Concession and health care cards

We have information in different languages about concession and health care cards

Call our Multilingual Phone Service to speak with a skilled bilingual service officer about Centrelink payments and services.

Concession and health care cards can get you cheaper health services and medicines.

Types of cards

The type of concession or health care card you can get depends on your situation.

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

You can get a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card if you:

can’t get a payment from us or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
have reached age pension age
meet the income test
are an Australian resident or you hold a special category visa

Your card is valid for 1 year. We will send you a new card each year in August, if you remain eligible.

Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card

You can get an Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card if you:

are between 16 and 25
are a full time student
had a Carer Allowance Health Care Card on the day before you turned 16
are an Australian resident or you hold a special category visa

Your card is valid for 1 year. You must reclaim the card each year.

Foster Child Health Care Card

You can get a Foster Child Health Care Card if you:

are a foster carer or care for someone else’s child
are an Australian citizen living in Australia
hold a permanent visa or a special category visa

Your foster child must live with you as long as you hold this card.

Your card is valid for 1 year. We will send you a new card automatically, if you remain eligible.

Health Care Card

You can get a Health Care Card if you:

live in Australia
get some payments or supplements from us
meet the age rules of the payment you get

Payments or supplements include:

Newstart Allowance
Sickness Allowance
Youth Allowance as a job seeker
Partner Allowance
Parenting Payment partnered
Widow Allowance
Special Benefit
Carer Payment for short term care under 6 months
the maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A
Mobility Allowance if you don’t get Disability Support Pension
Carer Allowance if you care for a child under 16 years - the Health Care Card is for the child in your care only
Farm Household Allowance - you don’t need to apply, we'll send you a card if you’re eligible

Your card is valid for 1 year. We will send you a new card automatically, if you remain eligible.

Low Income Health Care Card

You can get a Low Income Health Care Card if you’re aged 19 or older or younger than 19 and are independent.

You must live in Australia and be an Australian citizen or hold either a:

You must also meet an income test.

Your card is valid for 1 year. You must renew your card each year.

Pensioner Concession Card

You can get a Pensioner Concession Card if you get:

Age Pension
Bereavement Allowance
Carer Payment
Disability Support Pension
Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance. - you must be single and caring for a dependent child while you’re looking for work
Parenting Payment single

You are also eligible if you’re 60 years of age or older and for more than 9 months have been getting:

Or, you have a partial capacity to work and you get:

You must meet age rules for the payment you are getting.

Your card is valid for 2 years. We will send you a new card every 2 years on your birthday, if you remain eligible.

Non-income tested card

We may have cancelled your pension on 1 January 2017 because of changes to the pension assets test.

If so, we would have sent you a non-income tested:

Low Income Health Care Card, and
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, if age pension age

You don’t need to meet the income test for these cards.

If you got a non-income tested Low Income Health Care Card you will get a new non-income tested Pensioner Concession Card after 9 October 2017. We will send this to you automatically. You don’t need to do anything.

Card features

Your card will display your:

Customer Reference Number (CRN)
address - usually your home address
card start date - the date your concession entitlement begins
expiry date - the date the card expires
name - your first name and family name

Depending on the type of card you have, it will show your partner’s first name and family name. It will show only the first name of any dependent children.

Other support

Other organisations have support services and information you may find helpful. You can use Payment and Service Finder to locate help in your local area.

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has a concession card for those eligible.

Use australia.gov.au to get details about state and territory governments Seniors Cards.

See the below links to other websites to read more about concessions available in your state or territory:

Australian Capital Territory - ACT Assistance
New South Wales - Financial support & concessions
Northern Territory - Northern Territory Pensioner & Carer Concession Scheme
Queensland - Concessions
South Australia - Concessions and benefits
Tasmania - Discounts and concessions
Victoria - Concessions
Western Australia - ConcessionsWA

MoneySmart has information to help you make the most of your money. Read the Budget planner section on the MoneySmart website.