Policy

Last amended: 24 March 2006

Circumstances in which a person may be unable to sell an asset would include the following:

Last amended: 15 July 2022

Assets tested pension plus income exceeds maximum annual rate of pension

A pensioner is not in severe financial hardship if their total annual assets tested service pension or income support supplement plus other income exceeds the maximum annual rate of pension.

Overview

To claim a [glossary:service pension:245] or [glossary:ISS:118] a person must be an [glossary:Australian resident:582] and be in [glossary:Australia:161] at the time of claim. This section details how long a person must reside in Australia before becoming entitled  to claim service pension.

Last amended: 30 April 2014

Difference between long term and temporary hardship

The following table illustrates the practical difference between temporary and long-term severe financial hardship.

Lodgement of a claim for consideration under hardship rules

This chapter outlines the eligibility requirements for different types of [glossary:service pension:245].

See Also

For a person to be considered under the financial hardship rules, they must have an [glossary:unrealisable asset:330]. This section contains information on different types of unrealisable assets and how they are treated.

Overview

In order to establish residency, it must first be decided if a person is an [glossary:Australian resident:582]. One definition of an Australian resident is a person who resides in [glossary:Australia:161] and is an Australian citizen. Below are details of what constitutes an Australian citizen.

Definition

A person may become an Australian citizen by:

• birth;
• adoption; or
• naturalisation.

Citizenship by Birth

The following table shows who is considered to be an Australian citizen by birth.

Last amended: 14 July 2022

Relevance

Last amended: 1 July 2013