Ozzy State Pension.. help required..!

[steve73]

On 8/29/2022 at 10:41 AM, scorecard said:

Australian teachers working in Thailand with 3 or 5 years (forget which one) experience who are teaching now can attest these documents. 

That's useful to know for next time... we ended up needing to pay a Thai lawyer a HUGE fee to do this...

[scorecard]

51 minutes ago, steve73 said:

That's useful to know for next time... we ended up needing to pay a Thai lawyer a HUGE fee to do this...

 

I e.mailed to the CM Oz honorary Consulate. A day later the consul responded by saying that he is not authorized to sign in this way however he shared the full name and contact details of a resident of Chiang who is a registerd Justice of the Peace. He was approved/ registered in Q'land but he can sign Centrelink documents. And he makes no charge whatever.

 

I'm not willing to share his name / contact details here, I don't believe that would be appropriate.

 

For anybody needing such signature can I suggest a quick e.mail to the actual Chiang Mai consulate (easy to find) will quickly get you the full details of the Q'land guy who is a JP. 

 

Good luck

[scorecard]

On 8/3/2022 at 8:43 PM, Lacessit said:

Your friend needs to phone the Centrelink International section to find out why his pension payments have been stopped. He will probably be asked to provide a fair amount of information for security reasons, so he should assemble as much as possible. Centrelink number, passport, tax file number DOB etc.

The phone number for the international section is +61 6222 3455.

Poster mentions the guy has been receiving payments already for some time abroad, so the 2 years back in OZ now not relevant.

 

Centrelink don't ask for tax file numbers in general phone/any conversations, except when an Aussie first completes the OAP application form where the personal tax file no. must be stated.

 

OAP applications ar now mostly processed by computer. Computer sees tax file number, computer checks it's a valid file number (checks nothing else). Computer 'ticks' that tax file check satisfactorily completed and computer then totallly destroys the tax file number.

 

WHY? One of the major 'foundations' of gaining the OAP is proof that the applicant has at some time paid personal Australian taxation. The process described just above is the check that 'has previously paid Aust. personal tax'. When and how much tax paid is not part of the check.

 

More broadly the ATO is seperate from Centrelink (now called Services Australia). If you have activted MyGov, the ATO is one of the agencies you can activate under your MyGov 'umbrella', You can also activate Centrelink under your MyGov 'umbrella'. Medibank and many more gov't agencies can also be activated under your MyGov 'umbrella'.

 

Put your MyGov in your favorites list, easy to open, then select what agency you want to talk to. Very easy and convenient. 

[Lacessit]

20 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Poster mentions the guy has been receiving payments already for some time abroad, so the 2 years back in OZ now not relevant.

 

Centrelink don't ask for tax file numbers in general phone/any conversations, except when an Aussie first completes the OAP application form where the personal tax file no. must be stated.

 

OAP applications ar now mostly processed by computer. Computer sees tax file number, computer checks it's a valid file number (checks nothing else). Computer 'ticks' that tax file check satisfactorily completed and computer then totallly destroys the tax file number.

 

WHY? One of the major 'foundations' of gaining the OAP is proof that the applicant has at some time paid personal Australian taxation. The process described just above is the check that 'has previously paid Aust. personal tax'. When and how much tax paid is not part of the check.

 

More broadly the ATO is seperate from Centrelink (now called Services Australia). If you have activted MyGov, the ATO is one of the agencies you can activate under your MyGov 'umbrella', You can also activate Centrelink under your MyGov 'umbrella'. Medibank and many more gov't agencies can also be activated under your MyGov 'umbrella'.

 

Put your MyGov in your favorites list, easy to open, then select what agency you want to talk to. Very easy and convenient. 

I am not sure how relevant your response is to the OP's situation, which is how to restore stopped payments.

I accept Centrelink and the ATO may be separated under the MyGov umbrella, although things can change.

IME doing things online with Centrelink can be a minefield, after one experience where the computer refused to accept a supporting document, I prefer speaking to a real person.

[KhunHeineken]

On 8/3/2022 at 1:08 PM, steve73 said:

I'm British, and not yet of state pension age, so I need some help for an Australian pal. 

 

He's 81, been retired here in Thailand for about 20 years.  Recently his State Pension has stopped being paid into his Aussie bank account... 

Did he ask to borrow some money from you?  ???? 

[ozfarang]

@steve73 you friend needs to send Centrelink a 'Proof of Life' certificate.

 

All the details are here

 

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/proof-life-compliance-reviews-if-youre-older-80-and-live-overseas?context=22526

[tassydevil]

Most likely reason for cancelment is that he has not provided centrelink with a Proof of life certificate.

This must be provided when you turn 80 yo and every two years thereafter,this regulation was on the back burner due to covid mail delays but is now being implemented .

A call on the centrelink freecall line will clarify.  001 800 611 4136

[steve73]

On 11/3/2022 at 8:54 AM, tassydevil said:

Most likely reason for cancelment is that he has not provided centrelink with a Proof of life certificate.

This must be provided when you turn 80 yo and every two years thereafter,this regulation was on the back burner due to covid mail delays but is now being implemented .

A call on the centrelink freecall line will clarify.  001 800 611 4136

Yes - this was the reason the pension was stopped..  We e-mailed the necessary document (downloaded from the Ozzy .gov site),  back to them and the pension was restarted successfully.

 

The only "problem" was the extortionate cost of a Thai lawyer to confirm he was still alive... more than half a months pension payment... which will be a problem if it's needed to be done every 2 years...!!!

 

Need to find a better alternative for 2024, if necessary.  

[tassydevil]

Almost any doctor at any clinic will do the verification . 100 baht.

 

 

dom

[scorecard]

There's a pleasant Aussie guy living full-time in Chiang Mai, he is a Justice of the Peace for Queensland and is authorised to witness such documents anywhere in the world. He refuses payments or gifts.

 

For more details send an e.mail to the Aussie Honarary Consulate in Chiang Mai, he will quickly advise the full contact details. 

 

Call the JP guy for an appoinement, I saw him the next day, take basic documents obviously current passport, no detailed interview, takes 10 minutes.

 

Plenty of parking in the under cover parking area at his condo, about 10 minutes from Central Festival.