By Neeraj Nanda
Melbourne, 11 January: Retirees of India and Australia living in each other’s countries will now have their respective pensions protected. Australians living in India and Indians living in Australia will now now be able to claim their respective pensions while living in the other country.
“A new social security agreement between Australia and India is now in force, making retirement easier for residents of both countries,” says a media release.
The agreement was signed between the two countries during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit here in November last year.
Federal Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter and Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer, Kelly O’Dwyer said the Commonwealth Government wants to make sure people who live and work in more than one country are not disadvantaged.
“This agreement will give people more freedom to move between Australia and India, knowing their pension rights will be recognized and protected,” Minister Porter said.
“Australian residents living in India will be able to claim the Australian Age Pension without having to return to Australia, while Indian residents living in Australia will have access to Indian retirement pensions. It’s a win-win.”
Minister O’Dwyer said the agreement would improve economic links between Australia and India.
“As a result of this agreement, temporarily seconded workers, and their employers, will only have to make compulsory contributions into their home country’s superannuation or pension system rather than both countries’ systems,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“This is expected to save Australian businesses operating in India about $10 million per year, and put Australian businesses on an equal footing with their competitors from other countries that already have similar agreements with India.
“Further, it is an important step in strengthening Australia’s relationship with India, and shows the Government’s commitment to the 397,000 Indian-born people living in Australia, who make a substantial contribution to our community.”
Australia now has 30 international social security agreements around the world to support people living and working in more than one country.
These agreements are with Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
For further information on Australia’s social security agreement with India visit: https://www.dss.gov.au/international/agreement-between-australia-and-the-republic-of-india-on-social-security
-SAT News Service
