The winter away

Way 1 of 5: 6 to 12 weeks. Six to twelve weeks somewhere warm, then home for summer and Christmas. Nothing at home changes.

A retired couple pack summer clothes and a sun hat, leaving a jumper behind, to spend winter away overseas

Is this the right step for you?

Who it suits

  • You want to see what living overseas is like before you change anything
  • You want to be home for summer, Christmas and the grandkids
  • You get the Age Pension and want to keep the Pension Supplement

Probably not yet if

  • You want to be settled somewhere for most of the year
  • You need to be home at short notice for someone who depends on you

What changes on the winter away

Your Age Pension
Keeps paying. Tell Services Australia if you will be away more than 6 weeks. After 6 weeks the Energy Supplement stops and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled until you are home. Home within 12 weeks and the Pension Supplement keeps paying for the whole trip.
Your house
Stays your home, and nothing changes for the assets test.
Visa
A visitor stay is often enough. Malaysia gives Australians 90 days on arrival and Vietnam has a 90-day eVisa. Thailand now gives 30 days visa-free, cut from 60 on 15 September 2026.
Health cover
Medicare does not pay for care overseas, though under agreements with 11 countries you can get medically necessary public care there, and none of them are in Asia. You need travel insurance that covers the whole trip and any conditions you declare.
Tax
You usually stay an Australian resident for tax. A winter away on its own does not normally change that.
Coming home
Just come home. Your supplements and Concession Card come back if you still qualify.

General information, checked 19 October 2026 against Services Australia, the ATO and Smartraveller. Your situation may differ.

The steps, in order

  1. Pick a place where the visitor stay covers your trip
  2. Book a furnished monthly let; winter lets usually cost 20 to 40% more than long-term rents
  3. Tell Services Australia if you will be away more than 6 weeks
  4. Buy travel insurance for the whole trip, and declare your conditions
  5. Take a doctor's letter and your medicines in their original packs

The winter away, in pictures

A blank calendar with the three winter months shaded beside sunglasses, for planning a winter away from Australia
Three months away, marked on the calendar.
A retired couple in sun hats walk a palm-lined seaside promenade, spending the Australian winter somewhere warm
A warm walk while it is cold at home.
A retired woman hands her house key to a neighbour at the front door before a winter away overseas
A neighbour keeps an eye on the house.
A retired couple arrive home with suitcases beside a flowering wattle, back in Australia after a winter away
Home again in time for spring.

Talk it through for your situation

On a free Zoom call we will help you work out which way suits you, where to go and who with.

No pressure and no card details. You decide what comes next.