Carer Payment and Carer Allowance: Rates, Rules and How to Claim

How much is Carer Payment?

Carer Payment is paid every fortnight at the same rate as the Age Pension. Most people get the two supplements automatically, but your income and assets can reduce the total.

• At the single maximum, that's $32,180.20 a year.
• Carer Payment isn't taxed unless you or the person you care for is Age Pension age (67) or older.
• If you rent privately or in community housing, you may also get Rent Assistance of up to $223.80 a fortnight if you're single.
• Rates are adjusted every 20 March and 20 September. The next review is 20 March 2027.

For your own estimate, use Services Australia's Payment and Service Finder.

How much is Carer Allowance?

Carer Allowance is $162.60 a fortnight from 1 January 2026, or $4,227.60 a year, for each person you care for who qualifies. It's a set rate: your work income doesn't change it while your and your partner's adjusted taxable income is under $250,000 a year, and it isn't taxed. If you share care with another carer who isn't your partner, you each get part of it.

Carers can also get these yearly and one-off payments:

Carer Payment vs Carer Allowance: what's the difference?

They're two separate payments with different rules. Carer Payment is an income support payment, like a pension. Carer Allowance is a smaller payment you get on top of your other income.

You can get both at once. One online claim covers both payments.

Who can get Carer Payment? The 5 main rules

1. 1

   You give constant care

   Physical help, guidance or supervision for a large part of every day, roughly a normal working day, so you can't work full time. If no one person needs that much care, the combined needs of 2 or more children, or of an adult and a child, can count.

2. 2

   Their care need lasts at least 6 months

   The person you care for has a disability or medical condition likely to last at least 6 months, or a terminal illness, and their treating doctor fills in a medical report. A child under 16 can also qualify with a short-term condition lasting at least 3 months, or episodic care needs.

3. 3

   You both live in Australia

   You and the person you care for must be Australian residents living in Australia. New residents may have to wait before they can be paid.

4. 4

   You pass the income and assets tests

   Your and your partner's income and assets can reduce Carer Payment or stop it. The limits are in the tables below.

5. 5

   The person you care for passes their own means test

   If they don't get an income support payment, such as the Disability Support Pension or Age Pension, their income must be under $143,752 a year and their assets under $886,750, not counting their home.

You don't have to live with the person you care for, but the care must be given in their home. If you already get JobSeeker Payment or Parenting Payment, it stops when your Carer Payment is granted. If the person you care for gets the Disability Support Pension, they don't need to pass the means test in rule 5.

Who can get Carer Allowance?

• You give daily care and attention, in their home or yours, to someone with a disability or medical condition, or who is frail aged.
• They need care for at least 12 months, or have a terminal medical condition, and a medical professional assesses their care needs.
• Your and your partner's combined adjusted taxable income is under $250,000 a year. There's no assets test, and no income test for the person you care for.
• You both meet the residence rules.
• If you don't live with them, you give at least 20 hours of personal care a week, every day, and aren't paid the minimum wage or more for it.
• You can get it for up to 2 adults and more than one child. If you care for a child under 16, you also get a Health Care Card for them.

Carer Payment income and assets test

Centrelink works out your rate under both tests and pays whichever gives the lower amount. If you have a partner, their income and assets count too.

Income test (per fortnight)

• Example: a single carer earning $426 a fortnight is $200 over $226, so Carer Payment drops by $100, to $1,137.70.
• Savings and investments are deemed to earn income, whatever they really earn: 1.75% a year on the first $66,800 if you're single ($110,600 for a couple where at least one of you gets a pension), and 3.75% on the rest.
• Under Age Pension age, Working Credit lets you earn more before your payment drops. From Age Pension age, the Work Bonus means the first $300 a fortnight of work income isn't counted.

Assets test

Your home isn't counted. For every $1,000 over the full-rate limit, your payment drops by $3 a fortnight if you're single, or $1.50 each for a couple. The cut-off points are higher if you get Rent Assistance.

Income-free amounts and full-rate asset limits from 1 July 2026. Cut-off points from 20 September 2026.

The means test for the person you care for

If they don't get an income support payment from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs, their income (with their partner's and dependent children's) must be under $143,752 a year before tax, and their assets under $886,750, not counting their home and up to 2 hectares around it. With higher assets you may still qualify if their liquid assets are under $6,000 ($10,000 for a couple). These 2026 limits can change each 1 January.

The Carer Payment 25-hour rule: what applies now

The old rule, which kept work, study and volunteering under 25 hours a week, was replaced from 20 March 2025. Now:

• You can do up to 100 hours of paid work or self-employment in a 4-week period.
• Study, training, volunteering and travel to and from work don't count, and you don't report them.
• Only time you spend working instead of caring counts. Work from home counts if you can't stop to help the person you care for.
• You must still give care for a significant part of each day.
• If you work, report your income and work hours every fortnight, even when you worked zero hours.

