Variable income

If your work hours often change, it can mean your income goes up and down. We call this variable income. When your income goes down or is low, it can put stress on you, your family and your finances. You may have variable income if you’re:

• a casual worker or self-employed
• doing gig work
• a worker under contract
• a seasonal worker
• sick or injured.

When your income goes down

If the amount you earn goes down, you may be eligible for a payment while your income is low.

We have 3 main payments:

• JobSeeker Payment can help if you’re looking for work and between 22 and Age Pension age. It’s also for when you’re sick or injured and can’t do your usual work or study for a short time.
• Parenting Payment can help if you’re the main carer for a young child or children.
• Youth Allowance for job seekers can help if you’re 16 to 21 and looking for work. It’s also for when you’re unable to study or work for a short time.

If you’re studying or training while you’re working, there’s support and payments during different stages of your education.

If you’re an older Australian

You may be considering retirement. We can help you transition into your retirement years.

If you’ve reached Age Pension age and how much you work has changed, you may be able to get Age Pension.

If you don’t get a payment

If your income is low and you don’t get a payment from us, you may be able to get a Low Income Health Care Card. It can help you get cheaper health care and some discounts.

Find out if you’re eligible for a Low Income Health Care Card and how to claim.

When your income goes up for short periods

If the amount you earn goes up for short periods, your payment may reduce to zero. This can often happen with things like contract or seasonal work.

If your income goes down again, we’ll restart your payment. So we can do this, you must regularly report your employment income. You need to do this for both you and your partner.

However, if you earn enough to reduce your payment to zero for 13 weeks in a row, we may cancel your payment. It depends what payment you’re getting. If you’re getting Age Pension or Disability Support Pension, we can pause your payment for up to 2 years.

When you’re getting a payment from us

The amount you and your partner earn can reduce your payment. For some payments for people under 22, how much your parents or guardians earn can also affect your payment.

When you get an income support payment, you may also get Working Credit, Work Bonus or Income Bank credits depending on the payment you get. These let you keep more of your payment if you’re working.

If you get the Disability Support Pension

You can have paid work up to 29 hours per week. You can do this without losing your Disability Support Pension payment providing you still meet the income test.

You must tell us if you or your partner have started work within 14 days. You must also tell us the details of that work.

If your employment income reduces your payment to zero for 6 fortnights in a row, we can pause your Disability Support Pension for up to 2 years.

What you can do online

You can report your income, update your details, as well as claim and manage your payments online.

You can do this using either:

• your Centrelink online account through myGov
• the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.