A few weeks before 20 March and September, the team at Retirement Essentials is usually able to predict (within a few cents) the expected Age Pension indexation change. This indexation of the base rate occurs twice a year. The main Age Pension supplement is also adjusted (by CPI); occasionally the energy supplement is increased as well.
Last September’s increase of $26.54 per fortnight for singles ($41.17 for couples) was based upon increases from December 2023 to June 2024 when inflation was running higher at 3.8% per annum. What goes up will almost inevitably come down at some stage, and the annual rate of inflation has now eased to 2.4% for the 12-month period Jan-Dec 2024.
But Age Pension will still rise
The good news is that you can still expect a slight Age Pension base rate increase on 20 March, as two of the three main indicators upon which indexation is based – the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Pensioners and Beneficiaries Living Cost Index (PBLCI) – are still higher, albeit by less than one per cent.
The period used to calculate Age Pension indexation is the 6-month period between 30 June and 31 December 2024. Across this time the CPI increased by 0.4 % and the PBLCI by 0.2%. (While the AWOTE is a third measure, it is often not relevant as the couples’ pension needs to fall below 25% of the current AWOTE for this to be relevant.)
What does this mean for fortnightly payments?
Here are our indicative estimates based upon the above increases, using CPI of 0.4% to adjust both the base rate and the pension supplement, as it is the higher of the two measures. (While possible, it is unlikely that the energy supplement will be changed from $14.10 as there is a separate energy rebate still in play. However, in an election year anything is possible.)
Current Age Pension Rates
| Per fortnight | Single | Couple each |
| Maximum basic rate | $1,047.10 | $789.30 |
| Maximum Pension Supplement | $83.20 | $62.70 |
| Energy Supplement | $14.10 | $10.60 |
| Total | $1144.40 | $862.60 |
| Per fortnight | Couple combined | Couple apart ill health |
| Maximum basic rate | $1,578.60 | $1,047.10 |
| Maximum Pension Supplement | $125.40 | $83.20 |
| Energy Supplement | $21.20 | $14.10 |
| Total | $1725.20 | $1144.40 |
Estimated Age Pension Rates from 20 March 2025
| Per fortnight | Single | Couple each |
| Maximum basic rate | $1,051.29 | $792.46 |
| Maximum Pension Supplement | $83.53 | $62.95 |
| Energy Supplement | $14.10 | $10.60 |
| Total | $1148.92 | $866.01 |
| Estimated extra per fortnight | $4.52 | $3.41 |
| Estimated extra per year | $117.52 | $88.66 |
| Per fortnight | Couple combined | Couple apart ill health |
| Maximum basic rate | $1,584.92 | $1,051.29 |
| Maximum Pension Supplement | $125.90 | $83.53 |
| Energy Supplement | $21.20 | $14.10 |
| Total | $1732.02 | $1148.92 |
| Estimated extra per fortnight | $6.82 | $4.52 |
| Estimated extra per year | $177.32 | $117.52 |
Will this increase help?
At $4.52 for singles and $6.82 (combined) for couples per fortnight, this is a very token increase. You will be the best judge of how much difference this anticipated increase will make to your standard of living, but if the price of a cup of coffee is any yardstick, singles won’t be able to buy a whole cup in most capital cities and couples will have to share that one cup.
Could the Age Pension actually decrease in a period where inflation actually falls?
This is a really interesting question, so we contacted the Department of Social Security (DSS) directly to find out what happens in such a scenario. Here’s what their spokesperson said:
‘While the growth in the CPI and the PBLCI has slowed, the indexes have not decreased.
In situations where CPI and PBLCI do decrease, social security legislation ensures payment rates do not drop.’
What else will change?
It’s also important to remember that 20 March can often mean changes in other vital Age Pension limits such as disqualifying asset and income limits and, importantly for those who are renting, the amount paid in Commonwealth Rent Assistance. Given the continuing increase in rent outgoings, it is entirely possible the Minister will use her discretion to increase the current rate. We also asked the DSS about the timing of changes to entitlements, and here is the handy summary we received:
- As Age Pension income and asset limits are dependent on the value of payment rates, they will also increase on 20 March 2025.
- Age Pension income and asset free areas are indexed to CPI growth every 1 July.
- The Pension Supplement is indexed to CPI growth every 20 March and 20 September.
- The Energy Supplement is not indexed.
