The good news this week is that all Age Pension payment and threshold changes are now live. So you can use our Age Pension Eligibility Calculator to check your new payments or eligibility status immediately.
And there are two other important changes which also apply from 20 September.
The first is that eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) just got even easier.
And the second is that the rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) has increased.
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
We’ve written about this valuable concession card many times previously. It’s on offer to those who do not qualify for an Age Pension but are over Age Pension age. You don’t have to be retired, simply old enough to receive an Age Pension. Unlike Age Pension eligibility, which is based on an income and assets test, only the income test applies for those seeking a CSHC. The previous thresholds were dramatically increased on 4 November last year, and in the fine print of changes to rates and entitlements on 20 September, we can confirm that the thresholds for the CSHC will also increase.
Given that Commonwealth Seniors Health Cards can offer such significant medical and pharmaceutical discounts, it remains surprising that more self-funded retirees do not bother to apply. Yes, we understand that the thought of gathering documentation and dealing with a government department might be off-putting, but your discounts are activated from the day you apply. (Remember, however, these new limits start on Wednesday 20 September, so don’t submit your application before then). You can save on imaging and other medical tests, be bulk billed by GPs and enjoy a range of other benefits including cheaper postal stamps – yes some people still use them!! You can apply yourself online or in person at a service centre. Or you can use one of two Retirement Essentials Commonwealth Seniors Health Cards support services to fast track this process.
| Taxable Income Limits | Previous limit | From 20 September 2023 |
| Single | $90,000 | $95,400 |
| Couple (combined) | $144,000 | $152,640 |
Commonwealth Rent Assistance
For the approximately 15% of older Australians who are renting, the news that the Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) payments will increase on 20 September is very positive. As you can see from the table below, these increases are 17.5% – a significant amount which recognises the shortage of rental accommodation and resulting price squeeze. The maximum amounts are paid to those who have reached the rental ceilings, which have also increased, by 11% for singles and 9% for couples.
| Rent Assistance | Previous amount (per fortnight) | From 20 September 2023 (per fortnight) |
| Singles | $157.20 | $184.80 |
| Couples (each) | $148.00 | $174.00 |
| Rent Ceiling | ||
| Singles | $350.00 | $389.80 |
| Couples (combined) | $424.74 | $464.40 |
If you are struggling to understand the many different changes to government entitlements and how they might affect you, or if you would just like to test your understanding of how you can maximise all your entitlements, our Advisers are ready and keen to assist.
Do any of these changes affect you?
Do you find entitlements easy to understand?
Are there any questions you would like answered?
my name is Rita, I was enquiring about my aged pension I am currently receiving in Portugal, I am currently without money for food as I used my money to pay my bills as the cost of living has increased here as well, could you please tell me the exact dates when my pension will arrive…
Hi Rita, thank you for reaching out all the way from Portugal! When you are living overseas the Age Pension frequency does reduce from fortnightly to monthly however we could not say with any specificity as to when your specific payment will happen. I recommend you call Centrelink on their free Portuguese number to seek clarity, 800 861 122.
We are a couple and on a part pension with assets of $500,000. My husband will inherit $600,000 shortly. Is there any way we can still qualify for the pension?
Hi Jennifer, thanks for raising your query! The best way to confirm if you will be eligible or not is to use our free online calculator HERE which is up to date with the lates pension rates and thresholds effective from 20th September.
Good Morning. I have recently received a CSHC (Thankyou for your good work).
Do I need to be receiving an Age Pension to be entitled to rental assistance?
My rent is $360 per week & I’m single and aged 82.
Hi Leonie, thank you for the compliment, I’ll let the agent know who was assisting you! Rent Assistance is only paid on the Age Pension and not the CSHC so unfortunately you will not be entitled to that yet.
Hi my wife and I recently had a increase in our rent from 410 dollars per week to 520dollars per week. We receive rent assistance of 174dollars per fortnight. Can you explain what rent ceiling is and if we are entitled to it. Our sole income is our age pensions.
Hi Daniel, thanks for seeking clarity! The rent ceiling refers to the amount of rent you would need to be paying to receive the full amount of rent assistance. $174 is the maximum amount of rent you can receive so you are getting the most possible.
I get a part pension from NZ – $150/week. Can you tell me from that what my pension from Centrelink will be??
Thank you
Susan
Hi Susan, thank you for seeking clarity! There are many factors that impact how much Age Pension you receive so we could not give you an estimate based solely on how much you receive from your New Zealand pension. Please take a few minutes to work through our free, online eligibility calculator HERE to see what you are eligible for.
Thank you for this very helpful information.
I have two questions.
i. Are the new payment rates automatically applied to the record of income and assets that Centrelink have on file about you?
ii. If your asset and or income levels have materially changed since the pension payment was approved, can you submit updated levels at any time? And if you do this (by uploading an updated form) is this automatically recognised by the Centrelink algorithm that calculates your fortnightly pension payment. And do you have to provide documentation to verify the changed asset or income level?
Thanks
Andrew
Hi Andrew, thank you for the compliment, glad to hear you found it helpful! The answers to both of your questions are yes. Centrelink automatically recalculate every pension amount whenever there is any change that they initiate like this one. The only asset Centrelink is able to update is superannuation (unless you have a SMSF) as they receive updated from super funds twice a year in March and September. All other income/asset values are left to you to update as they change over time, Centrelink has no access to your bank account balances and nor do they check/update the values of assets like cars, bikes, boats etc. Therefore you can and should update Centrelink on changes to these values and depending on how big a variance your update is to what was on file Centrelink may request documents to verify it.
