Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Life certificates or proof-of-life requests are commonly used for pension eligibility confirmation by European countries—for example, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy—and in some countries they have been in use for more than a decade. Some countries request these certificates annually or biannually. These countries do not restrict their processes to a particular age group. This government is committed to maintaining a welfare system that is fair and sustainable, and the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Overseas Welfare Recipients Integrity Program) Bill 2019 strengthens the integrity of the welfare system in Australia.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

As Australia is a multicultural country, the government recognises that many Australian pensioners wish to retire overseas to their country of birth, to be with family and friends. As a result, Australia pays approximately 96,000 Australian pensioners residing overseas.

It is proposed, from 1 October 2019, that the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Overseas Welfare Recipients Integrity Program) Bill 2019 will require pensioners who are over the age of 80 years and who are residing permanently overseas to complete and return what is called a proof-of-life certificate for them to continue to be able to receive their benefits. This will confirm that Australian pensions are only being paid to pensioners who are still alive. The introduction of the proof-of-life process brings Australian into line with other countries and with international best practice. As Senator Hughes just mentioned, there are a number of other countries around the world where they have processes in place to verify that pensioners are still alive, including a requirement to fill out such a thing as a proof-of-life certificate.

This measure will require approximately 25,000 pensioners living overseas who are aged over 80 to provide this certificate. The process has been targeted at pensioners over the age of 80 to minimise the administrative burden on pensioners while still protecting the integrity of Australia's welfare system. The government is not suggesting for a moment that there has been widespread fraud committed by people living overseas who continue to receive pensions; rather, it is more likely that most family members who continue to receive payments for a deceased relative may not realise that they are required to notify Australian authorities of the passing of a loved one or may not realise that they are no longer eligible, in fact, to receive that pension on behalf of their partner. The certificates will have to be verified to ensure accuracy. Pensioners overseas will have multiple options for verifying their proof-of-life certificates and a reasonable time frame in which to provide their completed and verified certificates. If a pensioner does not return their completed proof-of-life certificate within the 13-week period, their pension will be suspended. If they do not return their completed proof-of-life certificate within a further 13 weeks after suspension, making a total of 26 weeks, their payment will be cancelled.

The measure includes safeguards to reinstate a living pensioner's payments if they are suspended or cancelled. They will have their payments reinstated if they have provided a completed proof-of-life certificate and will be paid any arrears to which they are entitled. Full arrears will be paid if they provide a proof-of-life certificate within 39 weeks of the initial request being sent. The new proof-of-life arrangements will strengthen the integrity of the welfare system by providing a regular and robust mechanism for ensuring Australian pensions are only being paid to pensioners who are actually alive.

It is estimated this measure will identify around 6,000 cases over four years where payments are still being made to people who have deceased. This will save Australian taxpayers around $219 million over the forward estimates. The measure introduced in this bill reflects the government's ongoing commitment to maintaining a fair and sustainable welfare system for recipients and taxpayers. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.