How long do I need to have lived in Australia to get the Age Pension?

How many years, exactly?

Ten, with a five year stretch inside them. Services Australia puts it this way: "To get Age Pension you generally need to have been an Australian resident for at least 10 years in total. For at least 5 of these years, there must be no break in your residence."

The rule itself is section 7(5) of the Social Security Act 1991, which gives two ways to have what it calls 10 years qualifying Australian residence:

• one continuous period as an Australian resident of "not less than 10 years", at any time, or
• more than one period, where "at least one of those periods is 5 years or more" and the total "exceeds 10 years".

Section 43(1) then makes that one of the ways to qualify for the Age Pension once you reach pension age.

Do the years have to be in a row?

No, but one block of them has to be. The periods can be separated by years away, and the Act does not ask that any of them be recent. What it does ask is that at least one period last five years or more.

A few residence histories show how that plays out:

The last row is where people get caught. Twelve years spread across three short stays is more time than the rule asks for, and it still does not meet it.

One detail of wording is worth knowing if your own total is close to the line. For a single unbroken period the Act says "not less than 10 years". For several periods added together it says the total must exceed 10 years. Services Australia's page summarises both as "at least 10 years in total".

What counts as a year as an Australian resident?

A year when you were living in Australia and held the right status. Section 7(2) defines an Australian resident as a person who resides in Australia and is an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a protected Special Category visa holder.

As the definition is written, living here on a temporary visa does not make you an Australian resident. A New Zealander on a Special Category visa is covered only if they are protected, which turns on where they were living around 26 February 2001, unless they claim under the Agreement with New Zealand. That has its own guide.

What else do I need?

The age. Services Australia: "Age Pension age is 67 years or older. There are no plans to change this." The Act sets 67 for anyone born on or after 1 January 1957.

Being here when you claim. On the day you claim, Services Australia says you must be living in Australia, physically in Australia, and an Australian resident, adding that "there are exceptions if you are claiming under a Social Security Agreement."

The means tests. Meeting the residence rule gets you to the door. Services Australia list an income test and an assets test as well, and they decide whether you are paid and how much.

Who does not need the ten years?

Refugees and former refugees. Section 7(6) gives a qualifying residence exemption to a person who resides in Australia and is a refugee or a former refugee. Services Australia: "If you're a refugee or former refugee you are exempt from the 10 year rule."

Some women whose partner has died. Section 43(1A) qualifies a woman who has reached pension age if her partner has died, both of them were Australian residents when the partner died, and she was an Australian resident for a continuous period of at least 104 weeks immediately before claiming. That is two years rather than ten. The Department of Social Services adds that she stays qualified if she re-partners.

People moving off certain older payments. Section 43(1) also qualifies people who were receiving particular payments immediately before reaching pension age, such as a widow allowance or a partner allowance. The Department notes both of those payments ceased completely on 1 January 2022.

Can years in another country count?

Yes, if Australia has an agreement with that country. This is called totalisation: periods there are added to your Australian residence to make up the ten years. The Department of Social Services notes that where the two overlap, "any overlapping periods" are counted once only.

New Zealand. Under Article 12 of the Agreement, the Department says periods of working age residence in New Zealand "can be added to periods as an Australian resident at any time" to meet the minimum. Working age residence runs from age 20 to pension age, up to 45 years. If you are present long term in Australia there is no minimum Australian period first. The Agreement has its own guide.

The United States. Under Article 9, US quarters of coverage count towards Australian residence. The Department: "One quarter of coverage is equivalent to 3 months of Australian residence." The Department gives the arithmetic: 20 credits make up five years, which on its own is not enough. People living in Australia need no minimum period of Australian residence to totalise. People living in the United States need 12 months of Australian working life residence, six of them continuous.

The Department's general note on agreements goes further. A person who has just become an Australian resident, and meets the other criteria, "can qualify for Australian age pension if they have at least 10 years contributions in the relevant agreement country".

Totalisation helps you qualify. It does not set the rate. For the United States agreement, the Department says the rate paid outside Australia "is based solely on their actual periods of working life residence in Australia".

What if I have just come back to Australia?

Services Australia says there is no waiting period to claim the Age Pension after returning to live here, though you still have to meet every rule. It adds a caution: once granted, "your payment may stop if you travel outside Australia within 2 years of returning to live."

What this guide does not tell you

It does not tell you what you would be paid, or how the income and assets tests work.

No published ruling was found on two points. The Act sets no starting age for the ten years, and neither Services Australia nor the Department says whether years lived here as a child count. And the Act exempts refugees without any of the pages checked spelling out who that covers.

It also leaves alone how Services Australia decides whether someone resides in Australia, how periods under earlier visa and residence rules are assessed, the full list of countries Australia has agreements with, and what happens to the Age Pension when you travel or move overseas after being granted it.

For how New Zealand answers the same question, which is different in almost every detail, see how long you need to have lived in New Zealand for NZ Super.

If your own years are close to the line, count them in periods with real dates. Services Australia may ask you to complete its Residence in Australia and other countries form to establish your history.