Centrelink payments and benefits are the income support and supplementary payments delivered by Services Australia to people whose circumstances — job loss, retirement, disability, caring for someone, raising children, or studying — mean they need financial help. Each payment has its own eligibility rules, its own rate, and its own obligations once you’re on it. As of 20 March 2026, the maximum JobSeeker Payment for a single person with no children is $808.70 per fortnight, and the maximum Age Pension for a single person is $1,200.90 per fortnight.
The Main Payments and Who Qualifies
JobSeeker Payment
JobSeeker is for people between 22 and Age Pension age (currently 67) who are looking for work or temporarily unable to work due to illness or injury. You need to meet mutual obligation requirements, which usually means actively searching for jobs, attending appointments with an employment services provider, or participating in approved training. The maximum fortnightly rate for a single person with no children is $808.70.1Services Australia. How much JobSeeker Payment you can get
Age Pension
The Age Pension supports people who have reached 67 and don’t have enough retirement savings to cover living costs.2Services Australia. Who can get Age Pension The maximum fortnightly payment for a single person is $1,200.90, made up of a base rate of $1,100.30, a pension supplement of $86.50, and an energy supplement of $14.10.3Services Australia. How much Age Pension you can get Couples receive a lower individual rate but a higher combined amount. What you actually get depends on the income and assets tests.
Disability Support Pension
The Disability Support Pension (DSP) is for people whose physical, intellectual, or psychiatric condition prevents them from working and is expected to last at least two years. The condition must be diagnosed, treated as far as reasonable, and stabilised.4Department of Social Services. Disability Support Pension Impairment Tables Services Australia assesses it against legislated Impairment Tables, and you need a rating of at least 20 points on a single table, or 20 points across multiple tables combined with participation in a program of support.5Services Australia. Impairment rating for Disability Support Pension For a single person aged 21 or over, the maximum fortnightly rate is $1,200.90, matching the Age Pension.6Services Australia. Payment rates for Disability Support Pension
Parenting Payment
Parenting Payment goes to the main carer of a young child. Single parents can receive it until their youngest child turns 14; partnered parents qualify until their youngest turns six.7Social Security Guide. Parenting Payment (PP) The maximum fortnightly rate for a single parent is $1,047.30, including the pension supplement.8Services Australia. How much Parenting Payment you can get
Youth Allowance
Youth Allowance covers younger Australians who are studying, doing an apprenticeship, or looking for work. For students and apprentices, the age brackets are 18 to 24 if studying full time, 16 to 24 if doing a full-time Australian Apprenticeship, and 16 to 17 if independent, needing to live away from home to study, or a Year 12 completer studying full time. You can stay on Youth Allowance after turning 25 if you’re still finishing your course or apprenticeship.9Services Australia. Who can get Youth Allowance for students and Australian Apprentices Job seekers under 22 who don’t qualify for JobSeeker receive Youth Allowance instead.
Carer Payment
Carer Payment goes to people who provide constant care to someone with a disability, serious medical condition, or an adult who is frail aged. The person you care for must need this level of care for at least six months, or be approaching end of life. Both you and the person you care for need to meet eligibility requirements. Carer Payment can be paired with Carer Allowance, a smaller supplementary payment that doesn’t depend on your income or assets.10Services Australia. Carer Payment
Rent Assistance and Concession Cards
Commonwealth Rent Assistance is an add-on for people who rent privately and already receive an eligible income support payment or Family Tax Benefit. You won’t get it if you live in public housing or own your home. Your rent has to exceed a minimum threshold first. For a single person on an income support payment, that threshold is $154.80 per fortnight as of March 2026. For every dollar of rent above that, you receive 75 cents, up to a capped maximum. Couples have a higher threshold of $250.80 combined. Rates are updated every March and September.11Services Australia. How much Rent Assistance you can get
Most Centrelink recipients also get a concession card, which lowers the cost of medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and reduces GP fees where the doctor bulk bills. There are three main types:
- Pensioner Concession Card, issued to recipients of Age Pension, Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension, or Parenting Payment Single, among others.
