If you’re planning an overseas holiday, especially if you currently receive Centrelink or other government payments, a little prep will help you enjoy your trip without payment surprises or tax headaches.

Government agencies set their own rules about whether, and for how long, they pay you while you’re outside Australia. Short trips for most families are usually fine, but longer absences can reduce, pause or stop certain payments. You must also keep meeting the usual eligibility tests (residency, income and assets) while you’re away.

How overseas travel affects different payments:

• Age Pension: There may be changes to your payment rate after six weeks and after 26 weeks abroad.
• Disability Support Pension (DSP): You can receive DSP for up to 28 days in a 12-month period overseas. Extended stays may require special approval.
• Family Tax Benefit: Payments usually stop after six weeks overseas.
• JobSeeker and Youth Allowance: These typically stop as soon as you leave Australia, unless you have an approved reason. Youth Allowance or Austudy may continue if the time overseas is an approved part of your Australian course.

Border data and compliance checks:

Tell Services Australia about your travel plans. Use myGov, the app, the relevant phone line or a service centre visit to share your dates, destination and reasons for travel.

Australia’s border movement data is shared with Services Australia, so unreported travel changes can trigger a review or overpayment.

When you get home:

When you get home, check that any paused payments restart and your rates look right.

The tax side is simpler. A short holiday doesn’t usually change your Australian tax residency, so nothing special happens to your tax just because you travelled. Centrelink payments are taxed the same way they are at home, and you’ll lodge your next tax return as usual. There’s no extra “travel tax”, and if a payment pauses while you’re overseas, you’ll just have less taxable income for that period.

Longer absences are different: if you’re going to be overseas for many months or moving, talk to us about residency, reporting arrangements and student loan obligations.

Important: Clients should not act solely on the basis of the material contained here. Items herein are general comments only and do not constitute or convey advice per se. Also, changes in legislation may occur quickly. We, therefore, recommend that our formal advice be sought before acting in any of the areas.