Australian Aged Pension: Eligibility, Rates, and How to Claim

The Australian Age Pension pays up to $1,200.90 per fortnight to a single person and $905.20 each to members of a couple, as of 20 March 2026. To qualify you must be at least 67, meet Australian residency rules, and pass both an income test and an assets test. Services Australia runs the payment for the federal government, and your actual rate depends on how much you earn and how much you own.1Social Security Guide. 5.1.8.10 Common Pension Rates

How Much You Can Receive

The maximum fortnightly rates below apply from 20 March 2026 to 19 September 2026, when the next indexation adjustment kicks in. Rates are reviewed twice a year, in March and September.

  • Single: $1,200.90 per fortnight
  • Partnered, each: $905.20 per fortnight

Those figures already include the Pension Supplement and the Energy Supplement. You don’t apply for the supplements separately. The Pension Supplement, worth up to $2,249 a year for a single person or $1,695.20 each for a couple, is meant to help with pharmaceutical, telephone, and utility costs. The Energy Supplement is a smaller top-up aimed at electricity bills.2Social Security Guide. 5.1.9.10 Pension Supplement – Current Rates

Payments land in your nominated bank account every two weeks. Most pensioners receive less than the maximum, because either the income test or the assets test brings the rate down.

Age and Residency

Two non-financial gates come first. If you were born on or after 1 January 1957, you must be at least 67 to qualify. You can lodge the claim up to 13 weeks before your 67th birthday, so there’s no need to wait.3Social Security Guide. Qualification for Age

You also need at least 10 years of total Australian residence, with at least five of those years continuous.4Services Australia. Residence Rules for Age Pension Two exceptions matter:

  • Australia has social security agreements with 32 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, India, and most of Western Europe. Residence in an agreement country can count toward the Australian requirement.5Department of Social Services. International Social Security Agreements
  • People who arrived under a qualifying humanitarian program may receive a Qualifying Residence Exemption and can claim without meeting the 10-year rule.

The Income Test

Services Australia applies both the income test and the assets test, and whichever produces the lower payment is the one used.6Services Australia. Income Test for Age Pension Income for these purposes includes wages, self-employment earnings, share dividends, interest, rental income, and foreign pensions.

You can earn some money before your pension starts to reduce. A single person can receive $218 per fortnight with no effect on the pension. A couple has a combined free area of $380 per fortnight. Above those thresholds:

  • Single: pension drops by 50 cents for each dollar over $218
  • Couple: each person’s pension drops by 25 cents for each dollar of combined income over $380

The pension reaches zero at $2,619.80 per fortnight for a single person and at $4,000.80 combined for a couple living together.

How Deeming Affects Financial Assets

Bank accounts, term deposits, shares, managed funds, and account-based super pensions aren’t assessed on what they actually earn. Instead, Services Australia assumes a set rate of return. From 20 March 2026, the deemed rates are 1.25% on the first $64,200 of financial assets for a single person (or $106,200 combined for a couple where at least one gets a pension), and 3.25% on anything above.7Services Australia. Deeming – Age Pension

The deemed amount is what flows into the income test, whether your investments outperformed or underperformed the assumed rate.

The Assets Test

The assets test looks at nearly everything you own apart from your home. The primary residence is exempt, so you can live in a valuable house without it counting.8Services Australia. Assets Test for Age Pension Investment properties, cars, boats, superannuation in the pension phase, furniture, jewellery, and cash all count.

To receive the full pension, your assessable assets must sit below the lower threshold. Non-homeowners get a higher threshold because they don’t have a home excluded from the test.

Full pension thresholds from 20 March 2026:

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

Cut-off points where the pension drops to zero:

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

Between the lower and upper thresholds, your pension reduces by $3 per fortnight for every $1,000 in assets above the full pension limit.

