Recovery of New Zealand debt from Australian pension

If a New Zealand benefit is no longer payable but the debtor is in receipt of a pension or benefit paid by Services Australia - International Services, the overpayment may be able to be recovered from the client's Australian pension.

The minimum debt amount that New Zealand can ask Australia to recover is Australian $400 or New Zealand's equivalent.

The debt must have been established within 5 years of the request for recovery being made and it must be a social security debt.

• Services Australia - International Services must be sent the appropriate debt recovery liaison form by International Services
• this must be accompanied by the certificate of debt compliance
• if debt recovery is appealed by the client, recovery must be suspended until the outcome of the review is known
• it is not possible to total a number of debts established over different dates in a 5 year period to reach the minimum debt amount. Each debt must have been established on the same date, or as part of the same review (eg where you have added some debts for a review on one day but have not completed adding debts until the next day)

For more information contact International Services or see:

• Reviews and Appeals
• Client Support - Debt Management [no link find out why]