|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
Australia has a number of bilateral social security agreements with other countries. These agreements make it easier for Australians who live overseas and contribute to the social security system in their host country, to claim benefits, in particular age pension benefits, in either Australia or that country later on. These treaties close the gaps in social security coverage for people who move between countries, and help overcome barriers to pension payment in domestic legislation, such as requirements on citizenship; minimum contribution record; past residence record; and current country of residence.
Australia's fourteen existing agreements are with Austria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, New Zealand, and the United States.
The agreement with the United States entered into force on 1 October 2002, and the one with Germany entered into force on 1 January 2003. The new bilateral social security agreement with Slovenia was signed in December 2002 and entered into force on 1 January 2004. Read Minister Vanstone's media release of 20 December 2002 about Slovenia here.
A new agreement was signed with Belgium in November 2002, but will not come into force until it has been ratified by the Parliaments of both Australia and Belgium and the necessary administrative changes have been implemented. The anticipated date for entry into force is 1 July 2005. Read Minister Vanstone's media release of 20 November 2002 here.
On 25 March 2003 Senator Vanstone signed a new agreement with Chile, which it is hoped will enter into force on 1 July 2004, subject to the relevant national procedures being completed on time in both countries.
A new
agreement was also signed with Croatia on 13 May 2003, and is expected
to come into force on 1 July 2004, subject to both sides completing the necessary
formalities.
The staff in the International
Branch of the Department of Family and Community Services in Canberra
are working to finalise and have signed new agreements with Norway
and Switzerland before the end of 2004.
In January 2004 preliminary discussions took place with Japan about
the possibility of negotiating an agreement, with further talks planned for
the second half of 2004.
High level political discussions about the possibility of an agreement
between Australia and Greece are expected to resume after the Greek
elections in March 2004.
Note that Australia's social security agreement with the United Kingdom was terminated from 1 March 2001.
You can download fact sheets explaining each of the existing bilateral social security agreements from the Centrelink website.
Why We Need More Bilateral Social Security Agreements
Australians who live in countries with which Australia does not have a bilateral agreement are at a great disadvantage, although often they do not realise this until they are about to retire, or actually have retired. In our assessment, the current paucity of bilateral social security coverage for Australians overseas is one of the great hidden drawbacks of being globally mobile today. In addition, if Australian expatriates were more aware of the limitations in international social security coverage, many would be able to plan earlier to cover themselves better in retirement.
We first became aware of the importance of bilateral social security agreements in 1999, when we learned of the plight of several Australians who had worked for most of their careers in Belgium and by law had had to contribute (not unsubstantial sums) to the Belgian social security system over many years. On retirement back to Australia, they were unable to take a Belgian pension in Australia because of the restrictions in Belgian law on the payment of Belgian pensions to non-Belgians overseas. There is currently no bilateral social security agreement in force between Belgium and Australia (although one has now been signed, in November 2002, and will enter into force in mid 2005). Effectively, all of their contributions in Belgium were forfeited. If they had remained resident in Belgium in retirement, they could have taken their Belgian pensions, but they wished to return to Australia. (It is possible that they might still have qualified for a pension in retirement from the Australian government quite independently of the contributions they had made in Belgium, but only if they could satisfy the age, residence, and income and assets tests for the Australian Age Pension.)
Add Your Voice to Ours
Since its formation, the Southern Cross Group has been pushing for Australia to enter into more bilateral social security agreements with countries where none exist. While most of our energies have been devoted to citizenship and overseas voting electoral law reform in Australia, we have also carried out some advocacy work in this area, which is outlined on our page Advocacy Work by the SCG.
If you are making contributions to a state pension scheme in a country with which Australia does not have a bilateral agreement, and with which Australia has not yet started negotiations for such an agreement, we strongly encourage you to send an e-mail to the Australian Minister for Family and Community Services, pointing out this fact and urging the government to extend its network of agreements. It is only by making decision-makers in Canberra aware of the impact of the deficit in the current bilateral coverage that we can hope to see Australia enter into negotiations for further agreements. By working for more bilateral agreements today, we can help make sure that people retiring in ten, twenty or thirty years from now are not financially disadvantaged in the future.
What Pension Benefits Will You Qualify For in Retirement?
The Southern Cross Group often receives queries from Australians overseas who are approaching retirement and who are wondering what benefits, if any, they will qualify for in Australia if they move back to Australia, or in the country in which they live if they remain overseas. People also ask us whether they can draw an Australian pension benefit if they continue to reside overseas in retirement. There is no stock advice we can provide, as the answer is different for everyone and is determined by an individual's particular circumstances and the countries in which they have contributed, and whether Australia has a bilateral agreement with the country concerned. However, the information on our page Do You Qualify for the Australian Age Pension? provides a starting point for you to explore these questions further.
New Agreement with the United States
As mentioned above, a new agreement with the United States took effect on 1 October 2002. This is an important step forward for the more than 100,000 Australians in the US. For details on the US Agreement and information on the Southern Cross Group's input into the ratification process for this proposed treaty, see our page New Agreement with the US. You will also find important information on the FaCS website.
Revised Agreement with New Zealand
Further, a revised agreement with New Zealand came into force on 1 July 2002, and since 26 February 2001, new social security arrangements have been operational in Australia which affect New Zealanders who move to Australia. For more information, consult our page Changed Arrangements with New Zealand.
No Agreement with the United Kingdom
Australians in the United Kingdom will be disappointed to learn that Australia's bilateral social security agreement with the UK was terminated from 1 March 2001. This development went largely unnoticed by the some 300,000 Australians in the United Kingdom, although the Southern Cross Group believes that in the longer term the fact that there is no agreement in operation will have a detrimental impact on a significant number of individuals. For a full discussion of this issue, consult our page Changed Arrangements with the UK. Unfortunately, there is no hope at the moment that Australia will negotiate a new agreement with the UK anytime soon.
More Information
Other pages in the Bilateral Social Security Agreements section of our website may interest you:
· Examples and Case
Studies
· Advocacy Work by the
SCG
· Send
Minister Patterson an E-mail
· New Agreement with the
United States
· Changed Arrangements with
the UK
· Changed Arrangements with
New Zealand
· Do You Qualify for
the Australian Age Pension?
For up-to-the-minute information on Australia's existing agreements, the implementation of new agreements and negotiations on future agreements, please refer to the International Agreements Page of the Department of Family and Community Services website.
If you have any comments or questions concerning Australia's policy on and negotiation of bilateral social security agreements, please contact the International Branch of the Australian Department of Family and Community Services in Canberra.
If you have a question concerning your own benefit entitlements, contact Centrelink International Services.
The Bilateral Social Security Agreements folder in the Archives section of this site also contains considerable background documentation.
Comments and suggestions for improvement concerning this section of the SCG website should be addressed to SCG Committee member Anne MacGregor.