- Health Care Card, issued to people receiving certain allowances or supplements who meet age and residency requirements.
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, for people who have reached Age Pension age but don’t receive an income support payment, subject to a separate income test.
Concession cards also unlock state and territory discounts on utilities, public transport, and council rates, though these vary by jurisdiction.12Services Australia. Concession and health care cards
Residency and Waiting Periods
To qualify for almost any Centrelink payment, you must be an Australian resident: living in Australia and holding either Australian citizenship, a permanent visa, or protected Special Category Visa (SCV) status as a New Zealander.13Social Security Guide. 3.1.1.10 Residence requirements
If you arrived recently on a qualifying visa, you’ll typically serve a newly arrived resident’s waiting period (NARWP) before you can access payments. The length depends on your visa grant date and the payment:
- Four years for most working-age payments, including JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment, and Austudy.
- Two years for Carer Payment and Parental Leave Pay.
- One year for Carer Allowance and Family Tax Benefit Part A.
Refugees and their family members are exempt, as are people who become Australian citizens during the waiting period.14Social Security Guide. 3.1.2.40 Newly arrived residents waiting period (NARWP)
How Income and Assets Change What You Get
Even if you qualify for a payment, means testing decides whether you receive the full rate, a reduced rate, or nothing.
Income Test
The income test looks at your gross earnings from employment, investments, and certain other sources. Each payment has a free area — an amount you can earn per fortnight before your payment starts to reduce. For the Age Pension, a single person can earn up to $218 per fortnight before the pension reduces, and a couple can earn a combined $380.15Services Australia. Income test for Age Pension Every dollar above the free area reduces the pension by 50 cents for singles or 25 cents each for couples.
JobSeeker has its own income test. Earning above the free area reduces your payment at a rate that steepens as income rises, and eventually cuts it to zero.16Services Australia. Who can get JobSeeker Payment A partner’s income is counted too.
Assets Test
The assets test looks at the market value of what you and your partner own: property, vehicles, savings, superannuation (once you’re over Age Pension age), and investments. Your main home is generally exempt. For a full Age Pension from 20 March 2026, the asset thresholds are:
- Single homeowner: up to $321,500.
- Single non-homeowner: up to $579,500.
- Couple combined, homeowner: up to $481,500.
- Couple combined, non-homeowner: up to $739,500.
Above these thresholds you receive a part pension, which tapers as assets grow. The pension cuts off entirely once assets exceed the upper limits — for example, $722,000 for a single homeowner or $980,000 for a single non-homeowner.17Services Australia. Assets test for Age Pension Limits are reviewed in March, July, and September each year.
Work Bonus for Pensioners
If you’re of Age Pension age and receive Age Pension, Carer Payment, or Disability Support Pension, the Work Bonus lets you earn up to $300 per fortnight from employment before it counts under the income test. Unused portions roll into a Work Bonus balance that can accumulate up to $11,800, offsetting bigger earning fortnights later.18Services Australia. Work Bonus and balance for pensioners of Age Pension age
How to Claim
Most claims are lodged online through your myGov account. Before you start, get your documents together. Services Australia uses a 100-point identity check, so you’ll need documents like a passport, birth certificate, or citizenship certificate. You also need your Tax File Number, which links your Centrelink record to the Australian Taxation Office. If you’ve recently left a job, have your employment separation certificate ready.
New customers are issued a Customer Reference Number (CRN) after identity verification, either at a service centre or online. This number stays with you permanently.19Services Australia. Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) You then link Centrelink to your myGov profile, which lets you claim online, upload documents, report income, and track applications.20myGov. Link Centrelink
Once logged in, go to the claims section and pick the payment. The form asks for details from your bank statements, income records, and rental agreements if relevant. You submit the form and upload supporting documents, either scanned or photographed through the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.21Services Australia. Centrelink online account help – Upload documents Keep the receipt number for follow-up queries. The Claim Tracker tool in your online account shows an estimated completion date and flags anything else Services Australia needs from you.
