3.6.1.50 Payability of DSP

Summary

Even though a claimant is qualified, DSP is NOT payable to the claimant in the circumstances listed in the following table. Where more detail about the circumstance is required, the second column indicates where you will find this. Additionally, DSP MAY not be payable to a recipient travelling overseas, as explained further on in this topic.

Act reference: SSAct section 16A(1)-'seasonal work preclusion period'

SS(Admin)Act section 63 Requirement to attend Department etc, Schedule 2 Rules for working out start day

Policy reference: SS Guide 5.1.5.10 DSP - Current Rates

Employment income nil rate period - an incentive to take up work

A DSP recipient who loses payment because of ordinary income (1.1.O.30), made up entirely or partly of employment income (1.1.E.102), may qualify for an employment income nil rate period. To assess qualification for an employment income nil rate period see (3.1.12) Employment Income Nil Rate Period.

During the employment income nil rate period a DSP recipient can:

• be paid certain supplementary benefits, and
• have their payment resumed if they report a fall in income sufficient for DSP to be payable again.

Explanation: This policy provides incentives for recipients to take up work, particularly casual or short term work.

Note:

• DSP-permanent blindness recipients who choose to be subject to the income and assets test because they wish to be paid RA can acrrue and deplete working credits for the purpose of calculating their rate of pension.
• The employment income nil rate period does not apply to recipients who lose their entitlement to DSP because they have paid work for more than 30 hours per week.
• DSP recipients retain their PCC for 52 weeks from the start of the employment income nil rate period.

Act reference: SSAct section 23(4A) Despite subsection (4)…, section 23(4AA) For the purposes of subsection (4A)…

Policy reference: SS Guide 3.1.12 Employment Income Nil Rate Period, 3.9.2.30 PCC due to Employment

Community development employment project

CDEP wages will be treated as direct deduction income, reducing the pension rate dollar for dollar up to the allowance equivalent of the pensioner's notional basic rate but capped at the NSA single MBR for single pensioners and the NSA partnered MBR for partnered pensioners. For pensioners under 21 years of age, the threshold will depend on the relevant DSP youth rate.

What constitutes overseas travel?

For the purposes of DSP, overseas travel includes travel to Norfolk Island.

Payment of DSP overseas

DSP may be payable to recipients travelling overseas, depending on the following factors. Whether the DSP recipient:

• has lodged a DSP claim prior to departure and the claimant qualified for DSP prior to departure,
• is qualified for an autonomous pension (1.1.A.360),
• is qualified as an agreement pensioner (see explanation 1),
• has continuing qualification confirmed as a result of a pre-departure review,
• is travelling to New Zealand (see explanation 2),
• is regarded as a 'former resident', and
• has a severe disability.

Explanation 1: Where the recipient resides in a country with which Australia has an international social security agreement, a pension may be payable under that agreement.

Explanation 2: Special conditions apply to DSP recipients travelling to New Zealand.

Duration of payment of DSP overseas

From 1 July 2004 DSP is payable for a maximum of 13 weeks overseas unless the recipient:

• is severely disabled (1.1.S.110) and has a terminal illness, or
• is affected by the savings provisions in the SSAct, or
• is covered by an international agreement that allows for indefinite portability.

Policy reference: SS Guide 7.1.1.10 Overview of Portability Legislation, 7.2.1.30 Medical Examination for DSP, 3.6.2.20 Manifest Grants & Rejections for DSP

Portability for DSP recipients

DSP recipients who are severely disabled and have a terminal illness may receive DSP overseas indefinitely if they are leaving Australia permanently and the purpose of the absence is to be near or with a family member; or to return to the person's country of origin.

A recipient is severely disabled for portability purposes if a physical impairment, a psychiatric impairment or an intellectual impairment is so severe that the recipient is:

• unable to do any work for at least 8 hours a week for the next 2 years, AND
• unable to benefit within the next 2 years from participation in a program of assistance or a rehabilitation program that would result in an ability to work at least 8 hours a week, OR
• permanently blind.

Recipients who have been accepted as having a manifest inability to work are not necessarily severely disabled. The critical factor is the severity of the condition.

Example: Recipients with a terminal illness, severe degenerative neurological conditions, or severe disabilities as a result of head injuries may be accepted as being severely disabled without a medical examination.

Act reference: SSAct section 23(4B) A person is severely disabled if…, section 1218AA Extended portability period for disability support pension

Policy reference: SS Guide 1.1.S.110 Severe disability (DSP), 3.6.2.20 Manifest Grants & Rejections of DSP, 7.1 Conditions for Payment Outside Australia, 7.1.2.20 Portability Table, 7.2 Arrangements for Payment Outside Australia, 7.3 Claiming a CFP, 8.3 Start Days

Receiving a pension or income support supplement from DVA

DSP is not payable to a claimant who is receiving a DVA:

• pension under Part II or IV of the VEA, OR
• income support supplement under Part IIIA of the VEA, or would be eligible for the supplement if they claimed.

Act reference: SSAct section 103(3) Multiple entitlement exclusion

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Last reviewed: 20 September 2006