Household worked through · rates of 20 September 2026
A single pensioner who rents
Margaret is 72, widowed, rents a unit for $420 a fortnight and has $40,000 in the bank and $15,000 of car and contents.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
A single pensioner aged 72 who rents privately at $420 a fortnight, with $40,000 in savings and $15,000 of other assets, receives about $1,434 a fortnight from the rates of September 2026: the full Age Pension of $1,237.70, which includes the Pension and Energy Supplements, and Rent Assistance of $196.65. Neither means test reduces anything. Her deemed income on the savings, about $26.92 a fortnight, is far under the income free area, and her assets are far under the non-homeowner free area of $600,000, which is $267,000 higher than a homeowner's because she has no exempt home. Rent Assistance is added to her maximum rate before the tests, so it also raises the income and assets levels at which her pension would start to fall.
More details: ages, assets, child care fees
What this household gets, per fortnight
$1,434
$37,293 a year
- Age Pension (you)$1,434
Full rate
An income support payment is paid, so Family Tax Benefit is worked out without the family income test. How this is worked out.
Rent Assistance on top of the pension
Margaret's rent of $420 is $262 above the single threshold of $157.80; three quarters of that is $196.65, under the single maximum of $223.80, so that is what she receives (Social Security Guide 5.1.7.10). If her rent rose to $456.20 or more, she would receive the maximum. Her pension rate including Rent Assistance is $1,434.35 a fortnight.
A renter's means tests
The pension income test allows $226 a fortnight of income for a single person; Margaret's only income is deemed income on $40,000, at 1.75% because it is under the $66,800 threshold. The assets test allows $600,000 for a single non-homeowner (Social Security Guide 4.10.3). A homeowner with the same savings would also receive the full pension, $1,237.70, but without Rent Assistance.
What an inheritance would change
Suppose Margaret inherits $300,000. Her financial assets become $340,000. Deemed income rises to about $439 a fortnight, above the free area, and her assets, $355,000 in total, are still under the renter's free area. The income test now decides: her pension falls to about $1,327.85 a fortnight, Rent Assistance included. A homeowner inheriting the same amount would also be caught by the assets test, because the homeowner free area is lower.
When rent goes up
A rent increase raises Rent Assistance by 75 cents per dollar until the single maximum is reached. If Margaret's landlord raised her rent from $420 to $470 a fortnight, $50 more, her Rent Assistance would rise to $223.80, as long as she reports the new rent with a copy of the lease or a rent certificate. Above $456.20, further increases bring nothing more.