As always, we have calculated the likely Age Pension increases using the data supplied by the ABS in line with that used by the DSS to determine Age Pension increases. But these projected increases are Retirement Essentials projections. We will need to wait another few weeks for the official government announcements.
Until then, watch this space; we will publish the confirmed amounts as soon as they are released by the DSS and its agency, Services Australia.
Cost of living growth has slowed – really?
Do you feel as though your cost of living has increased as minutely as the amount confirmed by the CPI and PBLCI?
Or do you think it has increased more dramatically?
Is using these indices still the best way to determine indexation decisions?
If you are wondering about your own situation and Age Pension benefits, you can check your eligibility at any time using the free Age Pension Entitlements Calculator. You can also book an appointment with an experienced consultant to check your situation and explore if there is more you can do to maximise your payments.
OMG WOW speechless! Cant write more I’m trying to research best where to spend my increase.
It is a disgrace and hopefully will be well timed to show this mob of criminals the door
services Australia and/or the GOVERNMENT depiction makers
have got it all wrong.
and it’s high time you started thinking with reality.
your ideas on the way you work
the pension( I’m sure it’s not the same for YOUR upcoming pension’s)
NEEDS to improve.
think for once in your lives about
us who are falling through the cracks, and GENUINELY STRUGGLING.
And it still comes in below the poverty line.
If l save real hard at the end of the month l can buy a coffee
And yet Average male weekly earnings went up by 4.6%
Yes bring in the UK triple lock system. This will cover your complaint. Here you get the highest rate of the following. 2% increase or CPI or wage rate increase. The latter would cover your complaint.
services Australia and/or the GOVERNMENT depiction makers
have got it all wrong.
and it’s high time you started thinking with reality.
your ideas on the way you work
the pension( I’m sure it’s not the same for YOUR upcoming pension’s)
NEEDS to improve.
think for once in your lives about
us who are falling through the cracks, and GENUINELY STRUGGLING.
Where are the post 20Mar estimated extras coming from? The breakdowns for the pre- and post- 20Mar tables looks exactly the same to me.
Hi Gabby, the small increase we believe will be to the basic rate and the pension supplement. We believe the energy supplement will remain the same.
Steven, that energy supplement has never been increased since it was introduced. It should have been doubled by now going by how much energy prices have sky rocketed. I’m not even mentioning how much CRA has decreased despite paying the same amount of rent for the past 10 years. ITS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
I hope that my pension will increase to a minimum of $ 65 per fortnight. will help to cover rising costs
I think it cost more to recharge my tablet after researching the amount of increase I will get.
That increase is a bloody joke, when the politicians have given them selves an increase of 10%.
This govt is a damn joke and needs to be sacked.
I hope that my pension will increase to ats been a joke minimum of $ 65 per fortnight. will help to cover rising costs
tis has been a big joke for some time
What about job seeker payments? And will they ever drop the age pension age from 67 give people a younger age to retire and live life while fairly fit and healthy as when you teach 60 it is a turn a round in life! And look at all the ages of deaths due to health reasons
Hi Bev, we only looked at the Age Pension for our article so could not comment on Job Seeker payments. Regarding the Age Pension age though it is highly unlikely this will ever go down as it has only just increase from 65 up to 67 in the last couple of years. Most other countries that have an Age Pension offer it at age 67 also.
Would love to see them allow us to earn more if we work a little. I work two days a week and lose enough to make me feel why am i doing it.
$4-52 a fortnight is a disgrace. The pension is already far too low! We are wasting millions of dollars on Aukus, Robo debt, carpark rorts, Covid job keeper, Daryl McGuire and Gladys, Qantas and the Imp Joyce! And so it goes on. Disgraceful.
I think it is a bloody disgrace that we’re only gonna get $4.47 increase on 20 March. The government should be put out of office if I had my way. I’ll put them out right now but I will not pay for the labour party ever again they are one great big disappointment.
I agree with you, it’s a disgrace !
