Things that affect your payment

There are a number of things that can affect your payment.

These include any of the following reasons:

  • you must be an accruing member for at least 1 year
  • you’ve been an accruing member for more than 5 years - we’ll cap your bonus at 5 years
  • you turn 75 - you can’t build up your bonus once you reach this age
  • you can’t get Age Pension - you can’t get a bonus
  • you can get a part rate of Age Pension - you may get a part rate bonus.

When we calculate your bonus, we don’t include extra benefits to your Age Pension. Extra benefits include the following:

If you die before you claim your Pension Bonus

We don’t transfer your Pension Bonus to your estate if you die before you claim.

If you have a partner, they can claim a Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment. How much they’ll get depends on how many bonus periods you accrued.

If your partner is a member of the scheme, they can still claim their own bonus if you die. They can do this if both of these apply:

  • they are also registered as a member in the scheme
  • they're working.

If they rely on your work to pass the work test, they’ll need to either:

  • start work
  • claim their bonus within 26 weeks after you die.
Page last updated: 3 March 2022.
QC 39146