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On the day you claim you must be all of the following:
- living in Australia
- physically in Australia
- an Australian resident.
Your partner must have been living in Australia as an Australian resident when they died.
How long your partner needed to have been a resident
To get the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment your partner must have been an Australian resident for at least 10 years in total. For at least 5 of those years, there must have been no break in their residence.
How else your partner may have met the rules
In some situations, you can get this payment if your partner was an Australian resident for less than 10 years.
If your partner was a refugee or former refugee
If your partner was a refugee or former refugee they are exempt from the 10 year rule.
If your partner was a woman whose former partner died
Both your partner and their former partner had to be Australian residents when the former partner died. Your partner also needed to be an Australian resident for the 2 years before their death.
If your partner got another payment
You may be able to get the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment if your partner was getting one of the following when they reached Age Pension age:
- Mature Age Allowance
- Partner Allowance
- Widow Allowance
- Widow B Pension.
Mature Age Allowance payments stopped in 2008.
Widow B Pension payments stopped in 2020.
Partner Allowance and Widow Allowance payments stopped in January 2022.