Household worked through · rates of 20 September 2026
A single person on JobSeeker, renting a flat
Alex is 34, lives alone, pays $450 a fortnight in rent and picks up about $6,000 a year of casual work while looking for a full-time job.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
A single adult on JobSeeker who rents alone for $450 a fortnight and earns about $6,000 a year from casual shifts receives about $1,012 a fortnight from Centrelink at the rates of 20 September 2026. That is the single JobSeeker rate of $824.90, the Energy Supplement of $8.80, and the maximum Rent Assistance for a single person, $223.80, because the rent is above the $456.20 needed to reach it, less a small reduction for earnings: averaged, the casual work brings about $231 a fortnight, $81 above the free area of $150. In practice JobSeeker is worked out fortnight by fortnight on the hours actually worked, so a fortnight with no shifts pays the full amount and a busy one pays less. There are no children, so Rent Assistance comes with JobSeeker and no Family Tax Benefit is involved.
More details: ages, assets, child care fees
What this household gets, per fortnight
$1,012
$26,324 a year
- JobSeeker Payment (you)$1,012
Rent Assistance included
An income support payment is paid, so Family Tax Benefit is worked out without the family income test. How this is worked out.
Three parts, one payment
Alex's fortnightly payment is built from the basic JobSeeker rate for a single person without children, the Energy Supplement, and Rent Assistance (Social Security Guide 5.1.7.10). Rent Assistance is 75 cents per dollar of rent above $157.80; at $450 Alex is past the point where it reaches the single maximum, so any rent increase from here brings no extra help. The income test is then applied to the whole package: $150 free, 50 cents per dollar up to $256, 60 cents above.
When shifts pick up
In a fortnight where Alex earns $600, JobSeeker falls to about $793.45: $53 for the band between $150 and $256, and 60 cents for each dollar above. Earnings plus payment come to $1,393 for that fortnight, compared with $1,243 in an average one. Because Rent Assistance is part of the maximum rate, the payment only stops at a higher income than it would for someone who owns a home: about $1,922 a fortnight of earnings.
The month Alex finds a job
When full-time work starts, JobSeeker does not stop on the first day. The income test is applied to each fortnight's earnings, so the first fortnight's pay, often partial, may still leave some payment. Once earnings are above the cut-out, nothing is paid, but Alex can stay connected to the system for a period and return to payment without a new claim if the job ends. Reporting the start date and the first pay accurately avoids a debt.
Sharing instead
If Alex moved into a share house at $300 a fortnight, the sharer rate would apply: same threshold, lower maximum of $149.20. At that rent the cap would not even bind, and JobSeeker with Rent Assistance would be about $899.97 a fortnight. Alex would receive $113 less from Centrelink but pay $150 less rent, which is the usual trade-off.