The issue of what will happen if there is negative inflation crops up occasionally and I’m surprised you had to ask again. I am also surprised that DSS did not explain that should there be later inflation, the pension will only increase by the net rise since the last indexation eg -3%: no change. Next +2%: still no change as net=-1%. Next +4%: pension rises 3%
cost of living in yamba has certainly not decreased coles need a investigation we certainly hope it’s more than you are prediction
what a bunch of grifters and sharks, confirms my practical view of living as a lowly pensioner and how utterly corrupt and morally deficient those politicians are…..I won’t be able to buy a cappuccino for this stingy increase
Surely a joke , billions spent on defence and politician pay rises , etc etc , those relying on pensions are being sent into poverty , the gap between the haves and have nots is increasing by every year . Surely we can make our politicians more accountable than this .
well well, what did we expect, we all should be living on the crest of a wave, I visited Coles Clarkson today and noticed that a whole cabbage was seven dollars ninety, WHAT, YOUR JOKING.
yes we all pay the same for a loaf of bread dont we , but 4 .70 dollars is a joke it will only buy a Half Cabbage.
Yes. And $17.90 for a kilo of Brussels Sprouts in Coles the other day. Unbelievable prices. Unbelievably low pension increase. Let’s hope this is some sort of mistake.
Rudi pensioners have lived in abject poverty ever since I can remember, disability pension from the late 70s then aged pension since 2012. My annual income has only just hit 32,000 in the past 18 months. My CRA has actually dropped by $20 in the last 10 years despite paying the same amount of rent.
The Government can stick their bloody $ 4 where the sun doesnt shine , that is a disgrace based on cost of living at present and hopefully this news will come just at the right time to make sure this Labor mob of scumbags are shown the door at the election. The system to keep Pensions up with costs needs to change now
We all KNOW, without a doubt, that this Govt will tell us black is white. They are so full of lies and deceit that it is not even funny anymore. Will their increases in their pay match ours exactly? I very much doubt it. I HATE and loathe Australia’s 2 stage “democratic” system, and am going to go and live in Europe next year.
Just goes to show the value our government puts on its senior citizens who carried the country all their working lives. Disgraceful!
Hi, wondering if the people in power ever think of the grey nomads out there ,who have no home,only caravan, motorhome,etc like me and wife,no super,like me and wife. Trying to live of aged pension,mine only as she is only 62. My dfrdb pension. Food,fuel,caravan parks, motorhome maintenance, insurance, registration etc. Doesn’t leave me with much left over.
That’s a fantastic rise. I can now put an extra 3.5 Lt. of extra fuel in my car every fortnight as long as the fuel doesn’t go up. Or one loaf of bread and a 2Lt milk each fortnight. I can guarantee with 2 months that $6.82 for couples or $4.52 for singles will be gobbled up by the increase of overall cost of living. It is a bloody insult to the people who have worked hard all their lives to make this country what it is today. We deceive better than a few measly dollars hand shack. This Government has turned their backs on the pensioners of Australia.
I’m going to have a bitch, the govt. Want you to set yourself up for retirement, when you do they don’t want to help, I knew I wouldn’t get a pension and thats fine but I would think I would be entitled to a pension card but no such luck, I have been paying high taxes for 20 years, more than what the pension is worth a year and now I’m paying top prices for prescriptions, utilities etc.,
Curious people are so determined to punish this government for the cost of living rises largely driven by global inflation post-pandemic and corporate greed.
Please note that The Liberals wanted to increase the pension age to 70 – meaning Australia would have the oldest pension age in the developed world. They also wanted to abolish the Energy Supplement to pensioners.
The cashless welfare card was removed by this government and was brought into existence by the Liberals. The Liberals regard the pension as welfare.
Good bye Albos.
There is an election coming up and I think the question to ask
is the pension rise low to fund the road to PM’s new house. I have been a Labor voter all my life. NEVER agai
SO,many pensioners are doing it tough more than ever, it amazing me we have a Government they know people are doing it tough but ,the government is not everything going up and up the increases the politians get is over the top ,no matter how much things go up the polititians are never ,so they are not doing it tough and really do not know, you never see them only when there is a election so they can keep there job ,mean to say they get a good income ,plus bonus ,and when retire a very good package yearly with bonus on top, pensioners are worst off now,the small increase is very poor considering everything is going up more than a increase can cover, if you are in public housing they increase there rent quite a lot ,so overall the increase is not enough and yes you are worst off, we give more money in aid than other countries and cannot look after our own people ,pensioners only get enough to live on and nothing more, the cost of living out weighs the cost of living ,politians should go out more and have a real good look at themselves and talk to people , but wgen you get pay increase some $10,000 a year why would they, there inreases cover the rusing cost of of living and still leave then with money in there pocket no wonder they are smiling all the time
Consider your self lucky. Some
Countries you would get nothing
Should of thought about the future
This is the worst increase since Sir Robert Menzies was PM when pensioners would get 50 cents twice a year. Gough Whitlam let us have $5 twice a year. Our government is a mob of money grabbers who don’t give a damn about pensioners. They just wait for us to die so they can have more.
