Media Release
State Trustees Urges Victorians to Keep Track of Work Records
State Trustees is urging Victorians, particularly those who have lived or worked in other
countries, to keep records of their working histories for greater ease in accessing overseas
pension entitlements.
In 2008/2009, State Trustees was able to help retrieve almost $1 million of overseas pension
entitlements for clients who are unable to take care of their own financial and legal affairs,
thanks to the expertise of its Personal Financial Solutions Pensions Team in dealing with
overseas agencies and its vast network of contacts in Australia and overseas.
State Trustees Managing Director, Mr Tony Fitzgerald, said State Trustees had retrieved or
reinstated pension entitlements for their clients from a range of countries, including
Germany, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Holland, Greece, the United Kingdom and
the USA.
Mr Fitzgerald said that in 2008/2009, State Trustees had even been able to retrieve a
$60,000 lump sum back payment for a client who did not know she was eligible for an
overseas pension.
He said keeping records of work history and other documentation was becoming
increasingly important as the Victorian population aged, and in particular for those people
who arrived in Australia in the post-World War Two migration boom.
Mr Fitzgerald also urged the children of those who were born overseas or who had worked in
other countries to help their parents find out as much about their working history as possible,
and to help their parent’s collate any documents that could help them in retrieving overseas
pensions.
“Often when people go into care their pension lapses. Sometimes they have lost capacity
and can’t remember where they have worked. If they don’t have any documentation then it’s
very difficult to prove their working histories,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said accessing overseas pension entitlements could make a big difference in
quality of life for elderly people and those in care, and encouraged people to think ahead to
keep the relevant documents together in a safe place in case of future claims.
He said that old documents, even in foreign languages, could prove vital in tracking
overseas pension entitlements.
“They’re easy to lose or be thrown out inadvertently, especially if they are in a foreign
language, but they can be translated,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said that some overseas countries would even pay entitlements to the estate
once the client dies, as long as the claimant was alive at the time the claim was made.
He said that accessing overseas pensions could be a complicated and lengthy process,
involving a number of legal requirements specific to each country.
Clients who have appointed State Trustees as their Attorney under an Enduring Power of
Attorney (Financial) or who have State Trustees as their Administrator, by an order from the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, can benefit from the organisation managing or
pursuing their overseas pension entitlements.
“State Trustees’ wealth of experience and networks can help track or request documents
from Australia and overseas,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
Documents which could be particularly useful when applying for overseas pension
entitlements included –
Life Certificates
Birth certificates
Church documents – baptismal records often contain detailed information.
Travel documents
Marriage certificates, particularly those from overseas which often contain detailed
information.
Work books or insurance books where contributions are recorded.
Employment documents
Old school reports
Birth certificates of claimant’s children if they were born overseas.
For more details or to set up an interview please contact Sonja Viduka at State
Trustees Communications Department on 9667 2856 or 0417 382 303
NEWS 