Obligations Once You’re on Payment
If you earn any employment income, you generally need to report it every 14 days on a date Services Australia assigns to you, even if you earned nothing that fortnight.22Services Australia. When to report your income to Centrelink Any change to your circumstances — moving house, starting or ending a relationship, beginning work, changes to your assets — must be reported within 14 days.
Failing to report changes creates overpayments that become debts you owe back to the Commonwealth. Under the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, knowingly providing false information is a criminal offence punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. Even unintentional errors can lead to administrative penalties if Services Australia decides you should have known to report the change. Keep records of every report you submit.
Travelling Overseas
The Age Pension is relatively portable. You can generally keep receiving it overseas, including permanently, though your rate may change depending on how long you’ve been an Australian resident and where you’re going.23Services Australia. Travel outside Australia rules for Age Pension If you started receiving the Age Pension after returning to live in Australia, your payment may stop if you travel overseas again within two years, unless you’re going to a country that has a social security agreement with Australia.
Working-age payments like JobSeeker are far less portable. Your payment generally stops the moment you leave Australia unless you’re travelling for an approved reason, such as attending a family member’s funeral or getting medical treatment unavailable domestically.24Services Australia. Travel outside Australia rules for JobSeeker Payment Always notify Services Australia before you travel.
Crisis Payment and Advance Payments
If you’re already receiving or have claimed an eligible income support payment and hit extreme hardship, you may qualify for a one-off Crisis Payment. Qualifying circumstances include leaving your home due to family and domestic violence, having the violent family member removed from your home, being forced out of your accommodation by other extreme events, arriving in Australia as a humanitarian entrant, or being released after at least 14 days in prison or psychiatric confinement. You must claim within seven days of the qualifying event.25Services Australia. Crisis Payment
If you need a lump sum for an upcoming expense, you can apply for an advance on your regular payment:
- Age Pension, DSP, or Carer Payment: a single person can access between $570.10 and $1,710.30 per six-month period, taken as one large advance or up to three smaller ones.
- JobSeeker, Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance, Austudy, or ABSTUDY: between $250 and $500, one advance per 12 months.
- Family Tax Benefit Part A: a regular advance paid automatically every 26 weeks, plus a one-off advance on request, up to a combined total of $1,381.13.
Advances are repaid automatically over 13 fortnights. You won’t be eligible if you already owe a government debt, are still repaying a previous advance (for most payments), or can’t afford the repayments within six months.26Services Australia. Advance payment – Age Pension
Tax on Centrelink Payments
Many Centrelink payments count as taxable income and go into your tax return. Taxable payments include the Age Pension, JobSeeker, Austudy, Youth Allowance, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment (partnered), and Disability Support Pension if you’re Age Pension age or older.27Australian Taxation Office. Government payments and allowances If you lodge through myTax, the ATO generally pre-fills these amounts, but check they’re right and add anything missing. If you’re unsure whether your payment is taxable, ask Services Australia or the ATO before lodging.28Services Australia. Medicare and tax
If You Disagree With a Decision
If Services Australia rejects your claim or reduces your payment and you think the decision is wrong, start with a formal internal review. For most decisions about claims and entitlements, apply within 13 weeks of being notified. You can still apply after that, but if the decision is changed in your favour, back-payment will run from the date you requested the review rather than the original decision date. Debt decisions can be reviewed at any time for most payments.29Services Australia. Explanations and formal reviews of a Centrelink decision
If the internal review doesn’t go your way, you can escalate to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), an independent body outside Services Australia. For most Centrelink decisions there’s no strict deadline to apply, though delays beyond 13 weeks after the internal review may limit back-payments. Family assistance decisions have a 90-day deadline; Paid Parental Leave decisions must be lodged within 28 days.30Administrative Review Tribunal. Centrelink – Administrative Review Tribunal Neither an internal review nor a Tribunal review costs anything, and you don’t need a lawyer, though a community legal centre or welfare rights service can help if your case is complex.