Territorians and
p. 71 · Read in the full issue
Doubts About
Eligibility
Territorians and Australian Pensions
rtE Fapua-New Guinea Branch of the RSSAILA has been surprised by a reply they have received from the Australian Minister for Social Services in respect of Territory ex-service personnel who wish to receive old age pensions and other social service benefits in Australia.
The RSSAILA had asked that these benefits be extended to Territorians—and now they find that according to the Minister, in most cases they already are extended.
The P-NG Branch has cited a case of an ex-serviceman who went to Australia from NG last year and was denied benefits because he had not established residence of 20 years in Australia.
The Minister said that to qualify for an age pension, a person must have resided in Australia for a continuous period of 20 years—but the 20 years need not be imme diately prior to the date of the application. Furthermore, that continuity of residence was not
deemed to have been interrupted by absence in a Territory of the Commonwealth.
An official of the Social Services Department in Sydney told PIM that people were not entitled to apply for age pensions while resident in New Guinea. A pension application would be considered only from a permanent resident of Australia.
It is possible for a person receiving a pension in Australia and who is required to live in New Guinea for a period, or even permanently, to have the pension paid in New Guinea. Arrangements to do this should be made through the Deputy Commissioner of Social Services in Brisbane.
To qualify for a pension a person must have lived in Australia for 20 years, and he must be in Aus tralia at the time of application.
A resident of New Guinea who served with the Australian services durine the war should make pension claims through the Deputy Com missioner in Brisbane. He is eligible for any pension which may be due to him through war disability.
There is also a service pension (equivalent to the old age pension) available to persons reaching the age of 60 who served with the forces outside Australia. This pension is subject to a means test.