Widow Allowance

To be eligible for Widow Allowance you must be a woman born on or before 1 July 1955 and:

• not be a member of a couple
• have become widowed, divorced, or separated since turning 40
• have no recent workforce experience
• meet income and asset tests
• meet residency requirements

You do not have to look for work or undertake training to receive Widow Allowance. You can, however, get help to improve your job prospects, learn new skills, or become involved in your community.

Foreign payments

You must take reasonable action to obtain any comparable foreign payment that may be available to you from any country, or show why a claim on another country would be unsuccessful.

The amount of Widow Allowance you receive depends on your income and assets.

Widow Allowance payment rates are updated on 20 March and 20 September each year.

To qualify for Widow Allowance, you need to meet income and assets tests.

Income test

Your income affects the amount of payment you receive. Read more about the income test.

Asset test

An asset is any property you own either partly or wholly. It includes assets held outside Australia and debts owing to you. Read more about the assets test.

To meet residency 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, or
• the holder of a special-category visa - that is, someone with a New Zealand passport living in Australia, or
• a New Zealand citizen who was in Australia on 26 February 2001 or for 12 months in the 2 years immediately before that date, or who was assessed before 26 February 2004 as 'protected

Newly arrived residents generally have a 2 year waiting period. Some exemptions apply for refugees, holders of certain other permanent visas, Australian citizens, and in some circumstances their partners and dependent children.

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 10 years, with one of the periods being at least 5 years, unless you have both been Australian residents when you were widowed, divorced, or separated from your partner.

If you qualify for Widow Allowance, you may be entitled to other payments and benefits, 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 become partnered
• you change your address
• your income changes
• you do not have to lodge a tax return
• your care arrangements change
• your work or study load changes
• you leave Australia

To maintain your Widow Allowance, you also need to report your income details:

• every 2 weeks—if you are earning income from working
• every 12 weeks—if you are not earning income

You can report changes to your circumstances through any of the self service options available.

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

Language, literacy and numeracy training is available to people who receive certain Centrelink payments. The training can improve your chances of getting and keeping a job by developing speaking, reading, writing and basic maths skills.

Read more about language, literacy and numeracy training