3.7.1 Overview of Comparable Foreign Pension

Last amended: 3 August 2010

What is a comparable foreign pension

A Comparable Foreign Pension (CFP) is any pension paid by another country that is similar in nature to an Australian income support pension. War, service and restitution pensions and compensation payments from other countries are not comparable foreign pensions, as they do not share features similar in nature to an Australian income support pension.

Requirement to claim comparable foreign pension

All service pension and income support supplement [glossary:(:]ISS[glossary:):] recipients or claimants and their partners, are required to take reasonable action to claim a comparable foreign pension with any foreign country in which they have previously lived or worked or have an entitlement to claim.    

Why are income support pensioners required to claim

The requirement to claim any entitlement to a comparable foreign pension is applied to ensure that the person and their partner are maximising their total income. This ensures that the person is making full use of the resources they have available to support themself before calling on Australian taxpayers for support.

Penalties for failing to claim

If a person or their partner is entitled to a comparable foreign pension and does not claim, their claim for an Australian income support pension could be rejected or their existing pension entitlement could be cancelled or suspended.

How does a person claim a comparable foreign pension

Some foreign countries have a reciprocal agreement with [glossary:Fa:] — [glossary:H:] — [glossary:CSIA:] and for these countries a claim for a comparable foreign pension can be lodged with and processed by Centrelink. For any other country, a claim for a comparable foreign pension must be lodged directly with the country involved.    

How are payments of a comparable foreign pension assessed

Any payments of a comparable foreign pension that a person or their partner receives are assessed as ordinary income of the recipient.