Age Pension and deeming rates from 20 September 2026: what changed

The Age Pension changed on 20 September 2026 in two ways that can pull an individual's payment in different directions. The maximum fortnightly payment rose, while the deeming rates used to assess income from financial assets also rose. The result for someone receiving a part pension depends on both the income and assets tests, not just the headline increase. These are the normal rates for a person living in Australia; individual circumstances can produce a different payment.

The new maximum fortnightly rates

The total includes the maximum basic rate, maximum Pension Supplement and Energy Supplement. It is a maximum before the means tests, not a promise that every eligible person receives that amount. Services Australia lists the components and totals. It publishes separate transitional rates for some people who were getting a part pension on 19 September 2009; those are not in this table.

Compared with the previous maximum, the normal single total rose by $36.80 a fortnight and the couple combined total by $55.60 a fortnight. Those increases are reported by the Department of Social Services and listed in its September rates sheet. A higher maximum also moves some part-pension cut-off points, but a higher deeming rate can reduce the income-test result. Looking only at the increase to the maximum can therefore give the wrong impression of an individual change.

Assets test: full-rate areas and part-pension cut-offs

The assets test uses different limits for homeowners and non-homeowners. The figures below apply to the ordinary single or couple case, with couple assets assessed together. The principal home is generally excluded from the asset value, while other property, possessions and financial investments can count. Services Australia explains the asset categories.

These are the published limits from 20 September. DSS describes an assets-test reduction of $3 a fortnight per $1,000 above the full-rate area, applied in smaller steps. The full-rate areas were already in effect from July; the part-pension cut-offs reflect the September maximum payment. Being below an assets limit does not guarantee the full pension because the income test runs separately. Rent Assistance and some other circumstances can alter a cut-off.

Income test and deeming

Under the normal income test, a single person can have $226 a fortnight of assessed income before the pension reduces. The combined free area for a couple is $396 a fortnight. Above those amounts, the single payment falls by 50 cents per extra dollar of income. For a couple, each partner's payment falls by 25 cents per extra dollar of combined income. The standard income cut-offs are $2,701.40 a fortnight for a single person and $4,128.00 combined for a couple living together. Services Australia sets out these income-test rules. The free areas were already in effect before September; the cut-offs move with the maximum pension.

Deeming is how Services Australia generally assigns an assumed income to financial assets such as savings, shares and some income streams. The actual return can differ. From 20 September 2026, the first $66,800 of a single pensioner's financial assets is deemed to earn 1.75% a year, with 3.75% on the rest. For a pensioner couple, the lower rate applies to the first $110,600 combined, then the upper rate applies. These thresholds had moved in July and did not change again in September. The current deeming page gives the rates and explains which assets are covered.

The historical sequence matters. Deeming was at 0.25% and 2.25% from 1 May 2020 and stayed at that pair until the change on 20 September 2025. It then rose to 0.75% and 2.75%, rose again to 1.25% and 3.25% on 20 March 2026 and reached today's 1.75% and 3.75% on 20 September 2026. The DSS historical deeming table records each step. The Government Actuary's March recommendation and September recommendation confirm the two 2026 rates. That means the September 2026 comparison is with 1.25% and 3.25%, not directly with the frozen 2020 rates.

These are annual rates on the value of financial assets, not a tax on interest. Services Australia applies the lower rate to the first band and the upper rate only to the balance. For a couple where at least one partner gets a pension, the threshold is for both partners' financial assets combined, not a separate allowance for each pensioner. Where neither partner receives a pension, Services Australia publishes a different per-person threshold. That is not the Age Pension couple case in this article.

Which assets attract deeming?

The pool is broader than bank interest. Services Australia's deeming guidance and the DSS scope guidance explain what is treated as a financial asset. The asset-types page distinguishes other property assessed under the assets test.

• Bank savings, cash and term deposits: Generally deemed; their value also counts in the assets test.
• Listed shares, managed investments, loans and debentures: Generally deemed; their value also counts in the assets test.
• Superannuation held by a person over Age Pension age and most account-based pensions: Generally deemed; the assessable balance also counts as an asset. Older income streams can have different income treatment.
• Principal home you live in: Not ordinarily deemed and generally excluded from the assets test, subject to home rules.
• Other real estate, vehicles and household contents: Not ordinary deemed financial assets but generally assessed as assets. Rental income has separate rules.
• Cryptocurrency: Not deemed but assessed as an asset. Some cryptocurrency income is assessed separately.

