Getting Your British Pension in Australia
Transfer British Pension to Australia, when you migrate to Australia from the United Kingdom, can involve more than one pension fund in the UK, and consideration must be given to what to do with them at some stage.
You may have two kinds of pension funds
- The Government Aged pension
- Your own Employer funded or Private Pension
You need to know how to transfer a British Pension to Australia.
Government Aged pension
With the first one, the Government Aged pension, there is very little that you can do with that.  You just claim it when you reach the relevant retirement age, whatever that will be when you reach it.  Although you may wish to read up about continuing contributions even whilst overseas.
The relevant link for that is at: Do you need to top up your National Insurance contributions?
- https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-topup (Until 5 April 2017 you’ll be able to apply to make a ‘Class 3A voluntary contribution’ to top up your State Pension by up to £25 per week)
More useful information is also at State Pension if you retire abroad
Employer funded or Private Pension
The second one, the Employer funded or Private Pension, is yours, and you can transfer it to Australia, or leave it in the UK, whichever you prefer.
But, there may be complications.  Under current rules, you cannot transfer it back to the UK if you change your migration plans, and leave Australia.  This rules may however change in the future, but it is something you should investigate fully, before committing yourself to a course of action.
If you do decide to move your pension funds to Australia, it is important that you choose an Australian fund that has been authorised by the UK government to accept those funds. Â The alternative is to pay tax on those funds.
A list of Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) is shown at:
Related Pages of Interest:
Income Tax on a UK Age Pension received in Australia.