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Who can choose
You can choose to get Carer Payment or Age Pension if both of these apply to you:
- you're over Age Pension age
- you're providing care for someone with a disability or medical condition.
What each payment is for
Carer Payment is an income support payment if you provide constant care to someone who:
- has a severe disability or medical condition
- is an adult who is frail aged.
The term frail aged means an older Australian who’s in need of a substantial level of care and support.
Age Pension gives you income support and access to a range of concessions. There are other payments, concessions and support if you get Age Pension.
Just before you reach Age Pension age, we’ll invite you to transfer to Age Pension. You’ll need to tell us if you:
- want to transfer to Age Pension or stay on Carer Payment
- have any superannuation.
How they are similar
Some ways Carer Payment and Age Pension are similar include:
- the rate of payment depends on your circumstances
- both payments have income and assets tests
- you can get a Pensioner Concession Card
- Rent Assistance rates are the same, except if you’re single and share privately rented accommodation.
Both are also taxable. Carer Payment is only taxable when the carer or the care receiver reaches Age Pension age.
How they are different
If you get Carer Payment or Age Pension, there are some different rules.
Income and assets tests for the care receiver
There are different rules about income and assets tests for the care receiver when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
| We assess the income and assets of the care receiver. We’ll do this if they’re not already getting income support from us or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. | Doesn’t apply. |
Reviews
There are different rules about reviews when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
| We may review your and your care receiver’s circumstances. This is to confirm the care receiver’s needs still qualify you for Carer Payment. | If you get Age Pension and Carer Allowance, we may review your circumstances. We may also check that you still provide daily care and attention. This helps us confirm that you still qualify for Carer Allowance. |
Travelling outside Australia
There are different rules about travelling outside Australia when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
If you travel temporarily outside Australia without the person you provide care for, we can pay Carer Payment. We can pay you for up to 6 weeks if you have respite days available. If you travel temporarily outside Australia with the person you provide care for, we can pay Carer Payment. We can pay you for the first 6 weeks. In some circumstances, we can pay Carer Payment for longer than 6 weeks. If you or the person you provide care for stop living in Australia, your Carer Payment will stop on departure. It won’t stop if you qualify under an international social security agreement. Read more about Carer Payment if you travel outside Australia. There are separate rules for Carer Allowance if you travel outside Australia. | You can get Age Pension for the whole time you’re outside Australia. It doesn’t matter if you travel temporarily or to live in another country. Some exceptions may apply. The rate of Age Pension you're paid outside Australia may change. Read more about Age Pension if you travel outside Australia. There are separate rules for Carer Allowance if you travel outside Australia. |
Breaks from caring (respite) or hospitalisation
There are different rules about breaks from caring (respite) or hospitalisation when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You can take a break from caring for up to 63 days each calendar year. This won’t change your Carer Payment. If you stop providing care for more than 63 days, we may cancel your payment. You can also have 63 additional days off from caring per calendar year. This is if the person is in hospital temporarily and you still help with their care. | You can take a break from caring. This won’t affect your Age Pension. |
Carer Supplement
There are different rules about Carer Supplement when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
If you get Carer Payment on 1 July, you’ll be eligible for an annual Carer Supplement. This supplement is $600. You’ll get the Carer Supplement each year for as long as you remain eligible. If you get Carer Allowance on 1 July, you’ll be eligible for a further annual Carer Supplement. You can get up to $600 for each person you provide care for. | You won’t be eligible for Carer Supplement if you get Age Pension. But you will get Carer Supplement for each person you get Carer Allowance for. |
Rent Assistance
There are different rules about Rent Assistance when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You may get a higher maximum rate of Rent Assistance if all of the following applies. You're:
| You may get a lower maximum rate of Rent Assistance if all of the following applies. You’re:
|
Working, volunteering, studying or training
There are different rules about working, volunteering, studying or training when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You can get Carer Payment and still:
You can do this for up to 25 hours a week, including travel time. There’s no limit if you get Carer Payment because on 19 March 2020 you got both:
Any income you get may affect your rate of payment. | If you get Age Pension, there’s no limit on how many hours a week you can:
Any income you get may affect your rate of payment. |
Study assistance
There are different rules about study assistance when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
| If you study and get Carer Payment, you may get a Pensioner Education Supplement and an Education Entry Payment. | If you study and get Age Pension, you can’t get a Pensioner Education Supplement or an Education Entry Payment. |
Casual or contract work
There are different rules about casual or contract work when you get Carer Payment or Age Pension.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You may have to wait to get Carer Payment. This applies if during the 6 months before claiming, you or your partner stopped any of these types of work:
We consider this a seasonal work preclusion period. | If you get Age Pension, there’s no seasonal work preclusion period. |
What if the person you care for dies
The death of the person you provide care for affects your Carer Payment or Age Pension differently.
If the person you cared for was your partner
There are different rules if you get Carer Payment or Age Pension and the person you cared for was your partner.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You may get a lump sum bereavement payment when your partner dies, if they were getting an income support payment from either:
You may keep getting Carer Payment for up to 14 weeks. We’ll adjust your regular fortnightly payments to the single rate. You can then consider transferring to another payment such as Age Pension. | You may get a lump sum bereavement payment when your partner dies, if they were getting an income support payment from either:
You may keep getting Age Pension. We’ll adjust your regular fortnightly payments to the single rate. |
If you weren’t the partner of the person you cared for, but their partner is getting a payment
There are different rules if you get Carer Payment or Age Pension and you weren’t the partner of the person you cared for, but their partner is getting one of these payments:
- a Centrelink pension or benefit
- a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Service Pension
- an income support supplement.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You may keep getting Carer Payment for up to 14 weeks. You can then consider transferring to another payment such as Age Pension. You can’t get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies. | You’ll keep getting Age Pension. You can’t get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies. |
If you weren’t the partner of the person you cared for, and their partner is not getting a payment
There are different rules if you get Carer Payment or Age Pension and you weren’t the partner of the person you cared for, and their partner is not getting one of these payments:
- a Centrelink pension or benefit
- a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Service Pension
- an income support supplement.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You may keep getting Carer Payment for up to 14 weeks. You can then consider transferring to another payment such as Age Pension. You may get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies. You can’t get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies if both of these apply:
In this situation, you’ll keep getting Carer Payment if you continue to meet the rules for carers. | You’ll keep getting Age Pension. You can’t get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies. |
If the person you cared for was single
There are different rules if you get Carer Payment or Age Pension and the person you cared for was single.
| If you get Carer Payment | If you get Age Pension |
|---|---|
You may keep getting Carer Payment for up to 14 weeks. You can then consider transferring to another payment such as Age Pension. You may get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies. You can’t get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies if both of these apply:
In this situation, you’ll keep getting Carer Payment if you continue to meet the rules for carers. | You’ll keep getting Age Pension. You can’t get a lump sum bereavement payment when the person you cared for dies. |