1. Pensioner Concession Card
You don’t need to apply for a Pensioner Concession Card. Centrelink will send you one if you are eligible.
You can apply for a card if you receive:
- Age Pension
- Bereavement Allowance
- Carer Payment
- Disability Support Pension
- Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance and are single, caring for a dependent child and looking for work
- Parenting Payment single
Note that your Parenting Payment single ends when your youngest child turns 8. You may be able to keep your card for 12 weeks after your Parenting Payment ends.
However: If you are 60 years of age or older you can get a card if for more than 9 months if you have been getting:
- Newstart Allowance
- Parenting Payment partnered
- Partner Allowance
- Sickness Allowance
- Special Benefit, or
- Widow Allowance
You may also get a card if you have a partial capacity to work and you are getting:
- Newstart Allowance
- Parenting Payment partnered
- Youth Allowance as a job seeker
If you find a job, you may be able to keep your card for a short time.
If you cease to be paid a Centrelink payment because your employment earnings exceed the allowable amount under the income test, you can usually keep the card for a further 3 or 6 months, depending on the payment.
If you go off a Disability Support Pension, or you have a ‘partial capacity for work’ and you go off the Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance, you can usually keep the card for a further 12 months.
2. Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
You can get a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if you:
- can’t get a payment from us or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
- have reached age pension age
- meet the income test
- are an Australian resident or you hold a special category visa
Your card is valid for 1 year. Centrelink should send you a new card each year in August, if you remain eligible.
3. Health Care Card
You can get a Health Care Card if you:
- live in Australia
- get some payments or supplements from us
- meet the age rules of the payment you get
You may be eligible for a Health Care Card if you receive one of the following payments
- Newstart Allowance
- Partner Allowance
- Widow Allowance
- Parenting Payment (partnered)
- Sickness Allowance
- Special Benefit
- Youth Allowance job seekers
- Family Tax Benefit A at the maximum rate
- Mobility Allowance if you don’t get a Disability Support Pension
- Carer Allowance for a child with a disability, or you are providing a significant level of daily care for a dependent child under 16
- Farm Household Allowance
4. Mobility Allowance
There are residency requirements for Mobility Allowance. You must:
- be an Australian resident
- be physically present in Australia on the day you submit your claim and
- continue to meet the residency requirements for as long as you get this payment
Newly arrived residents have a 104 week waiting period, with some exemptions.
To be eligible for Mobility Allowance, you must:
- be 16 years or older
- meet residence requirements
- be unable to use public transport without substantial assistance because of disability, illness, or injury
- provide a medical report from your doctor confirming you cannot use public transport
- travel to and from home for paid work, voluntary work with a welfare, charitable or community organisation , study (school or tertiary) or training, or to look for work
If there is no public transport where you live, you may still qualify for Mobility Allowance. Voluntary work must be for a charitable, welfare or community organisation. Study or training can include secondary school, tertiary studies, trade and vocational courses.
If you drive your own car, you may be eligible for Mobility Allowance if you have a Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption on a car.
5. PBS Safety Net
The PBS Safety Net saves you and your family money on prescription medicines. You need to keep track of the amounts you spend on medicines and the pharmacist may do this for you. When you are close to the threshold ask the pharmacist about the Safety Net card so that when you reach it the pharmacist provides a card which means that for the remainder of the calendar year (that is up to December 31st) your medicines will be free for those with concession cards and will cost up to $6.30 for general patients.
Before you meet the PBS Safety Net threshold, your medicines will cost:
- up to $38.80 as a general patient, or
- up to $6.30 if you have a concession card.
You reach the Safety Net when you have spent
- $1,494.90 on medicines as a general patient, or
- $378 on medicines if you are a concession card holder.
When you reach the amount of the PBS Safety Net threshold and the pharmacist gives you a Safety Net card, each medicine will cost:
- up to $6.30 as a general patient
- free for all concession card holders
The PBS Safety Net is calculated on a calendar year and it resets at the beginning of every year. The thresholds are updated each year on 1 January.
6. Medicare Safety Net
If you see a doctor often, or have tests regularly, your medical costs could be high. The Medicare Safety Net may provide a higher Medicare benefit for all eligible services for the rest of the calendar year. This may mean that visits to your doctor or having tests could cost you less as you may receive a higher Medicare benefit, making your out of pocket expenses much less.
Services covered under the Medicare Safety Net must be on the Medicare Benefits Schedule and will include:
- Healthcare professional consultations
- blood tests
- CT scans
- pap smears
- psychiatry
- radiotherapy
- tissue biopsies
- ultrasounds
- x-rays.
Families need to register for the Medicare Safety Net:
Use this form to register or amend your family’s details for the Medicare Safety Net.
The thresholds for Medicare Safety Net vary according to circumstances.
Next Section: What medical issues may affect your dealings with Centrelink?