Age Pension

To qualify for Age Pension, you must satisfy age and residence requirements. How much Age Pension you will get depends on your income and assets and other circumstances.

Age requirements

Your eligibility for Age Pension depends on your current age and when you were born.

If you were born before 1 July 1947, you have reached the qualifying age for Age Pension. From 1 July 2017, the qualifying age for Age Pension will increase from 65 years to 65 and a half years. The qualifying age will then rise by six months every two years, reaching 67 by 1 July 2023.

There are different rates of Age Pension payments for single people and couples. Your rate also depends on your income, assets, and other circumstances.

You may be paid an additional Pension Supplement amount on top of this.

Your income can affect the amount of payment you receive from us.

Read more about income tests for pensions

The value of various assets you own can have an effect on your eligibility for a pension.

Refer to the assets test limits to view the current maximum value your assets can have before they affect your pension.

Asset Hardship provisions

If you are in severe financial hardship and have little or no entitlement to a payment, you can apply to be paid under the Asset Hardship provisions.

To meet residence requirements you must be an Australian resident and in Australia on the day that you lodge your claim.

To be an Australian resident, you must be living in Australia as:

• an Australian citizen
• the holder of a permanent resident visa
• a protected special category visa holder, that is, a New Zealand citizen who was in Australia on 26 February 2001 or for 12 months in the two years immediately before that date, or who was assessed before 26 February 2004 as 'protected'

You also need to have been an Australian resident for a continuous period of at least 10 years, or for a number of periods that total more than ten years, with one of the periods being at least five years, unless you:

• are a refugee or former refugee
• were getting Partner Allowance, Widow Allowance or Widow B Pension immediately before turning Age Pension age, or
• are a woman whose partner died while you were both Australian residents and you had two years residency immediately before claiming Age Pension

If you have lived or worked in a country with which Australia has an international social security agreement, you may be able to use your contributions or residency towards the ten years qualifying residency period to qualify you for Age Pension.

Depending on your circumstances, you may be entitled to other payments and services such as:

Our self service options are a quick and effective way to deal with us. You can use self service where it's convenient to you and manage things yourself:

• online - you need to register to use some of the services, then you can do many things where and when it suits you
• on your mobile device - our Express Plus mobile apps are simple, fast and convenient, giving you more choices for dealing with Centrelink
• on the phone - you can self-register for Centrelink Phone Self Service
• using a self service terminal at one of our Service Centres

You need to tell us if your circumstances change when you are receiving a payment. For example, if:

• your personal circumstances change
• you change your address
• your income changes

If you do not tell us about the changes within 14 days your payment may be affected. You may be overpaid benefits and you will probably have to pay the money back. If you deliberately do not tell us about changes, you could be charged with fraud.

While you are not required to advise if you leave Australia, you should contact us if you want to know how your payments may be affected.

You may be eligible to receive part of your Centrelink payment in advance. Accessing an advance payment depends on the type of payment you receive, how long you have been receiving it and the amount that you receive.

Read more about advance payment options

There are rules about getting your payment when you leave Australia.

Read more about payments paid while outside Australia

If you have lived or worked outside Australia, and you are claiming or receiving Age Pension, you may also be asked to apply for a pension from that country and advise us of the outcome.

Your partner may also be required to claim a foreign pension if he or she has lived or worked outside Australia, even if they are not claiming a payment from us.

We can help you claim any foreign pension.

If you are receiving a foreign pension, this may affect the amount of Age Pension you receive. We use a commercial exchange rate to work this out.

For information on the current rates, phone Freecall 1800 050 041.

You can authorise another person or organisation to deal with us on your behalf and receive your Centrelink payments under a correspondence or nominee arrangement.

Read more about someone to deal with us on your behalf

Find out more about Australia’s international and citizenship arrangements for Age Pension.

• Australia’s international social security agreements
• New Zealand citizens claiming in Australia
• Australian Citizenship website