What residence requirements does Special Benefit have?
To lodge a claim and qualify for Special Benefit, you must:
- be in Australia on the day you lodge your claim, and
- 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 Special Category Visa - someone who arrived on a NZ passport and who is not affected by the changes to residence requirements (see below), or
- the holder of a "spouse provisional" or "interdependency" visa, or
- the holder of a temporary protection, temporary humanitarian or return pending visa, AND
- have lived in Australia for long enough to satisfy the newly arrived resident's waiting period. Please Note: there are some exemptions.
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.