Deeming uses an assumed return even if an investment earns less. If it earns more, the extra return is generally not counted under deeming. The DSS guide says poor performance alone does not justify an exemption. The Minister may grant an exemption in limited circumstances such as a fundamentally failed investment; Services Australia explains the application process. An exemption from deeming does not by itself remove an asset from the assets test.

If you sell your principal home and intend to use the proceeds to buy, build or improve another principal home, Services Australia has a special lower-rate deeming rule for qualifying proceeds from sales since 1 January 2023. Extra proceeds held as a financial asset use the regular bands. Selling a home can change the assets test too; tell Services Australia within 14 days.

How are account-based pensions treated?

Most account-based pensions started on or after 1 January 2015 are deemed for the income test, with the account balance assessed under the assets test. Services Australia says an earlier account-based income stream can instead have its gross payment assessed less a deduction amount if it started before that date and the person has received a pension or allowance without a break since 31 December 2014. The DSS Social Security Guide says changing products or ceasing continuous receipt can end this grandfathered income treatment. A pre-2015 start alone is not enough, and the assessable account balance remains relevant to the assets test. Other income stream types have their own rules.

Worked example: a single homeowner with financial assets

Assume a single homeowner has $300,000 of assessable assets, all of them financial assets, with no employment income or other assessable income. Their home is excluded. This is an illustration using the site's Age Pension calculator, not an entitlement decision.

At that asset level, the assets test makes no reduction because $300,000 is below the single-homeowner full-rate area of $333,000; it permits the $1,237.70 fortnightly maximum. Deeming assigns $9,914 a year of income to the financial assets. After the income free area, the income test allows $1,160.05 a fortnight, or $30,161.20 a year. The income test is the binding test, so this is a part pension even though the assets test alone permits the maximum. Actual assessments can reflect other income, assets and concessions that this example leaves out.

The September deeming rates are higher than the previous pair, but this is a current-rate illustration, not a reconstruction of the person's earlier Centrelink payment. A real before-and-after payment comparison also needs the previous maximum rate and the person's full assessment at each date.

Worked example: a homeowner couple with other assets

Assume both partners receive Age Pension and have $550,000 in assessable assets together, excluding their home. $500,000 is financial assets and $50,000 is other assessable property, such as a vehicle and home contents. There is no employment or other assessable income. This distinguishes an asset that counts in the assets test from one subject to deeming.

At the September rates, the couple's combined financial assets produce $16,538 a year in deemed income. The income test alone allows $1,745.96 a fortnight combined. Their assets exceed the $499,000 combined homeowner full-rate area, so the assets test allows $1,713.00 a fortnight combined. The lower assets-test result is the illustrated combined payment, equivalent to $856.50 each if split evenly. This table compares the two means tests at the September rates; it does not calculate how this couple's payment changed from before September.

The Super Drawdown Calculator explores a different question: how a balance may change as withdrawals continue. Its projection is not a Centrelink decision. The existing 2027 tax reform and retirees article concerns a separate tax issue, not this September pension indexation.

What changes must you tell Centrelink about?

Services Australia says to tell it within 14 days if circumstances change, including income and assets, or if you or your partner receive employment income. If you have scheduled reporting, report changes in the period you are asked to report for. You can update details through a Centrelink online account linked to myGov, the Express Plus Centrelink app or phone self service.

Check your reporting obligation when you buy or sell an investment, receive sale proceeds, change an income stream or change your living arrangements. Services Australia's asset-types guidance says to update an increase over the recorded overall value of $2,000 or more for financial assets or $1,000 or more for non-financial assets. It does not require reporting ordinary market fluctuations in listed shares and market-linked managed investments, or account-balance changes in account-based and market-linked income streams: it revalues those investments twice yearly. You can ask for these investments to be reassessed at any time. A new income stream, a commutation or closure must be reported within 14 days.

General information, not financial, tax or Centrelink advice. Verified on 29 September 2026 against Services Australia's payment rates, income test, assets test, asset types, deeming rules, income stream rules and reporting guidance, the DSS September increase, deeming history, deeming operation, deeming scope, assets-test guide and income-stream assessment. Confirm your own eligibility and payment with Services Australia.