'It's disgusting': traveller's pension docked during extended overseas holiday

A 78-year-old was shocked to uncover the government was docking her age pension after an extended holiday to the United States.

After six weeks away, Lauren (who wished not to use her real name), noticed her payment was short around $30, then a fortnight later, it was short $50, while the following payment was docked even more.

The widow, who was on a trip to visit her son and grandchildren in Tennessee, was only meant to be away for four weeks. But her adult daughter and travelling companion, Jessica, became ill.

When her daughter required a small medical procedure, Lauren extended her stay.

"I was initially staying for a month, with my daughter going on to do more travelling," she said.

"But I wasn't going to leave her in case her condition got worse."

Lauren told ACM she called Centrelink when she arrived home, and they explained pensioners can't leave Australia for more than six weeks without a financial penalty.

"And the pension gets reduced more and more - for each week you are away," she said

"Older Australians who have worked hard our whole lives get punished for daring to spend more than six weeks out of Australia. It's disgusting."

Despite explaining the situation to Centrelink, Lauren was told she wouldn't be reimbursed. But her full pension was reinstated because she was back in the country.

"I want everyone to know about this rule. Just because you travel overseas doesn't mean you're rich," Lauren said.

"People have direct debits and rely on their pension to pay bills.

"It's outrageous."

Services Australia Community Information Officer Justin Bott said the rule is called "Age Pension portability" and many factors can affect payment.

"How much pension you get changes depending on how long you're away, how long you have lived in Australia or whether you're leaving to live in another country," he said.

"If you get the Age Pension and are planning on travelling overseas for longer than six weeks you need to tell Services Australia."

The Senior understands the Energy Supplement portion of the Age Pension stops after six weeks and the Pension Supplement keeps reducing until it reaches the basic rate.

After 26 weeks overseas, the rate of Age Pension may change - depending on how long a person has lived in Australia between the ages of 16 and when they were eligible to get the pension.

Australians will also have their concession card cancelled after six weeks - with a new one issued only when the traveller returns back home and if they are still eligible.

"I had a backlog of mail when I got back, and I discovered my new concession card - it was really confusing. There was just no warning," Lauren said.

"I am worried other people don't know about it.

"I am just lucky I was with relatives and didn't have to worry about finances as much."

National Seniors Australia CEO Chris Grice told The Senior he believes the Government thinks people who go overseas must have plenty of money.

"You'll find that they're sort of saying, 'Oh, hang on, you're out of the country. You don't need electricity,'" he said.

"We all know that's not the case. Not everybody's doing a $40,000 Scenic river cruise," he said.

The CEO said Aussies need to be aware that the longer people stay overseas, the more money is docked.

Shockingly, Age Pension recipients are not the only ones who need to be aware of the "portability" rule.

"They're not just singling out the Age Pension. It's any government payment, such as study allowances, carers allowances and disability support," Mr Grice said.

But the portability rule is different for the various allowances. For example, the Disability Support Pension can be stricter. Recipients may not be able to spend more than a total of 28 days overseas across a 12-month period.

Services Australia recommends anyone receiving a government payment to go to Centrelink to see how their money could be reduced when travelling overseas.

A spokesperson for Services Australia said they would reach out to Lauren.