Income and assets test
People on income support payments can have a certain amount of income, called allowable income, before their payments are affected. The value of a person’s assessable assets may also affect certain payments and benefits.
Centrelink only pays income support payments to people if their income is below a certain level. Under an income test, a person can have a certain level of income before their Centrelink payment is affected. This is call allowable income.
A different income test applies to each payment type. If you have a partner, his or her income and assets are taken into account when working out your payment rate.
An asset is a property or possession that you own either partly or wholly. It includes assets held outside of Australia and debts owing to you.
Next Steps
- Read about income and assets
- Read about assets tests
- Read about the income test for pensions
- See the table of Centrelink payments to find out whether they require an income and assets test