Working 20 hours a week is 80 hours in 4 weeks, which is within the limit. If extra hours are temporary (less than 12 weeks), you can use respite days to cover them: one day covers up to 8 hours over the limit. If you go over on an ongoing basis, your payment can be suspended for up to 6 months instead of cancelled, and restored if your hours drop within that time. Services Australia sets out the details in Working while you get Carer Payment.

How to claim Carer Payment and Carer Allowance

1. 1

   Check you can get it

   Read the rules above, or use Services Australia's Payment and Service Finder.

2. 2

   Set up myGov and link Centrelink

   You need a myGov account linked to Centrelink. If you're new to Centrelink, you prove your identity online with a strong myID, or at a service centre.

3. 3

   Start one claim for both payments

   Sign in to myGov, go to Centrelink and select Make a claim or view claim status, then Make a claim. Under Carers, select Get started, then Apply for Carer Payment/Carer Allowance.

4. 4

   Send the forms your claim asks for

   The treating doctor of the person you care for fills in a medical report. For Carer Payment, the person you care for also gives their income and assets details.

5. 5

   Track your claim

   Your receipt shows your claim number and the date it should be finished. Track it in your Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink app.

6. 6

   Get your first payment

   If you're approved, your first Carer Payment usually arrives about 2 weeks later, then every fortnight. It's usually only paid from the date you lodge your claim, so claim as soon as you start caring.

Can't claim online? Call the Disability and carers line on 132 717 (Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm) or go to a service centre. Services Australia's how to claim Carer Payment guide walks through each step.

Can you take a holiday or a break from caring?

Yes. You can have up to 63 days of respite each calendar year (1 January to 31 December) and keep getting Carer Payment and Carer Allowance. You can use them for anything, including a holiday. While you're away, the person you care for can be in respite care, or looked after by family, a friend or a neighbour.

• Tell Centrelink within 14 days. In your Centrelink online account, go to Payments and claims, then Update circumstances, then Manage absence from care.
• Hospital stays don't use respite days if you keep caring for the person in hospital and plan to care for them at home afterwards. For someone 16 or older, that's up to 63 hospital days a year.
• Overseas: travelling together, you're paid for up to 6 weeks. Travelling without them, you're paid for the first 6 weeks or until your respite days run out, whichever comes first.
• Used all 63 days? Your payment may be suspended or cancelled, so talk to Centrelink early if you need a longer break.

To arrange respite, Carer Gateway (1800 422 737, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm) is a free Australian Government service with planned and emergency respite, counselling and other help for carers. If the person you care for is older, contact My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 about respite through aged care. If they're on the NDIS, read our guide to NDIS respite care. More detail on the payment rules is in Services Australia's breaks from caring page.

When does Carer Payment stop?

Carer Payment can stop, or be suspended, when:

• You stop caring, the person needs less care, or someone else takes over their care.
• The person you care for moves into an aged care home or another care facility. Carer Payment is for care given in a private home.
• You're away from caring for longer than your 63 respite days in a calendar year.
• You work more than 100 hours in 4 weeks on an ongoing basis. Your payment is suspended for up to 6 months, and can be restored if your hours drop in that time.
• Your or your partner's income or assets go over the cut-off points.
• You or the person you care for move overseas, or stay away longer than the travel rules allow.
• The person you care for dies. You can keep getting Carer Payment for up to 14 weeks, and you may get a lump sum bereavement payment.

When a child you care for is about to turn 16 (18 with a terminal illness), Centrelink contacts you to move your payment to the adult rules. At Age Pension age you can stay on Carer Payment or move to Age Pension. Tell Centrelink about changes within 14 days, or you may have to pay back money you weren't entitled to.

What is the $3,000 carer payment?

There's no Centrelink payment called the $3,000 carer payment. Services Australia warns that websites promising a "one off payment", "new bonus" or "cash boost" to people on Carer Payment or Carer Allowance are clickbait, and that these payments don't exist. If a website doesn't end in .gov.au, it isn't an official government site.

Here is what carers can actually get, on top of Carer Payment and Carer Allowance:

• Carer Supplement: $600 a year for each eligible payment, paid automatically after 1 July. This is the $600 carer payment people ask about.
• Child Disability Assistance Payment: up to $1,000 a year for each child under 16 you get Carer Allowance for.
• Carer Adjustment Payment: a one-off payment of up to $10,000 after a child under 7 is diagnosed with a severe disability or severe medical condition, for families who can't get an income support payment.
• Essential Medical Equipment Payment: $203 a year (from 1 July 2026) towards the energy costs of essential medical equipment, for concession card holders or their carers.
• Young Carer Bursary: $4,000 for young carers aged 12 to 25, to help them keep studying. It was $3,000 from 2016 to 2022, the only official carer support we found at that amount. It isn't a Centrelink payment: you apply during the advertised application periods.

Are carers getting a one-off payment? Apart from the Carer Adjustment Payment, Services Australia lists no one-off payment for carers. Past one-offs have ended: the Cost of Living Payment ended on 30 June 2023.

Carer Payment and Carer Allowance questions