The Department of Home Affairs says that on a subclass 820 you "might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits", and points people to Services Australia. That wording is deliberately loose, because the Department does not decide this. Whether you can be paid anything, and when, is a Services Australia decision made under social security law, and it is worked out payment by payment rather than visa by visa.
This page sets out the framework so you know what you are asking about. It does not tell you what you are entitled to, and you should not take a figure or a rule from any guide — including this one — in place of an answer from Services Australia about your own circumstances.
Two agencies, two sets of rules
The Department of Home Affairs decides your visa. Services Australia decides Medicare enrolment, Centrelink payments and family assistance. Neither acts for the other, and a visa grant letter does not open anything at Centrelink. Home Affairs will not tell you what you can claim, and Services Australia will not tell you anything about your visa. Go in with your visa status established — a VEVO check showing the visa currently in effect and its conditions — and ask about the specific payment you have in mind.
Why permanent residence is the hinge
Most payments under the Social Security Act 1991 require the claimant to be an Australian resident. That is a defined term, and it is not about how long you have lived here. Section 7(2) says an Australian resident is a person who resides in Australia and is an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a special category visa holder who is a protected SCV holder.
The subclass 820 is a temporary visa. The subclass 801 is the permanent one. That single distinction explains most of what people find when they enquire during the temporary stage, and it is why for many 820 holders the question really belongs at when the 801 is assessed rather than now.
Two qualifications. Not every form of government support sits under the Social Security Act — family assistance and some other payments have their own legislation and their own residence tests. And the Act itself contains exemptions and special categories. Neither is something to guess at.
Newly arrived residents' waiting periods
The Department's warning about waiting is a reference to newly arrived residents' waiting periods. These are periods a person must wait, after becoming an Australian resident, before a payment can start.
The thing to understand is that there is no single waiting period. The Social Security Act 1991 sets a separate newly arrived resident's waiting period for each payment that has one, in its own section, with its own length, its own starting point and its own list of exemptions.
Important
Do not carry a number in your head from a friend, a forum or an older article. Waiting periods differ between payments and the rules change. Services Australia publishes the current rules and is the only source worth relying on for your own case.
Because these periods are generally counted from the point a person becomes an Australian resident, the clock for many payments does not begin at the 820 grant. Plan your finances for the temporary stage on the assumption that income support is not there, and treat anything better than that as a bonus.
Your sponsor's income and your circumstances as a couple
Two things about the sponsor are worth setting out.
Income testing looks at the couple. Where a payment is income or assets tested, Services Australia generally assesses a person's circumstances as a member of a couple — a concept defined in section 4 of the Social Security Act 1991 — so a partner's income and assets are taken into account even though the claim is made by one person. A couple where one partner earns a reasonable income will often find that this, rather than the visa, decides the outcome. See sponsor income for how income comes up on the visa side.
Your sponsor's own payments may change. If your sponsor receives a Centrelink payment, becoming a member of a couple can change their rate or their eligibility, and they are obliged to tell Services Australia about the change. That is not optional and not something to leave until later.
There is a second reason to take it seriously. What a couple tells Services Australia about their relationship, and what they tell the Department of Home Affairs, should be the same story. A declaration to one agency that you are not a couple, made to protect a payment, sits very badly next to a Partner visa application built on a genuine and continuing relationship. See relationship evidence and joint accounts and leases.
Assurance of support: not part of a partner visa
Sponsors often arrive at this topic worried that they will have to sign an assurance of support and repay the government for anything their partner receives.
For a partner visa, they do not. Parts 820 and 801 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 contain no assurance of support criterion. Other family visa subclasses do — the Aged Parent, Remaining Relative and Contributory Aged Parent visas, for example, all have clauses requiring the Minister to be satisfied that an assurance of support has been accepted. The partner visa parts have nothing equivalent.
What a partner visa sponsor does give is a sponsorship undertaking to the Department, and the Department must approve the sponsor. That is a different obligation with a different content, and it is covered at sponsor obligations.
Where professional help matters here
Payments are not a migration question, and a migration lawyer is not the person to ask about a Centrelink claim. The overlap that does matter is what you say about your relationship. Statements made to Services Australia about living arrangements, finances and whether you are a couple can end up in front of the Department, and inconsistencies between the two are hard to repair after a decision. An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed, partly because that kind of inconsistency gets identified and explained before it becomes a credibility problem. No one can promise an outcome.
What to do next
Contact Services Australia about the specific payment you have in mind, with a current VEVO check in hand. Then read Medicare on the 820 visa, which is a separate application with its own rules, and what the 820 visa lets you do for the rest of the picture.
Common questions
Can I claim Centrelink payments on an 820 visa?
That is decided by Services Australia, payment by payment, and the starting point is not encouraging. Most payments under the Social Security Act 1991 require the claimant to be an Australian resident, which that Act defines 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. A subclass 820 is a temporary visa. Other payments and family assistance sit under different rules, so ask Services Australia about your own situation.
What is a newly arrived residents' waiting period?
It is a period a person has to wait after becoming an Australian resident before they can be paid. The Social Security Act 1991 sets a separate newly arrived resident's waiting period for each payment that has one, each with its own length and its own exemptions, so there is no single figure that applies across the board. Services Australia publishes the current rules and works out which applies to you.
Does my sponsor's income affect what I can claim?
Usually yes, where a payment is income or assets tested. Services Australia assesses many payments on the basis of a person's circumstances as a member of a couple, which means a partner's income and assets are taken into account even when the claim is made by one person. It also means your sponsor's own entitlements may change now that they are a member of a couple, and they must tell Services Australia about that change.
Does a partner visa sponsor have to sign an assurance of support?
No. Parts 820 and 801 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 contain no assurance of support criterion, unlike a number of other family visa subclasses such as the Aged Parent and Remaining Relative visas, where an accepted assurance of support is part of the criteria. A partner visa sponsor does give a sponsorship undertaking to the Department, which is a different obligation.
Does having Medicare mean I can get Centrelink payments?
No. They are separate questions decided under separate rules, even though Services Australia administers both. Being enrolled in Medicare tells you nothing about whether a payment is available to you, and the reverse is also true.
Sources
Keep reading
Work Rights on the 820 and Bridging Visa A
A granted 820 carries full work rights. Before grant, your bridging visa copies the work conditions from your old visa. How to check and how to lift them.
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Medicare on the 820 Visa
An 820 holder can apply for Medicare. How enrolment works, where bridging visa holders stand, and how to cover yourself for health care while you wait.
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Studying on the 820 Visa
You can study on an 820 visa, but the Department says there is no government support and costs are at your own expense. How fee status is decided.
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