What you need to know
We’ll invite you to transfer to Age Pension 13 weeks before you’re Age Pension age. You need to tell us if you:
- want to transfer or not
- have superannuation.
If you don’t do this, we may stop your Austudy once you turn Age Pension age.
We’ll send the invitation to your online account if you have one. If you don’t, we’ll post the invitation and form to you. We’ll fill in the online transfer or form with details we already know about you.
What the benefits are
If you transfer to Age Pension:
- you may get the higher rate of payment and more generous income and assets tests
- you'll get a Pensioner Concession Card
- you may get the Work Bonus
- we exempt more land from the assets test if you live on a single land title covering more than 2 hectares.
Keep in mind, some of these factors may change based on your individual circumstances.
If you intend to travel, compare the rules for Austudy with those for Age Pension.
What happens if you stay on Austudy
Once you reach Age Pension age, we'll automatically pay you the Pension Supplement. We’ll pay this ;to you with your regular fortnightly Austudy payment. The supplement replaces the following allowances:
Age Pension doesn’t have an income bank. If you stay on Austudy, you’ll keep any unused credit in your income bank.
How to confirm your decision
You need to complete the online task or return the form we send you and confirm you want to either:
- transfer to Age Pension
- stay on Austudy.
You also have to tell us about any superannuation you have.
Read more about how to transfer to Age Pension.