The Social Security Agreement between Australia and Norway entered into force on 1 January 2007. The agreement will make life easier for those who have lived and/or worked in both countries.
03/01/2007 :: The Social Security Agreement between Australia and Norway, that entered into force on 1 January 2007, will make life easier for those who have lived and/or worked in both countries.
For instance, the Agreement will make it easier to meet the requirements for entitlement to a Norwegian disability pension or old age pension. According to Norwegian legislation, one needs three years of residence in order to be entitled to a basic pension or a so-called special supplement and one needs to have earned pension points for at least three years in order to be entitled to a supplementary pension. Persons (irrespective of nationality) who have completed at least one year of occupational activity in Norway, may, however, add their Australian periods to their Norwegian periods in order to meet this requirement. Such persons may therefore, thanks to the Agreement, get a pro-rata calculated Norwegian disability pension or old age pension on the basis of only one year of pension point earning.
For persons who have been insured under the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme for less than 20 years, Norwegian legislation limits the possibility of continued receipt of a Norwegian pension after having moved abroad, unless the insurance coverage under the Norwegian Scheme is maintained or the person concerned is entitled to a supplementary pension. However, because of the Agreement between Norway and Australia, persons who have completed at least one year of occupational activity or three years of residence in Norway are as a general rule free to export their pensions to Australia.
All persons working in Norway will normally be mandatory members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. The Agreement between Norway and Australia will, however, make it possible for a person who is sent by his or her Australian employer to work in Norway to remain outside the Norwegian Scheme, while continuing to be covered by Australian legislation, for a period of up to three years, thus avoiding the risk of double coverage, i.e. that the person concerned has to pay contributions to pension schemes in both states for the same work period and income.
The Agreement will allow people residing in Norway to lodge claims for Australian Age pensions. Normally, claimants must be Australian residents and physically in Australia to be able to lodge a valid claim. People living in Norway will also be able to lodge claims for Australian Disability Support pensions for severely disabled persons.
Claimants for Australian Age and Disability Support pensions must also normally have at least 10 years Australian residence to qualify for payment. The Agreement helps people who have been Australian residents for less than 10 years to qualify, by counting periods of insurance in Norway as if they were periods of residence in Australia. To be able to take advantage of this, claimants living in Norway must have at least 12 months Australian working life residence, i.e. periods of residence between age 16 and age pension age, and at least 6 months of that must be continuous.
Payment of Australian pension to persons living in Norway is based on the person's period of Australian working life residence in Australia. A full means-tested pension is payable to persons who have 25 or more years of Australian working life residence. Persons with less than 25 years Australian working life residence will receive a pro-rata payment. Although all Australian pension payments are means-tested, under the Agreement people who have less than 25 years Australian working life residence will receive concessional treatment of Norwegian agreement benefits they receive.