Which countries have a social security agreement with Australia?

A social security agreement lets a person lodge a claim for certain pensions from Australia or the other country, regardless of which of the two countries they live in, according to the Department of Social Services (DSS)¹. An agreement can also combine periods of Australian residence with periods of contributions in the other country, which can help a person meet the minimum residence or contribution period required for a pension.

The agreements are international treaties, given effect under Australia's social security law². They are based on shared responsibility, with each country paying a benefit that reflects the person's connection with its social security system.

The Age Pension generally requires 10 years of Australian residence, including five years of continuous residence³. Under an agreement, a period of coverage in the other country can count towards that minimum where the periods do not overlap⁴. This is known as totalisation.

A period of coverage may be time spent paying social insurance contributions, time as a resident, or a deemed period such as military service or time spent raising children⁴.

In Services Australia's example, a person with 7 years of Australian residence and a 3-year period of coverage in Latvia may be able to add the two periods together to qualify for the Age Pension⁴.

A person living in Thailand or Malaysia cannot claim the Age Pension from there, because a claim from overseas needs a social security agreement and neither country is on the DSS list of agreement countries⁷.

A person who moves back to Australia, or to an agreement country, can then lodge a claim, subject to the Age Pension qualification rules⁷.

A person who divides retirement between Australia and another country is assessed on where they primarily live at the time of the claim. If that primary place of residence is a country without an agreement, such as Thailand, the Age Pension cannot be granted while the person lives there⁷.

An Age Pension granted before leaving Australia can generally continue in Thailand or Malaysia for the whole time the recipient lives there⁸. The Age Pension is one of the payments with unlimited portability, according to the DSS Social Security Guide⁹.

A person who does not yet receive the Age Pension can claim up to 13 weeks before reaching Age Pension age⁷, which is 67¹⁰. The qualification rules must be met when the person reaches Age Pension age⁷.

An Age Pension granted to a person after they come back to live in Australia may stop if they travel outside Australia within two years of returning. The payment may be able to continue if the travel is to an agreement country¹¹.

An Age Pension paid under an agreement to a person living outside Australia is generally calculated at a proportional rate, based on the person's months of Australian working life residence out of a maximum of 420 months, or 35 years¹⁶.

In the Social Security Guide's example, a person with 180 months, or 15 years, of Australian working life residence may receive 180/420ths of the rate payable with 420 months or more¹⁶.

A person paid under an agreement usually receives a part pension from each agreement country they have lived or worked in, with each amount depending on how long they lived or worked in that country¹⁷.

Since 1 July 2014, an Age Pension paid under an agreement has been calculated on the person's own Australian working life residence rather than a partner's or former partner's. People already paid under an agreement overseas at that date may continue to have their payment calculated using a maximum of 25 years unless they return to Australia for at least 26 weeks¹⁶.

The same 35-year scale applies to an Age Pension granted in Australia and taken overseas. After 26 weeks outside Australia, a recipient with 35 years or more of Australian working life residence generally keeps the same rate, while a recipient with less than 35 years generally receives a lower rate¹¹.

In Services Australia's example, a person with 10 years of residence receives 10/35ths of their usual rate¹¹.

The calculation in the Social Security Act counts whole months of Australian working life residence plus one month, up to 420 months⁹. Under that count, 18 years of residence counts as 217 months. A person with no Australian working life residence has a proportional rate of nil.

Before any reduction for Australian working life residence, income or assets, the maximum basic Age Pension rate for a single person living outside Australia is $29,520.40 a year from 20 September 2026¹⁸. For a couple who are both eligible, the combined maximum basic rate is $44,506.80 a year, or $22,253.40 each.

The single rate equals 26 fortnightly payments of $1,135.40, the maximum basic rate paid in Australia¹⁹. In Australia, the Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement raise the single maximum to $1,237.70 a fortnight, or $32,180.20 a year. For a person who leaves Australia to live in another country, the Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement stop and the Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled from the date they leave¹¹.

The rate of an Australian pension paid outside Australia cannot exceed the rate the person would receive living in Australia, a ceiling that has applied since 1 August 2000²⁰.

The income and assets tests also apply to people living overseas. From 20 September 2026, a single homeowner living outside Australia can receive the full pension with annual income of up to $5,876.00 and assets of up to $333,000¹⁸.

Australia ended its social security agreement with the United Kingdom on 1 March 2001, because the UK declined to change its policy of not indexing UK pensions paid in Australia¹.

Successive Australian governments asked the UK Government to address the indexation issue, without success. The DSS states that only the UK Government can change this policy¹.

The UK increases State Pensions each year for recipients living in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or a country where its agreement with the UK provides for annual increases. Australia is in neither group²². The UK has agreements with Canada and New Zealand, but State Pensions paid to recipients in those countries do not receive the yearly increase either.

The former UK agreement was an older type of agreement under which the country where a person lived was responsible for their social security support². Australia's 1995 agreement with New Zealand followed the same model until a shared-responsibility agreement replaced it in 2002.