Carer Payment Calculator 2026

How is Carer Payment worked out?

Carer Payment uses the same income and assets tests as the Age Pension. Here's how your rate is worked out, step by step:

1. 1

   Start from the maximum rate

   $1,237.70 a fortnight single, $933.00 each for a couple, or $1,237.70 each if you live apart due to illness, including the Pension and Energy Supplements.

2. 2

   Apply the income test

   Add your and your partner's income, including income deemed from savings. Over $226 a fortnight ($396 for a couple), the payment drops 50 cents a dollar, or 25 cents each for a couple.

3. 3

   Apply the assets test

   Add your and your partner's assets, not your home. Over the limit, the payment drops $3 a fortnight for each $1,000, or $1.50 each for a couple.

4. 4

   Pay the lower result

   Centrelink pays whichever test gives less. Near the cut-off it can't fall below the minimum Pension Supplement ($47.50, or $35.80 each for a couple) until it stops.

5. 5

   Check the person you care for

   If they don't get an income support payment, their income must be under $143,752 a year and their assets under $886,750.

Carer Allowance and the Carer Supplement are paid on top if you qualify. The calculator doesn't include Rent Assistance, a built-up Work Bonus balance or Working Credits, the transitional rate some people have had since 2009, or shared care of Carer Allowance. Who qualifies, and how to claim, is in our Carer Payment and Carer Allowance guide.

How much is Carer Payment in 2026?

These are the maximum rates from 20 September 2026, the same as the Age Pension. Most people get both supplements automatically.

• Over a year that's $32,180.20 at the single maximum, or $24,258.00 each for a couple.
• Rates are adjusted every 20 March and 20 September. The next change is due 20 March 2027.
• Carer Payment is only taxed if you or the person you care for is Age Pension age (67) or older.

Carer Payment income test: how much can you earn?

Centrelink adds up your and your partner's income each fortnight and compares it with the income free area. Every dollar over it takes 50 cents off a single carer's payment, or 25 cents off each partner's payment for a couple.

• Example: a single carer earning $426 a fortnight is $200 over $226, so Carer Payment drops by $100, to $1,137.70.
• Income means gross income: wages before tax, rent and business income after allowable costs, overseas pensions, and income deemed from your financial investments. Most Centrelink payments, NDIS payments and child support don't count.
• The cut-offs are higher if you get Rent Assistance or the Work Bonus. Free areas apply from 1 July 2026 and cut-offs from 20 September 2026. See Services Australia's Carer Payment income test.

Carer Payment assets test: limits for 2026

You get the full rate while your assets are under the limit. For each $1,000 over it, Carer Payment drops by $3 a fortnight if you're single, or $1.50 each for a couple, until it stops at the cut-off.

• Your home and up to 2 hectares of land it's on aren't counted. Most other things are: savings, shares, cars, caravans, home contents, investment property, business assets and crypto.
• Assets are counted at what you'd get if you sold them, less any debt secured against them.
• Super counts from Age Pension age, or earlier if you're being paid from it.
• Full-rate limits apply from 1 July 2026 and cut-offs from 20 September 2026. The cut-offs are higher if you get Rent Assistance. See Services Australia's Carer Payment assets test.

How deeming works for Carer Payment

Centrelink doesn't use the interest you actually earn. It assumes your financial investments earn a set rate, called deeming, and adds that to your income. Financial investments include bank accounts, term deposits, shares, managed investments, money you've lent, and super once you reach Age Pension age.

Example: a single carer with $100,000 in the bank is deemed to earn $2,414 a year ($1,169 on the first $66,800 and $1,245 on the rest), or $92.85 a fortnight. If your investments earn more than the deemed rate, the extra isn't counted. Crypto counts as an asset but isn't deemed.

Deeming thresholds from 1 July 2026, rates from 20 September 2026, from Services Australia's deeming page.

The Work Bonus and Working Credit

Both let you earn more from work before your Carer Payment drops. Which one you get depends on your age.

• Work Bonus, from Age Pension age (67): the first $300 of work income each fortnight isn't counted. If you earn less, the unused amount builds up in a balance of up to $11,800 to cover later pay, and new recipients start with $4,000. It's worked out for each person and can't be shared with a partner.
• Working Credit, under Age Pension age: in fortnights when your total income is under $48, you build up credits, to a total of 1,000. When you start work, each credit stops $1 of your pay from counting until they run out.

The calculator takes off the $300 a fortnight if you say you're 67 or older, but not a built-up balance or Working Credits. Services Australia explains how the Work Bonus works.

The income and assets test for the person you care for

If the person you care for gets an income support payment from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs, such as the Disability Support Pension, Age Pension or JobSeeker Payment, they don't need to pass this test. If not, their limits from 1 January 2026 are:

• Income under $143,752 a year before tax, including their partner's and dependent children's income.
• Assets under $886,750, including their partner's and dependent children's, not counting their home and the first 2 hectares around it.
• If their assets are over the limit, you may still get Carer Payment if their income is under the limit and their liquid assets are under $6,000 ($10,000 if they have a partner).

These limits can change each 1 January. See Services Australia's income and assets test for Carer Payment.

How much is Carer Allowance and the Carer Supplement?

• Carer Allowance is $162.60 a fortnight from 1 January 2026 ($4,227.60 a year) for each person you care for who qualifies, up to 2 adults and any number of children. There's no assets test. You qualify on income if your and your partner's combined adjusted taxable income is under $250,000 a year. It isn't taxed.
• If you share care with another carer who isn't your partner, you each get part of Carer Allowance. If you get Carer Payment for a child, you're also entitled to Carer Allowance for them.
• Carer Supplement is $600 a year for each Carer Payment or Carer Allowance you get for a period that includes 1 July, paid automatically. With both payments, that's $1,200.
• If you get Carer Allowance for a child under 16, you also get the Child Disability Assistance Payment of up to $1,000 a year for each child.

A single carer on the maximum of both payments gets $1,400.30 a fortnight, plus $1,200 in Carer Supplements each year.

Can you work on Carer Payment? The 100-hour rule

Yes. You can do up to 100 hours of paid work or self-employment in a 4-week period, about 25 hours a week on average. Your pay still goes through the income test, so both the hours limit and the income test apply.

• Travel to and from work, study, training and volunteering don't count, and you don't report them.
• Only time spent working when you're not caring counts. You must still give care for a significant part of each day.
• If you sometimes go over 100 hours, you can use respite days (up to 63 a calendar year) to keep your payment.
• If you go over and have no respite days left, or earn too much from work, your payment can be suspended for up to 6 months, and restored if your hours or income drop in that time.

Services Australia has the details in working while you get Carer Payment.

Carer Payment rates and limits by date

The figures the calculator uses, the date each applies from, and what it was before.

The Department of Social Services adjusts Carer Payment every 20 March and 20 September (next: 20 March 2027) and Carer Allowance every 1 January (next: 1 January 2027). It reviews the asset limits and cut-offs in March, July and September, and the limits for the person you care for can change each 1 January.

Carer Payment calculator questions