Name of the Organization : Department of Human Service
Type of Facility : Pension Bonus Scheme
Country : Australia
Website : https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/pension-bonus-scheme
Pension Bonus Scheme :
** A tax free lump sum payment for registered members of the Pension Bonus Scheme who have deferred claiming Age Pension and stayed in paid work.
Related : Department of Human Services Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme Australia : www.statusin.org/25912.html
Eligibility basics :
** you must have registered for the scheme before 1 July 2014
** you must not have received Age Pension or any other income support payment other than Carer Payment since qualifying for Age Pension, and
** you must meet the work test rules for at least 12 months from the date your membership started
Eligibility for the Pension Bonus Scheme :
** The scheme is closed to new registrations.
** You can only claim the Pension Bonus if you registered in the scheme before 1 July 2014 and have not received an income support payment, excluding Carer Payment, since first qualifying for Age Pension.
** The scheme is voluntary and allows registered members to keep on working and accruing periods of work that count toward a lump sum bonus when they stop working and claim Age Pension.
Income support payments include :
** Age Pension
** Disability Support Pension
** Farm Household Allowance
** Special Benefit
** Austudy
** Bereavement Allowance
** Widow Allowance
** Veterans’ Affairs service pensions, other than a Carer Service Pension
** Veterans’ Affairs Income Support Supplement
** Only one bonus is ever payable.
** You must claim your Pension Bonus at the same time you claim Age Pension.
** If you cannot get Age Pension, you cannot get a bonus.
** Use our Payment Finder to explore other payments you may be eligible for based on your situation.
Residence requirements for claiming a Pension Bonus :
** To be eligible for claiming a Pension Bonus you must satisfy residence requirements.
You must be :
** an Australian resident on the day you submit your claim, and
** physically present on the day you submit your claim
You also need to have been an Australian resident :
** for a continuous period of at least 10 years, or
for a number of periods that total more than 10 years with 1 of the periods being at least 5 years, unless you :
** are a refugee or former refugee
** were getting Partner Allowance, Widow Allowance or Widow B Pension immediately before turning age pension age, or
** are a woman whose partner died while you were both Australian residents, and you have been an Australian resident for 2 years immediately before claiming Age Pension
** If you have lived or worked in a country with which Australia has an international social security agreement, it may have helped you meet these residence requirements when you registered in the scheme.
** However, you cannot be paid if you need to use the provisions of an international social security agreement when claiming your bonus.
If you die before you get paid your bonus :
** Pension Bonus is a personal entitlement and cannot be transferred to your estate if you pass away before you make a successful claim.
** If you have a partner and you pass away before you make a successful claim for Age Pension and Pension Bonus, your surviving partner may be entitled to Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment.
** The amount payable is based on your accrued bonus periods.
** If you are registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme separately from your partner, you do not lose your own entitlement if your partner passes away.
** If, however, you are not working and have been relying on your partner’s work to meet the work test requirements, you will need to start work or claim your bonus within 26 weeks of your partner’s death.