How to claim if you're in another country

The steps to claim under a social security agreement if you’re claiming in another country.

Find information about agreements in your language.

Steps to claim an Australian payment

If you’re in another country, complete the following steps to claim Australian payments. Before you start, check if you can get a payment.

  1.  

    1. Get ready to claim

    If you’re in an agreement country and you set up a Centrelink online account linked to myGov before you left Australia, you can claim online. It’s the easiest way to claim.

    You’ll need to get some supporting documents ready to help answer some of the questions in the claim.

    You may need to prove your identity with us before you start your claim. If you have a partner, they may also need to prove their identity.

  2.  

    2. Make your claim

    If you can claim online

    If you set up a Centrelink online account linked to myGov before you left Australia, sign in to myGov and select Make a claim or view claim status to make a claim.

    Sign in to myGov

    If you can’t claim online

    If you didn’t set up a myGov account before you left Australia, or you can’t claim online, you can do one of the following:

  3.  

    3. Track your claim

    If you submit your claim online, you’ll get a receipt telling you all of the following:

    • the ID number of your claim
    • an estimated completion date
    • a link to track its progress.

    To track the progress of your application online, sign in to myGov and select Make a claim or view claim status.

    Sign in to myGov

    You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.

    We’ll let you know the result of your application. We’ll send a message to your myGov Inbox.

    If you don't get electronic letters, we'll send you a letter in the mail.

    If we need more details we’ll ask you for them.

    If you think we’ve made a mistake you can ask us to review our decision.

Claim a payment from another country

If you’re not in Australia, you can claim a payment from another country.

You can claim by either:

  • calling the International services line
  • calling the social security authorities in that country
  • visiting the pension authorities in that country.
Page last updated: 28 September 2023.
QC 49926