Understanding changes to the pension assets test explained

Q. I heard that the amount of assets you can have before your pension is reduced is changing. Can you explain the changes and what they mean for most pensioners?

A. The changes to the pension assets test will not be effective until January 1, 2017. From then, the amount of assets you can have before your age pension is reduced will increase, and the upper limit of assets you can have before you are no longer eligible for the pension will decrease.

I want to stress that your family home is in most cases not included in the pension assets test and this will not change. The bottom line is that about 88% of age pensioners will experience no change to their payments because of these changes.

In fact, more than 170,000 Australian pensioners will be better off as a result of these changes, and roughly only 8% of pensioners will experience a reduction in the amount of money they receive.

If you enter an aged care facility, DHS does not assess your former principal home if you're paying or are liable for an accommodation charge, renting out your former home, and entered an aged care facility before January 1, 2017

For more information on the changes for pensioner assets, visit humanservices.gov.au/assets. If you have questions about your circumstances, visit humanservices.gov.au/fis.

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