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Age Pension

Australians over a certain age are entitled to income support from the Australian Government depending on their individual circumstances. The Age Pension dates back to 1909, and was the first income support payment paid by the Commonwealth to its citizens.

Eligibility – Age

Men over the age of 65 may be entitled to receive the Age Pension.

For women, it is a little more complicated as the age requirement is slowly being increased from 60 to 65.

**Qualifying Age for the Age Pension**
Date of Birth	Age of Qualification
Before 1 July 1935	60
On or between 1 July 1935 and 31 December 1936	60.5
On or between 1 January 1937 and 30 June 1938	61
On or between 1 July 1938 and 31 December 1939	61.5
On or between 1 January 1940 and 30 June 1941	62
On or between 1 July 1941 and 31 December 1942	62.5
On or between 1 January 1943 and 30 June 1944	63
On or between 1 July 1944 and 31 December 1945	63.5
On or between 1 January 1946 and 30 June 1947	64
On or between 1 July 1947 and 31 December 1948	64.5
On or after 1 January 1949	65

Eligibility – Residence

You must be an Australian resident and located in Australia when you apply for the Age Pension.

It is also required that you have been an Australian resident for either a continuous period of ten years, or for a combined number of periods that equal more than ten years as long as one of those periods was for at least five years. For more information on the residency requirements, click here.

Payment Rates

The maximum fortnightly payment for the Age Pension (as of 20/09/09):

$671.90 for singles
$506.50 each for couples

However, Centrelink performs both an income and an assets test on all applicants to determine how much will be paid. They pay the lower of the two rates determined by the two tests. For further information on these tests, click here.

The Future

In the future, the Age Pension will be progressively increasing its qualifying age to 67 for both men and women. The US and a number of European countries are also making the move, while the UK will be increasing its to 68. The change will begin from 2017 at a rate of six months every two years until the change applies to all age pensioners.

**Future Qualifying Age for the Age Pension**
Date	Age of Qualification	Affected People's Birthdates	Current Age
1 July 2017	65.5	1 July 1952 – 31 Dec 1953	55.5 to 57
1 July 2019	66	1 Jan 1954 – 30 June 1955	54 to 55.5
1 July 2021	66.5	1 July 1955 – 31 Dec 1956	52.5 to 54
1 July 2023	67	On and after 1 Jan 1957	52.5 or younger

For further information on these changes, click here.

Rent Assistance

People who receive the Age Pension may also receive Rent Assistance, which is a payment provided by the Government to help subsidise payments you make for your accommodation. Your eligibility for this payment will be assessed when you apply for the Age Pension.

To look over the current payment rates for Rent Assistance, click here.

Questions? Comments?

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