Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

From 1 October 2019, pensioners aged 80 years and over who permanently live overseas will be required to complete proof-of-life certificates every two years to continue receiving their payment. Currently the Department of Human Services mostly relies on voluntary reporting by family members or friends to report the death of a pension recipient overseas. Payments can continue until this is reported. This government is committed to maintaining a welfare system that is fair and sustainable. The measures introduced in this bill strengthen the integrity of the welfare system by making sure that Australian pensions are only being paid to pensioners who are still alive.

Why are we doing this? Because this government believes in continually striving for a fairer society, one in which the government manages its finances responsibly. From our government you have seen certainty, you have seen stability. You have seen a plan, a plan that we took to the Australian people, a plan that we put in our budget, a plan that foresaw the challenges that Australia was going to face and a government that's steadfastly getting on with implementing that plan.

Australia is a multicultural society, with around one-third of Australians being born overseas. In fact, in my electorate of Stirling nearly half of all people, 46 per cent to be exact, were born overseas, and a language other than English is spoken in one in three homes. The government recognises that many people wish to return to their country of birth to be with family or friends at a later stage in life. Therefore it is not unreasonable to expect a large number of Australian pensioners to retire overseas. In fact, Australia pays a pension to approximately 96,000 Australian pensioners who live overseas. These 96,000 age pension, disability support pension, widow B pension, wife pension and carer payment recipients currently live overseas in about 100 different countries. Of these, approximately 25,000 are aged 80 years and over. It is estimated that this measure will identify approximately 6,000 pensioners over the forward estimates who are deceased and are still receiving payments overseas. This measure is expected to save around $219 million over the forward estimates as a result of identifying deceased pensioners earlier. This measure is one of many which demonstrate the financial responsibility of this government. Our budget is coming back to surplus for the first time in more than a decade as we maintain our record of fiscal discipline and targeted spending.

How will this process work? Pensioners aged 80 and over residing permanently overseas for more than two years will need to complete and return a proof-of-life certificate every two years to continue to receive their pension overseas. To help protect against fraud, the certificates will have to be verified. Pensioners will have a range of options available to have their certificate verified. These may include, but are not limited to, a judge or magistrate of a law court; a medical doctor who is registered or licensed to practise in that country; or a police officer or a notary public or Australian official at an embassy, consulate or high commission. This will provide overseas pension recipients with multiple options for verifying this proof-of-life certificate, making the process as easy and practical as possible.

The measures include safeguards to reinstate a living pensioner's payment if they are suspended or cancelled: if the pensioner makes contact with the Department of Human Services and provides a completed proof-of-life certificate, the Secretary of the Department of Social Services or an appropriate delegate will have the discretion to reinstate the payment. A pensioner who has their payment reinstated will be paid any arrears to which they are entitled. This process will make sure that only people entitled to an Australian pension continue to receive it, whilst minimising the impact on pensioners who do the right thing.

It is important to note that there are safety nets in place. Pensioners will be given 13 weeks to respond to the request. If there is no response, the pension will be suspended for up to 13 weeks. If they still haven't responded after this time—26 weeks in total—their payment will be cancelled. Twenty-six weeks: that's half a year. I'm sure you'd agree that this is a very generous period of time which a pensioner has to respond to a request for communication from their home government. Should they make contact with DHS and provide their completed proof-of-life certificate after this time, their payment will be reinstated without the pensioner needing to re-claim. A pensioner who has their payment reinstated will be paid any arrears to which they are entitled. Provided that a pensioner responds and provides their completed proof-of-life certificate within 39 weeks after the initial request being sent, they will be able to receive full arrears.

Australia is certainly not the first country to implement a similar arrangement to that outlined in the proposed legislative amendments. Life certificates or proof-of-life requests are commonly used for pension eligibility confirmation by European countries—for example: the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy. And in some countries they have been in use for more than a decade. This proposed amendment would bring Australia into line with many other countries who have already adopted similar arrangements. Some countries request these certificates annually or biennially. These countries do not restrict their processes to a particular age group.

This government is committed to maintaining a welfare system that is both fair and sustainable. The measures introduced in this bill strengthen the integrity of the welfare system by making sure that Australian pensions are only being paid to pensioners who are still alive. I commend this bill to the House.

See this speech in context