Pension Bonus Scheme

Find out more about the Pension Bonus Scheme and Pension Bonus payments.

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A Pension Bonus Top-up may apply if you are granted Age Pension and Pension Bonus on or after 1 January 2008. The top-up is not a second bonus payment; it is the recalculation of the original bonus amount.

The amount of Pension Bonus Top-Up payment is the difference between the initial amount of Pension Bonus paid and the amount of bonus that would have been paid using the highest pension rate in the 13 weeks after Age Pension was granted.

If there is no increase in the pension rate in the 13 weeks after Age Pension was granted, no top-up payment can be made.

You do not need to make a claim for the Pension Bonus Top-up. We will see whether you are eligible after the 13-week period has passed and advise you by letter if you qualify.

First steps

Claiming the Pension Bonus Top-up

You do not need to make a claim for a Pension Bonus Top-up Payment.

Thirteen weeks after you are granted Age Pension and paid Pension Bonus, we will automatically check to see whether you qualify for a top-up payment. If you are entitled to one, we will advise you by letter.

A Pension Bonus is calculated using the initial basic Age Pension rate. A top-up is paid if the increase in pension rate is due to a reduction in your income or assets. It is not paid if an increase in pension rate is due only to indexation of pension rate, indexation of allowable limits, a change in homeowner status, or a change in marital status.

Any subsequent decrease in pension rate does not disqualify you from receiving a top-up payment.

If you have no increase in your pension rate in the 13 weeks after Age Pension being granted, there is no recalculation, and no top-up is payable.