Australia · Reference
Age Pension rates and thresholds
The social-security figures advisers look up most, for FY2026-27 — with the date each applies from, how it indexes, and where it comes from. The URL has no financial year in it, so a bookmark or a link in a file note keeps working after the next indexation.
Most looked up
- Assets test — single homeowner, full pension
- $333,000
- Assets test — couple homeowner, full pension
- $499,000
- Deeming rate — upper
- 3.25%
- Seniors Health Card income limit — single
- $101,105
Assets test
The level of assessable assets a client can hold and still receive the full pension, the level at which the pension cuts out, and the rate it reduces at in between. Homeowner status changes the threshold, not the taper.
| Measure | FY2026-27 | Applies from | Indexation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assets test — single homeowner, full pension Assets up to this level do not reduce the pension under this test. | $333,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
| Assets test — couple homeowner, full pension Combined, for the couple. | $499,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
| Assets test — single non-homeowner, full pension The higher threshold recognises that a non-homeowner is paying for housing out of the pension. | $600,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
| Assets test — couple non-homeowner, full pension Combined, for the couple. | $766,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
| Assets test taper rate The pension reduces by this much for every $1,000 of assessable assets above the threshold — for a couple, the reduction is shared between them. | $3 per fortnight per $1,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
| Assets test cut-off — single homeowner The pension is nil at or above this level of assessable assets. A cut-off is not indexed in its own right: it moves whenever the threshold under it or the maximum rate of pension moves. | $733,500 | 1 July 2026 Law | Moves with the threshold and the pension rate |
| Assets test cut-off — couple homeowner Combined, for the couple. | $1,102,500 | 1 July 2026 Law | Moves with the threshold and the pension rate |
| Assets test cut-off — single non-homeowner Reconciles with the taper: the non-homeowner free area plus the same run-off the single homeowner cut-off allows. | $1,000,500 | 1 July 2026 Law | Moves with the threshold and the pension rate |
| Assets test cut-off — couple non-homeowner Combined, for the couple. | $1,369,500 | 1 July 2026 Law | Moves with the threshold and the pension rate |
A cut-off moves with both the threshold under it and the maximum rate of pension, so the two index together but not by the same amount. The four situations above are the common ones; couples separated by illness, and couples where only one partner is eligible, are assessed differently — check the assets test page for a client whose situation is not one of these.
Income test
The free area, in the fortnightly unit the test is actually run in. Financial assets do not enter this test at their actual return — they enter it deemed.
| Measure | FY2026-27 | Applies from | Indexation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income test free area — single Income up to this level does not reduce the pension. Income above it reduces the pension under the income test taper. | $226 per fortnight | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
| Income test free area — couple, combined Combined, for the couple — not one each. | $396 per fortnight | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
Sources
The free area is the start of the income test, not the whole of it: income above it reduces the pension under the income test taper. Financial assets do not enter this test at what they earned — they enter it deemed , and employment income is reduced first by the Work Bonus .
Deeming
The assumed return applied to financial assets under the income test. Two rates, one threshold, and no relationship at all to what the assets actually earned.
| Measure | FY2026-27 | Applies from | Indexation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deeming rate — lower Applies to financial assets up to the threshold. Rates last reset 20 March 2026; next scheduled review 20 September 2026. | 1.25% | 20 March 2026 Law | Set by the Minister — not indexed |
| Deeming rate — upper Applies to the part of financial assets above the threshold. Rates last reset 20 March 2026; next scheduled review 20 September 2026. | 3.25% | 20 March 2026 Law | Set by the Minister — not indexed |
| Deeming threshold — single The point the lower rate stops and the upper rate starts — not an exemption. Indexed up from $64,200. | $66,800 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
| Deeming threshold — couple, combined One combined threshold for the couple, applied to their combined financial assets — not one each. Indexed up from $106,200. | $110,600 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 1 July |
Sources
The rates are set by the Minister rather than indexed, and the next scheduled review is 20 September 2026. How the two tiers work, with worked examples and a calculator, is in the deeming explainer .
