What are the Age Pension residency rules?

To access the Age Pension, reaching a certain age is necessary but not sufficient. As well as the age eligibility and income and assets tests, you also need to pass residency rules to be eligible to receive a full or part Age Pension from the Australian government.

Generally, you must be an Australian citizen and in Australia on the day you claim the Age Pension. But that’s the tip of the residency rules iceberg.

Age Pension residency requirements

First, you must be an Australian resident to qualify for the Age Pension. The Department of Human Services classifies you as being an Australian resident if:

• You are an Australian citizen
• You hold a permanent resident visa, or
• You hold a protected special category visa (this is a visa that was granted to New Zealand citizens who arrived in Australia prior to 2001).

As well as being an Australian resident, you must have been an Australian resident for at least ten years (and at least five of those years must have been consecutive).