Hi, I find your weekly emails very informative. I applied for the Age Pension on 5/7/23 with an estimated completion date of 23/8/23. I received automated text messages on a fortnightly basis to say it was in progress. Since that date I have not received any information. Mygov says it is still in progress. I had a low income card which expired on 26/8/23 which I have not renewed as the pension calculator indicated I would receive a part pension. I am in a state of limbo as concessions have expired. It is nearly impossible to get information from Centrelink by phone. My application was submitted 11 weeks ago. Do you have any suggestions on how to get an update?
Hi Russell, thank you for sharing your experience and I’m sorry to hear how it has deteriorated. Centrelink are very behind in their work at the moment so for what it is worth you are not alone, We have been hounding Centrelink about many customers claims that have been waiting 3 months to be reviewed. If your claim passes 13 weeks (4th October) with no response then you can call Centrelink’s complaints line on 1800 132 468 and request it be expedited due to the delay.
Thanks for your advice Steven
I would suggest you contact your Federal MP. After waiting for a decision for months ourselves, once I got our MP involved the pension was instigated almost immediately.
Yes your federal MP should be able to help.
It’s just a shame that one has to revert to “going over their head” to their superior, but this seems to be the only way to get things moving in the right direction.
I want to sell my house, rent for a year or so then downsize. I am on a full pension and understand I won’t lose my pension if I buy within 2 years. Is this correct? Thank you for all your wonderful answers to questions.
Hi Jo-Anne, thank you for your compliment, it’s always good to know our efforts are appreciated! Technically yes you are right, Centrelink do allow up to 2 years to either build or buy your new home. However this is designed to allow for building delays or inability to find the right home and genuinely taking 2 years for the process to finish from the date of sale. If you have no intention of starting the process until a year after selling, Centrelink may not apply the exemption to your sale proceeds. You would need to speak with them prior to the sale to explain your situation and confirm if the exception would still be applicable.
Hi Steven,
I was very interested in your response to Andrew Hibbards questions about up dating Centrelink Information online through mygov. I submitted updated changes to Centrelink 26/4/23. They requested a SA330 income stream for my husband. I made approx six attempts to download this document online with no success. Each time an error message would appear reading (Unexpected error happened, please try again later, error message undefined). I will point out that they already had this updated information from State
Super.
I ended up forwarding the required documents through the post. What a mistake that was. Since 26/4/2023 I have been unable to manage my (income/assests) as my file is locked. The message displayed: PENDING INCOME & ASSESTS UPDATE (You submitted an income and assests update that has not been applied yet. you can’t make another update until this has been completed). I have tried to contact Centrelink by phone, after being on hold for 30mins+ I have given up. The only solution for me is to go into a Centrelink office to resolve the issue. Due to none of the changes being implemented this situation has affected the increase we expected in pension payments.
This is so frustrating and time consumming, I can’t believe that a simple update could turn into such a nightmare. It is now 5mths since I submitted the documents.
Hi Coral, thank you for sharing your experience and I’m sorry to hear how dreadful it was for you. There is an element of ‘how long is a piece of string’ with situations like these. Although yes there is a process that you/we are supposed to follow so that Centrelink can take the appropriate action, if that process fails or gets de-railed then it can indeed be very difficult to resolve given Centrelink are the gatekeepers and hold all the keys.
I Think That My Wife And I Being 69 and 68 years old respectfully and are both retired are eligible for Commonwealth Seniors Cards
Hi Peter, thanks for reaching out! You can quickly and easily confirm what you are eligible for using our free online calculator HERE.
Question. If I am retiring in December 2023 and my gross income is half of my annual income, which is $95,000.00, should I apply for my Commonwealth Health Care Card now, or should I wait till I have retired?
Hi Po, thank you for seeking our help! You will need to wait for the change in income to come into effect before lodging your claim.
Good morning I thought the aged pension was going up today but I have only received $2.34. What could be a reason for that? I’m on a straight aged pension and not working
Hi Gaye, thank you for raising your concern! There are other things that happen at this time of year that can offset how much your pension increased by. For example your superannuation company will have updated Centrelink on your balance so if it has increased then this would be one thing that reduces the amount your pension increases by.
I too have waited on the phone for ages and then told “cannot take your call now call back”. This went on for days. I lodged a complaint giving full details of my query. I received a MYGOV email response and answer in days. Worth a try if you are as frustrated as I was.
My husband and I wish to sell our house and buy a cottage in a retirement village. We want to know if we would be entitled to rent assistance.
Hi Fay, thanks for reaching out! Generally speaking yes you will be entitled to rental assistance, you just need to supply Centrelink with a letter from the village clarifying the site fees you pay.
I am on New Start and will be turning 67 years on 20/1/24. I got a letter from centrelink that my New Start cease on the 19/1/24. Nothing was said about my pension which I had applied for in October 2023. My question is when will I get informed about when and how much I will receive pension from Centrelink.
Hi Teresa, thank you for sharing your scenario with us. It is correct that when you turn Age Pension age you transfer over from Job Seeker payments to the Age Pension. Given you have already lodged your claim the ball is already in motion so no further action is required from you for now. Regarding the timeframe for approval, we are seeing it take 3 months for our customers’ claims to be reviewed so if you applied in October then yours should be looked at in the coming weeks.
I and my brother are both single. I have never married and he is divorced. We plan to live together in a residential land lease community where the lease fee can be partly offset by the Commonwelath’s rental assistance scheme as we are now both on the age pension. The lease fee is$201.76 per week. That is to say, the rent is $403.52 per fortnight. How is the rental assistance calculated in this circumstance? We will each share a 50% portion of the land lease fee of $403.52 per fortnight. I will pay $201.76 per fortnight and he will pay $201.76 per fortnight. Do we each get the same amount of rental assitance?
Hi Stephen, great name by the way! Yes you and your brother will each be eligible for rental assistance. I cannot confirm exactly what amount you would receive but you would both be eligible based on the living arrangement.