.
Cant fathom this increase at all. Homes West have increased my rent by $15 per fortnight and the price of groceries is going up every time I shop. The last two fortnightly shopping days has not left enough to get my full shopping list or to buy fuel. I pre-pay all my bills and what is left isn’t going anywhere close to me being able to survive, forget me being able to afford to buy extras like my medication, clothes, shoes etc.
can’t even buy a loaf of bread with that the government only think of them selfs living the good life while we pensioners struggle just to buy food and pay our bills hope they don’t go broke paying us that huge pay rise lol
Hahaha, what a joke, a $4.52 cent rise, that’s what these useless polies are worth, yet they help themselves to $1000.00 of dollars pay rises, it should be the polies get $4.52 pay rise and pensioners get the $1000.00 pay rise. being single was told it be much better i live in a country like Philippines, What a joke They cut my Pension rate down to make their pay rises, they even tried to say i owned house property and also tried to say i was being paid to much, when they even knew i can not own property or business in my name here its hard to explain but can only 40% and then you still have no say in the business or house and property, soon as you build a house you are evicted with nothing every thing has to be in your wife’s name what is $4.52 going to get me here may be a couple of coffees while this government do nothing but sit on their backsides and take money of those that worked all their lives for a useless $4.52 rise, the Australian government is a big joke, none of them are worth our votes. all pensioners should vote for say the marijuana party get rid of both labor and liberal party’s maybe a complete new party will think of us aged pensioners instead of their own pockets
What a joke…..$4.52 a fortnight $2.62 a week… Wouldn’t buy a cup of coffee .
When is the government going to wake up and get real.. it is an embarrassment and an insult to the intelligence….
The cashless welfare card, pushed by Twiggy, was originally designed to ensure that the money could not be used for grog and ciggies, so that essentials were able to be provided to families. every Economic regulator in Australia has stated cost of power is too high, but govts quite happy to allow increases, never considers that feed in tariff from solar systems has never gone up – while you get 4 to7c per kw fed in, they on-sell that for 5-900% increase and now some govts have allowed them to introduce sun tariffs, – what you export you have to pay them. bit like when govts were proposing a levy if you put in a rainwater tank. Since when did govts own or control the sun or rain. If they do that I will be sending bills for the use of my roof as a collection point. But yes – the govt spends more on spin doctors telling us how good they are whilst handing out measly increases, No wonder we are slipping down world rankings. The ” Lucky country” needs to be looking after its senior citizens
I’m in Thailand, 70 years old, would be homeless if i was in Australia. I get $1070 per 2wks. I’m not eligible for an advance ( because I’m overseas) no rent assistance, nothing but the basics.
Its terrible and am treated like I’m nobody.
The “toll free” call to Centrelink doesn’t work, I’m paying $1 a minute to sit in a long que to talk to them.
This is my life, and its really hard. I cant see why I dont get rent assistance, its taking a third of my wage. I can see why I cant get and advance. Its just not fair!!
March increase to aged pensioners will not keep up with all the cost of living pressures.A better system to establish the increase should be introduced by an independent authority.I seem to be going backwards no matter how much I cut back.
The grey vote will have a bearing in the upcoming election
Mmm, and defeated politicians, ( here I am speaking of those who qualify for a parliamentary pension ) will be able to claim there parliamentary pension, IRRESPECTIVE of their age, So a politicante first elected at age of say 35 yrs, is defeated/ retires at age of 50 yrs automatically qualifies for parliamentary pension, for LIFE
This is a loophole which needs to be abolished. I understand, ( correct me if I am wrong ) that in the UK, for example DEFEATED/ RETIRING politicians cannot claim their parliamentary pension UNTIL the NORMAL retirement age.
Can you explain the means by which many mainstream media outlets deduce pensioner couples will be 5902 better off. $7 a fortnight would only account for less than $200
Hi Anne, we couldn’t comment on what means other organisations use to make their calculations, only our own.
our health fund went up 11.00 per fortnight so not quite sure how this reconciles