Cambodia for Aussie Retirees: 2026 Long-Stay & Reconnaissance Guide

Picking a base: Kampot vs Sihanoukville vs Siem Reap vs Phnom Penh

Cambodia gives Aussie retirees four real bases, each with a distinct shape. The choice is less about which is best in the abstract and more about which matches the rhythm you want for the months ahead. Climate, cost of living, healthcare access, and the existing expat retiree community all sit on different sliders across the four.

Kampot is the river-and-pepper-fields option, and quietly the most popular Aussie retiree pick in 2026. The town sits on the Kampot River about ninety minutes inland from the coast, with cooler evenings than Phnom Penh, a slow riverside cafe scene, and a furnished one-bedroom in the $200–400 USD (~$305–610 AUD) per-month range. The expat retiree community skews European and Australian. Healthcare is the trade-off: Kampot has clinics and a small provincial hospital but no tertiary care — for anything serious, the standard advice is to travel to Phnom Penh or fly to Bangkok or Singapore.

Sihanoukville is the coastal option, and the more controversial pick. The central area has been heavily redeveloped; the Aussie retirees who pick it now settle in Otres or Ream rather than the rebuilt downtown. A furnished one-bedroom near the coast lands in the $300–500 USD (~$457–762 AUD) range. The draw is warm coastal climate year-round, sea views, and access to Koh Rong and the southern islands for weekend trips. Healthcare access is limited locally — most retirees here keep a Phnom Penh evacuation plan and a clear travel insurance line for Bangkok or Singapore for anything serious.

Siem Reap is the slow-pace pick. Furnished one-bedrooms run $300–500 USD (~$457–762 AUD), the Angkor draw is irresistible for some, and the expat community is older and quieter than Phnom Penh's. Two private hospitals in town take Aussie travel insurance for routine and moderately complex care. The trade-off is seasonality: dry season is full of life, wet season is quiet. Phnom Penh is the city pick — rents are higher at $400–800 USD (~$610–1,220 AUD) for a furnished BKK1 one-bedroom, but the four to five hospitals taking Australian travel insurance, the international airport, and the deeper expat community make it the most practical base for retirees with active health needs.

Centrelink and the Age Pension: portability rules for Aussies abroad

This is the question Aussie retirees ask first and most. The rules are nuanced, they change, and you should consult Services Australia before any extended stay. The general 2026 pattern is that the Australian Age Pension is portable for overseas travel — you do not lose it the moment you leave the country — but supplements and the rate can be affected once you cross specific thresholds. The most commonly cited threshold is six weeks: recipients can generally travel overseas for up to six weeks without changes to the Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement components, and the base pension continues to be paid at the standard rate.

Beyond six weeks the picture shifts. Stays longer than six weeks can see the supplement components reduced or removed, and stays longer than 26 weeks can see the base Age Pension rate adjusted depending on your Australian Working Life Residence. For most retirees doing a 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month Cambodian reconnaissance, expect the supplement components to be reduced after week six, the base rate to continue at standard level for the first 26 weeks, and have a clear plan for the 6-month and 12-month checkpoint conversations with Centrelink before you fly.

The DSP (Disability Support Pension) and Carer Payment have separate, generally stricter portability rules than the Age Pension and are worth a dedicated conversation with Services Australia if you receive them. The Services Australia website is the authoritative current reference, and it does update — check the live page rather than relying on a guide like this one. Tell Centrelink before you go, give them realistic dates, and keep your Australian bank account, MyGov, and contact details current. Note also that your Australian Medicare card does not cover medical treatment in Cambodia in any form.

Healthcare reality: hospitals, insurance, and the Bangkok evacuation rule

Healthcare is the single most important practical question for an Aussie retiree considering Cambodia. Cambodia's healthcare infrastructure has improved since 2019 but still sits well below Thai, Malaysian, or Singaporean standards. Phnom Penh is the centre of tertiary care — four to five hospitals in the city are routinely used by Aussie expats and accept Australian travel insurance for direct billing or post-treatment reimbursement on the major underwriters. Routine care, moderate emergencies, dental work, and most non-urgent surgery can be handled cleanly in Phnom Penh.

Siem Reap has two main private hospitals that take Australian travel insurance, with a narrower range than Phnom Penh's. Kampot and Sihanoukville sit further down the scale — both have clinics and small hospitals for routine care, but neither is the place you want to be for a serious cardiac event or complex surgical case. The standard practice among long-stay Aussie retirees in coastal Cambodia is to travel to Phnom Penh for anything moderate-to-serious, and to fly to Bangkok (Bumrungrad, Bangkok Hospital) or Singapore (Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles) for major surgery or specialist care.

Travel insurance is the load-bearing piece. Comprehensive Australian travel insurance with international medical cover plus medical evacuation is the standard expectation. Read the policy on three things: the maximum age (some insurers cap at 70 or 75; specialist seniors policies extend higher), the maximum continuous trip length (many standard policies cap at 180 days, which trims a 6-month stay to its margins and breaks a 12-month one), and pre-existing condition declarations (declare everything, in writing, before you fly — undeclared pre-existings are the single biggest reason Aussie retiree claims get denied). For 12-month stays the right product is usually a long-stay or expat health insurance policy rather than a standard travel policy.

The Smartraveller Cambodia advisory is the right reference for the current Australian government view on health and safety in Cambodia, and it is worth reading in full before your first long stay. The page covers vaccinations, the Cambodian rabies prevalence, the dengue and malaria picture by region, and medical evacuation guidance.

Pulling it together for your 2026 Cambodia retiree reconnaissance

Short version for Aussies: Cambodia has no formal retiree visa, but the Business eVisa plus in-country extensions is the legal, cheap, and well-trodden long-stay path. $90 USD (~$137 AUD) to enter, then $180–240 USD for a 6-month extension or $300–400 USD for a 12-month one. A 6-month reconnaissance is the common Aussie retiree shape; the 12-month is the pre-commitment step. Pick your base — Kampot for slow riverside life, Sihanoukville for the coast, Siem Reap for the temples, Phnom Penh for hospital access — sort the visa from Australia, fly in, settle, extend in-country at week two. If you want to start the paperwork now, the Cambodia Business visa application page is where to begin.

Before you fly, three sister guides are worth a quick read. The Cambodia digital nomad visa guide for Australians covers the same Business-eVisa stack from the remote-worker angle and is useful context if you are a working retiree. The Cambodia multiple-entry visa guide for Australians covers when the multi-entry premium is worth paying, which matters for retirees planning trips back to Australia mid-stay. And the Cambodia visa extension agents in Phnom Penh guide covers how to pick a clean immigration agent for the in-country extension step. The Australia country pillar at the top of the site has the wider eligibility picture, including permanent residents, dual citizens, and the application walkthrough.

Next steps and related reading for Australians: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark our Cambodia visa hub for Australian citizens as the single canonical reference, skim the FAQ on Cambodia visa extending stay for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide.