3.2.2 ISS Eligibility

Last amended: 20 September 2011

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for Income Support Supplement [glossary:(:]ISS[glossary:),:] the person must be eligible for a war widows' pension or a war widowers' pension paid under the VEA, or be a wholly dependent partner eligible to receive compensation under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA).

Foreign war widow/ers are not eligible for ISS

ISS eligibility is limited to war widow/ers receiving a dependant's payment under Part II or Part IV of the VEA, or the equivalent wholly dependant partner payment under the MRCA. This is because the VEA Rate Calculator refers to the restricted definition of “war widow/war widower – pensioner” as provided in section 5Q(1) of the Act.

There is another definition of war widow/er within the VEA which also includes a person receiving a pension from a foreign country which is similar in character to a payment under the VEA or MRCA. This definition is used for other assessment purposes, including recognising the similar overseas payment for WWP offsetting and for ineligibility for partner service pension.  This wider definition, including foreign war widow/ers, does not however apply for ISS eligibility purposes.

Lodging a claim

Although a person may meet the eligibility criteria for ISS, the payment cannot be made until a proper claim is lodged.

When a claimant has indicated on a Form D2663 Claim for pension by a war widow/widower or other dependant of a deceased veteran form that they wish to claim for ISS in addition to war widows/widowers pension, this may be considered as a proper claim for ISS. The formal ISS claim form D0529 Claim for Income Support Supplement is not separately required where the delegate is satisfied that the information necessary to determine ISS eligibility is available through the war widows/widowers claim form.

While further information (such as income and assets details) may still be required to finalise the claim, the war widow/widower claim form may be recognised as a proper ISS claim for the purposes of determining the date of ISS grant.

Additional forms must still be lodged for invalidity ISS to assist in establishing whether the war widow/widower meets the permanent incapacity criteria, when a claimant has advised they are claiming ISS on the basis of invalidity.    

Payability

There are a number of situations where a person may be eligible for Income Support Supplement but that pension is not payable to them.    

Pension Bonus Scheme

While there is no age restriction on eligibility for income support supplement, f — or the purpose of participating in the pension bonus scheme under the VEA, a war widow/widower must have reached qualifying age to defer their income support supplement. To be eligible for the bonus all other requirements of the scheme must be met.    

Income support supplement pre 1/7/2008 – age restriction

The eligibility criteria for income support supplement changed on 1 July 2008.  Prior to this date, a VEA war widow/widower or MRCA wholly dependent partner was only eligible for ISS if they had reached qualifying age, ha — d a dependant child, were permanently incapacitated for work, or were the partner of an income support recipient.  An eligible war widow/widower may still be granted invalidity ISS after 1 July 2008 on the grounds of being permanently incapacitated for work.