Work Bonus
The employment-income concession that sits on top of the income test free area, and the balance that accrues when it is not used.
| Measure | FY2026-27 | Applies from | Indexation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work Bonus — fortnightly exclusion Employment and eligible self-employment income excluded from the income test each fortnight, on top of the income test free area. | $300 per fortnight | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
| Work Bonus — maximum balance Unused fortnightly amounts accrue to this ceiling and are drawn on in fortnights where employment income is higher. | $11,800 | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
| Work Bonus — starting credit New pensioners generally start with this balance rather than a nil one, so the first years of part-time work are largely excluded. | $4,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
Sources
The accrual mechanic — and why the balance only grows in fortnights where the client earns less than the fortnightly amount — is worked through in the Work Bonus explainer .
Gifting and deprivation
What can be given away without affecting the pension. Both limits are per person or per couple — never per recipient — and neither is indexed.
| Measure | FY2026-27 | Applies from | Indexation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gifting limit — per financial year Per person or per couple, not per recipient. Amounts above it are assessed as a deprived asset. | $10,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
| Gifting limit — rolling five years Across the current financial year and the four before it. The annual limit cannot be used five times over. | $30,000 | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
| Deprived asset — assessment period An amount above the limits stays in the assets test, and is deemed under the income test, for five years from the date of the gift. | 5 years | 1 July 2026 Law | Not indexed |
Sources
Both limits are per person or per couple, never per recipient, and the five-year allowance is consumed oldest first. The pattern that catches people — and a calculator — is in gifting and deprivation .
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
For self-funded retirees over Age Pension age who do not qualify for a pension. Income tested only — and account-based pensions are deemed for that test.
| Measure | FY2026-27 | Applies from | Indexation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seniors Health Card income limit — single Adjusted taxable income plus deemed income from account-based pensions. The limit increases for each dependent child. | $101,105 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 20 September |
| Seniors Health Card income limit — couple, combined Combined, for the couple. Couples separated by illness are assessed against a higher combined limit. | $161,768 | 1 July 2026 Law | Indexed 20 September |
| Seniors Health Card assets test The card is income tested only. A client well over the Age Pension assets cut-off can hold one. | No assets test | 1 July 2026 Law | Not applicable |
No assets test applies to the card, and account-based pensions are deemed for its income test — the two things most often got wrong. Both are worked through, with a checker, in the Seniors Health Card explainer .
What moves, and when
Social-security figures do not all move on 1 July, which is the single most common reason a file note goes stale without anyone noticing. Four different clocks are running on this page.
- Maximum rates of pension: 20 March and 20 September. Indexed twice a year — and because an assets test cut-off is derived from the threshold and the maximum rate, the cut-offs move on those days too.
- The free areas and the deeming thresholds: 1 July. The assets and income test thresholds and the deeming thresholds all index at the start of the financial year. The deeming rates themselves do not.
- Deeming rates: whenever the Minister sets them. There is no indexation formula at all. The next scheduled review is 20 September 2026, and a change to the rates re-prices the income test for every client holding financial assets at once.
- The taper, the Work Bonus and the gifting limits: never. The $3 per fortnight per $1,000 taper, the $300 per fortnight exclusion and both gifting limits are fixed in nominal terms — so they tighten in real terms every year, against free areas and thresholds that index around them, without a decision being taken.
Related
- Deeming explained — the two tiers, worked examples and a calculator.
- Commonwealth Seniors Health Card — no assets test, and account-based pensions are deemed. Includes a checker.
- Work Bonus — the accrual mechanic, and the credit a new pensioner starts with.
- Gifting and deprivation — the two limits, and the five-year assessment that follows.
- Super rates and thresholds — the other half of a retirement file, on its own indexation clock.
- What changed on 1 July 2026 — every FY2026-27 change, super and social security, in one table.
- All knowledge-hub references
Sources
Sourced from the references below, and held as structured data with an effective date against each figure — how we maintain this sets out the discipline. Every figure on this page — down to the $733,500 single-homeowner cut-off — can be checked against the primary source rather than taken on trust.