The Work Bonus for Pensioners Who Still Work

If you’re on the Age Pension and still earning from a job or self-employment, the Work Bonus shelters the first $300 of work income per fortnight from the income test.9Social Security Guide. 3.1.15.30 Work Bonus – Application If you earn less than $300 in a fortnight, the unused portion rolls into an income bank that can offset higher earnings later. The bank tops out at $11,800.

The bonus applies only to employment and self-employment income. It does not apply to investment income, rental income, or superannuation pension drawdowns.

How to Claim

The quickest route is an online claim through myGov linked to Centrelink. If you don’t already have a Centrelink Customer Reference Number, you’ll create one while verifying your identity, either online, over the phone, or at a service centre using documents such as a passport, birth certificate, or driver’s licence.10Services Australia. Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN)11Services Australia. How to Prove Your Identity With Centrelink

Before you start, gather:

  • Bank statements for every account held by you and your partner
  • Details of shares, managed funds, and superannuation balances
  • Valuations for real estate other than your home, vehicles, and business interests
  • Your partner’s income and asset details, if you have one
  • Details of any overseas pensions or income

If you prefer paper, Form SA002 is available on the Services Australia website or at a service centre.12Services Australia. Claim for Age Pension and Pension Bonus Form (SA002) Be exact with your figures. Underreporting assets or income leads to overpayments that Services Australia will recover later, sometimes years afterwards.

Once you submit online, you get a receipt with a claim ID, an estimated completion date, and a link to track progress. The decision arrives in your myGov Inbox or, if you haven’t opted into electronic correspondence, by post. Straightforward claims are usually resolved within a few weeks.13Services Australia. How to Claim Age Pension

The Pensioner Concession Card

Approved recipients automatically receive a Pensioner Concession Card, which unlocks savings well beyond the pension itself:14Services Australia. Benefits of a Pensioner Concession Card

  • Reduced co-payments on prescriptions under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
  • Bulk-billed GP visits where the doctor offers bulk billing
  • A higher Medicare Safety Net refund once you cross the annual threshold
  • Access to the government’s Hearing Services Program
  • State and territory concessions on ambulance, dental, eye care, public transport, council rates, and utility bills, which vary by jurisdiction

Some private companies offer discounts on the card as well. The card cancels if you leave Australia for more than six weeks.

What You Must Report After Approval

Approval is not the end of the process. You must notify Services Australia within 14 days of any change in your circumstances.15Social Security Guide. 3.4.1.50 Notification and Recipient Obligations for Age The events that most often catch pensioners out are:

  • Starting or stopping work, including self-employment
  • Changes to financial assets, such as buying or selling shares, opening new accounts, or receiving a lump sum
  • Selling or renting your home, or buying a new one
  • Marrying, separating, or a partner’s death
  • Overseas travel that might affect your payment
  • Gifting more than $10,000 in a single financial year, or more than $30,000 over a rolling five-year period, which triggers the deprivation rules
  • Receiving compensation, which has a tighter 7-day reporting deadline

Pensioners over 80 who live overseas must also complete a proof of life certificate every two years. Automated data-matching cross-references your details with banks, the ATO, and other agencies, so discrepancies surface eventually.

Travelling or Living Overseas

You can travel outside Australia and keep receiving the Age Pension, but the payment changes the longer you stay away:16Services Australia. When You Leave Australia if You Get Age Pension

  • Less than 6 weeks: no change to your rate in most cases.
  • After 6 weeks: your Pension Supplement drops to the basic rate, your Energy Supplement stops, and your Pensioner Concession Card cancels.
  • After 26 weeks: your rate becomes proportional to your years of Australian residence between age 16 and pension age, out of 35. Ten years of residence gives you 10/35ths of the usual rate. Thirty-five years or more keeps the full rate.

Leaving permanently means you receive the outside-Australia rate straight away, with the reduced supplement and no Energy Supplement. There’s also a trap for people who return to Australia, start the pension, and travel again within two years: your payment may stop entirely unless you’re going to a country covered by a social security agreement. Unforeseen events like serious illness or a natural disaster can prevent a reduction, but the Pensioner Concession Card still cancels after six weeks regardless.