Age Pension — eligibility, rates, and tests

Who qualifies?

• Age: 67 or older (the age was phased up from 65 and has stayed at 67 since July 2023)
• Residency: Australian resident, usually for at least 10 years including 5 continuous
• Tests: You must pass both the assets test and the income test. Centrelink applies whichever one reduces your pension more.

Maximum rates (March 2026 indexation)

• Single: $1,144.40 per fortnight ($29,754 per year) including pension + energy supplements
• Couple combined: $1,725.20 per fortnight ($44,855 per year) including supplements

Rates are indexed on 20 March and 20 September each year to match wages or CPI (whichever is higher).

Assets test thresholds (from 20 March 2026)

Your pension reduces by $3 per fortnight for every $1,000 of assets above the lower threshold. Your primary home doesn’t count — everything else does (super in pension phase, shares, cars, boats, household contents at garage-sale value, gifts given in the last 5 years above the allowed amount).

Income test thresholds

• Single: first $212 per fortnight ignored, then pension reduces by 50c per $1 of income
• Couple: first $372 per fortnight ignored

Income includes earnings from work, rental income, and deemed income from your financial assets.

Deeming — the rule everyone gets wrong

Centrelink doesn’t care what your super or share portfolio actually earns. It assumes (“deems”) you earn a standard rate regardless. As of 2026 those rates are:

• 0.25% on the first ~$62,600 (single) or ~$103,800 (couple) of financial assets
• 2.25% on everything above that threshold

So a single retiree with $400,000 in super pension phase has deemed income of about $7,737/year — regardless of whether their super actually returned 8% or lost money last year. You can’t argue with deeming.

How super interacts with Centrelink

Super behaves differently depending on your age and whether it’s in accumulation or pension phase:

• Under 67 (not yet Age Pension age): super in accumulation is NOT assessed for assets or income tests. Super in pension phase IS assessed.
• 67+: all super (accumulation and pension) is an assessable asset, and subject to deeming for the income test.

This creates a planning opportunity: if one partner is under Age Pension age, keeping money in their accumulation account can increase the older partner’s pension entitlement.

How to apply

1. Claim up to 13 weeks before reaching Age Pension age
2. Via myGov linked to Centrelink Online, or in person at a service centre
3. Provide: proof of identity, Australian residence history, bank details, details of all assets and income (yours and partner’s), super statements, share holdings, property details
4. First payment usually arrives 2–3 weeks after approval

Applying early avoids the “I turned 67 two years ago and didn’t know I could get it” problem. Services Australia won’t backdate.