Age Pension Assets Test: Thresholds, Tapers, and Exemptions

The Age Pension assets test sets dollar limits on what you can own and still receive a payment. From 20 March 2026, a single homeowner can hold up to $321,500 in assessable assets and still get the full rate, and a homeowning couple can hold up to $481,500 combined.¹ Above those figures the payment tapers; above the upper cut-off it drops to zero. Services Australia also runs a separate income test and pays you whichever rate works out lower, so clearing the assets test is necessary but not always enough.

The Thresholds From 20 March 2026

Two numbers matter for each household type: the ceiling for the full pension, and the cut-off where the part pension disappears.¹

Full Pension (Assets At or Below)

Single homeowner: $321,500
Single non-homeowner: $579,500
Couple combined, homeowner: $481,500
Couple combined, non-homeowner: $739,500

Part Pension Cuts Out At

Single homeowner: $722,000
Single non-homeowner: $980,000
Couple combined, homeowner: $1,085,000
Couple combined, non-homeowner: $1,343,000

The non-homeowner threshold sits $258,000 above the homeowner threshold in every category, reflecting the housing costs non-homeowners still carry. To qualify at all you also need to be at least 67 and meet residency rules.²

How Your Payment Tapers

For every $1,000 of assessable assets above the full pension threshold, your fortnightly payment drops by $3.00.³ That’s $78 a year per extra $1,000, an effective rate of 7.8 per cent on the excess.

A worked example. A single homeowner with $400,000 in assessable assets is $78,500 over the $321,500 threshold. Divide by $1,000, multiply by $3.00, and the fortnightly payment is reduced by $235.50. The maximum single rate was $1,149.00 per fortnight including supplements as of March 2025, so there is still a meaningful part pension at that asset level.⁴ Pension rates are indexed every March and September, so check the current rate before relying on any calculation.

What Counts as an Assessable Asset

Services Australia counts almost everything you own or have a financial interest in, valued at what you could sell it for today on the open market. Not what you paid, not what it would cost to replace.

Financial investments: bank accounts, term deposits, shares, managed funds, bonds, and cryptocurrency at current market value.
Superannuation: counted in full once you reach Age Pension age (67). A partner’s super stays invisible until they turn 67 as well.
Real estate other than your home: investment properties, holiday homes, vacant land, and any part of your home’s land that falls outside the exempt area. Valued whether or not it earns income.
Vehicles and personal property: cars, boats, caravans, household contents, and collectibles at realistic resale value.
Business assets: the net value of your interest, including plant, equipment, and stock.
Income streams: account-based pensions and certain other income streams count as financial assets.

Household contents usually matter least because resale prices are low. The surprises tend to come from investment property and superannuation, which are counted at full market value. Couples sometimes get caught when the younger partner turns 67 and their previously uncounted super suddenly pushes the combined total over the threshold.

What’s Exempt

Several categories drop out of the calculation entirely under section 1118 of the Social Security Act 1991.⁵

Your Principal Home

Your home and up to two hectares of land on the same title are exempt if you live there as your main residence.⁶ The home can be a house, unit, caravan, or boat if that’s where you usually live. Garages, sheds, and pools on the same title are included in the exemption. If you’ve lived on the property for 20 years or more and are using the extra land productively, an extended land-use test can push the exempt area beyond two hectares.⁷

Proceeds From Selling Your Home

If you sell your home intending to buy another, the portion earmarked for the new purchase is exempt for up to 24 months from settlement, with an extension of up to 12 months available for homes sold on or after 1 January 2023.⁸ During that window you’re treated as a non-homeowner, which gives you the higher asset threshold.

Aged Care Deposits and Other Exemptions

An accommodation bond or refundable accommodation deposit paid when you enter residential aged care is exempt from the assets test, which matters because these amounts can run to hundreds of thousands of dollars.⁵ Also excluded: prepaid funeral bonds up to the indexed threshold (around $15,500), fully prepaid funeral contracts regardless of amount, and disability aids or medical equipment. Granny flat interests, where you pay for a right to live in someone else’s property, are assessed under their own rules rather than counted at face value.

Gifting: The Rules That Catch People Out

Giving away money or selling assets for less than market value doesn’t make them disappear from the test. You can gift up to $10,000 in a single financial year, with a rolling cap of $30,000 over any five-year period. Anything above those limits is treated as a “deprived asset” and keeps counting in your assets test for five years from the date of the gift.⁹

The rules cover any transfer for less than market value: selling a car to a relative for a token amount, waiving a debt, or transferring assets into a family trust where you keep effective control as appointor, trustee, or beneficiary. If you gift more than $2,000 worth of assets in an income year, you have 14 days to tell Centrelink.¹⁰

Reporting Changes

Age Pension recipients must report changes to their circumstances within 14 days. The reportable list is broader than most people expect. Beyond buying or selling property, you also need to notify Centrelink if you or your partner:

Buy or sell shares or managed investments
Receive bonus shares or open new accounts
Receive a lump sum or one-off payment
Move into or out of a nursing home, hostel, or retirement village
Sell assets for less than market value
Leave the home for more than 12 months
Start or change employment, including self-employment

Compensation payments have a tighter seven-day deadline.¹⁰ You can report through myGov linked to Centrelink, the Express Plus Centrelink app, or by phone.

Missing a reportable change that increases your assets creates an overpayment debt. Services Australia recovers it by deducting 15 per cent of your basic pension rate from ongoing payments, or through your tax refund if you’re no longer receiving a payment.¹¹ The debt doesn’t lapse if you ignore it.

If You Disagree With the Assessment

You can challenge an assets test decision at no cost. Start by asking for a formal review by an Authorised Review Officer, a more senior decision-maker within Services Australia who can change the decision if it’s wrong. Lodging within 13 weeks of being notified protects any back-payment to the original decision date; a later request can still proceed, but back-payment may only run from the date you asked for the review.¹² If the ARO upholds the original decision, the next step is the Administrative Review Tribunal, with the same 13-week recommended timeframe. If you just want to understand how your assets were worked out, you can request an explanation at any time without triggering a formal review.

1
Services Australia. Assets Test for Age Pension
2
Services Australia. Who Can Get Age Pension
3
National Seniors Australia. Age Pension Asset Test Taper Rate
4
Department of Social Services. Indexation Rates March 2025
5
Social Security Guide. 4.6.2.10 General Provisions for Exempt Assets
6
Social Security Guide. 4.6.3.10 General Provisions for Assessing the Principal Home
7
Social Security Guide. 4.6.8.50 General Provisions for the Extended Land Use Test
8
Social Security Guide. 4.6.3.90 Exempting the Principal Home
9
Services Australia. Gifting – Age Pension
10
Social Security Guide. 3.4.1.50 Notification and Recipient Obligations for Age
11
Services Australia. Repaying Money You Owe if You Get a Payment From Us
12
Services Australia. Explanations and Formal Reviews of a Centrelink Decision