Moving overseas permanently on the Age Pension: what changes the day you leave

What stops the day you leave?

It keeps paying, but at a lower rate from the day you leave. Services Australia pays an outside-Australia rate to anyone living overseas long term or for good.

These things stop on your departure date, rather than after 6 or 12 weeks as under the rules for a trip:

Payment or card	If you move overseas to live
Base rate of Age Pension	Keeps paying, subject to the income and assets tests
Pension Supplement	Stops on the day you leave
Energy Supplement	Stops on the day you leave
Pensioner Concession Card	Cancelled on the day you leave
After 26 weeks away	If you lived in Australia less than 35 years between age 16 and Age Pension age, your rate usually becomes proportional

You need to tell Services Australia if you’re going to live in another country, either through myGov or on the Older Australians line (132 300).

How much is the Age Pension if I live overseas?

From 20 September 2026, the outside-Australia rate is the base rate only. These are the maximum amounts before tax.

	Single	Couple, both eligible (combined)
A year	A$29,520.40	A$44,506.80
A fortnight	A$1,135.40	A$1,711.80
A month (about)	A$2,460	A$3,710
Maximum rate in Australia, a fortnight	A$1,237.70	A$1,866.00
Difference over a year	A$2,659.80 less	A$4,009.20 less

Services Australia says rates are adjusted every 20 March and 20 September. With under 35 years of Australian working life residence, the proportional rule cuts it further after 26 weeks. Our guide to living overseas on the Age Pension sets these amounts against what a month costs in six places.

This changed on 20 September 2026. Until then, pensioners living overseas kept a small basic amount of the Pension Supplement (A$30.10 a fortnight for a single person in March 2026). The Department of Social Services estimated in its May 2026 Budget fact sheet that about 88,000 pensioners already living overseas would get a small cut on that date, and about 3,000 a year who move overseas would see a reduction on departure.

What is the 2-year rule?

It applies if you came back to Australia to live and then started the pension. If you then travel outside Australia within 2 years, Services Australia says your Age Pension may stop. Going to a country with a social security agreement, such as Portugal or Spain, may let it continue. Our guide to claiming before you leave lists the agreement countries.

Someone who has been on the pension for years and is moving overseas for the first time isn’t affected. The people it catches are those who come home, claim, and leave again soon after.

What happens to my home if I move overseas for good?

For the pension, it can stop being your exempt home. Services Australia’s operational guidance says a home you leave temporarily stays exempt from the assets test for an initial 12 months. If you have no intention of going back to it, the guidance treats that as a permanent vacation. The 12 months then doesn’t apply, and a home you keep can count as an asset. Our guide on whether the house counts while you are away goes into this.

Rent it out and the rent counts too, because Services Australia’s income test counts income from all sources. Either change can push your rate below the maximums in the table. Our guide on whether to keep, rent or sell the family home sets out the choices.

Then there’s tax. The ATO says that if you’re a foreign resident when you sell, you generally can’t claim the main residence exemption from capital gains tax for sales after 30 June 2020, apart from narrow exceptions for some life events. Our guide to tax residency when you retire overseas explains how you become a foreign resident. This is a question for a registered tax agent before you sell or move.

How does this look for a couple?

An example, not real people. Peter is 69 and Ros is 68. Both get the maximum Age Pension, they own their home and they have modest savings. They move to Da Nang to live and leave the house empty, with no plan to move back into it.

	Before they leave	From the day they leave
Combined pension, a fortnight	A$1,866.00	A$1,711.80 at most
Pension Supplement	A$133.00 combined	Stopped
Energy Supplement	A$21.20 combined	Stopped
Concession Cards	Current	Cancelled
The house	Exempt from the assets test	Can count as an asset from departure

A drop of A$154.20 a fortnight comes to A$4,009.20 a year. If the house counts as an asset their rate could fall further, depending on what it’s worth and what else they own. Services Australia would work out their actual rate.

Can I change my mind and come back?

Yes. Services Australia’s operational guidance says a proportional rate generally stops being proportional from the date you return, and Australian residents who return are issued a concession card from the date they return or once their payment restarts. If your payment stopped while you were away, it can generally be restored if you’re back within 13 weeks of it stopping. Our guide to returning to Australia has the detail, Medicare included.

What this means for you depends on

• How many years you lived in Australia between age 16 and Age Pension age.
• Whether you keep, rent out or sell your home, and its value.
• Your other income and assets, in Australia and overseas.
• Whether you came back to live in Australia in the last 2 years.
• Whether you move to a social security agreement country.
• Your tax residency, and the ATO rules when you sell.

This is general information, not advice. Services Australia can tell you your rate. Tax and the house are questions for a registered tax agent, and your money is one for a licensed financial adviser. Anything else, bring to a free planning session on Zoom, and once we understand your situation we’ll point you the right way.