NOT affected by this change, although a very small number of customers who are living outside Australia MAY be affected if they lose payment for some reason and later wish to reclaim.