The work bonus lets you earn some income from work without it reducing your Age Pension. The first $300 you earn each fortnight isn’t counted in the income test, and any amount you don’t use builds up in a work bonus balance.
Use this calculator to estimate the most your Age Pension could fall if you start working, how many fortnights your work bonus balance will cover, and the reduction once it runs out.
How to use the calculator
- Enter your current work bonus balance. The help notes explain where to find it.
- Enter how much you expect to earn from work each fortnight, before tax.
- Choose whether the work is temporary or permanent.
- Choose single or couple. For a couple, the result is the reduction for each of you.
- Check the help notes beside the calculator if you’re unsure which figures to use.
The calculator shows the most your Age Pension could fall because of your work income. It assumes all your work income above the work bonus counts in the income test, reducing your payment by 50c in the dollar if you’re single, or 25c in the dollar for each of you if you’re part of a couple.
Depending on your other income and assets, your payment may fall by less, or not change at all. For example, if the assets test already reduces your payment more than the income test does, extra work income may make no difference.
If the reduction shown is more than your current payment, your Age Pension could stop while you’re working.
Each fortnight, the first $300 of your work income isn’t counted in the income test.
If you earn less than $300 in a fortnight, or nothing at all, the unused amount is added to your work bonus balance, up to a maximum of $11,800. When you earn more than $300 in a fortnight, your balance is used to cover the extra before any of it counts in the income test.
If you claimed the Age Pension for the first time on or after 1 July 2024, your balance started at $4,000.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in to myGov and select My payments under Payments and claims.
Couples are assessed together, so if your partner also receives the Age Pension, their payment falls by the same amount as yours.
The work bonus only applies to a pensioner’s own work income. If your partner works but doesn’t receive the Age Pension, all of their work income counts in the income test.
In the fortnight your work bonus balance runs out, part of your pay may still be covered by what’s left in it. The reduction in that fortnight can be smaller than the ongoing reduction shown.
- You earn the same amount from work every fortnight.
- All your work income is eligible for the work bonus, such as wages from a job.
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