Couples: combined assessment, illness separation and one eligible partner
Couples are assessed together — one income, one asset pool, two separate payments. Here is how each situation works.
Combined assessment
If you are a member of a couple, Services Australia assesses your combined income and your combined assets against combined limits — not each partner separately. Your partner's income counts even if your partner is not yet Age Pension age, and your partner's assets count even if they are held in your partner's name alone. Each partner is then paid their own pension, but the rate each receives comes from the combined assessment.
From 20 September 2026 the couple maximum is $933.00 each ($1,866.00 combined). The couple income free area is $396 a fortnight combined, with a 50-cent taper per dollar over it — which works out as 25 cents off each partner's pension. The couple income cut-off is $4,128.00 a fortnight combined.
Separated due to illness
If you and your partner must live apart because of illness — for example, one partner moves into residential aged care — Centrelink treats you both at the higher single rate to help cover the cost of running two households. From 20 September 2026 that means $1,237.70 each, and the combined income cut-off rises to $5,346.80 a fortnight. The assets cut-offs are also higher: $1,300,000 for a homeowner couple and $1,567,000 for a non-homeowner couple separated due to illness.
Illness separation is not automatic: you must tell Services Australia about the change in living arrangements, and it applies from when the separation begins, not retrospectively by default.
One partner eligible
If only one member of a couple is eligible — for example, the younger partner has not yet turned 67 — the combined income and assets limits still apply to the household, and the eligible partner's pension is worked out on that combined basis. The couple homeowner assets limits ($499,000 full pension / $1,102,500 cut-off) and the combined income free area ($396) apply in this situation too.
This catches many couples by surprise: the ineligible partner's super balance and income can reduce or remove the eligible partner's pension. If your partner is approaching pension age, check how the combined assessment will change when they also become eligible — the rate is reassessed, not automatically doubled.
Frequently asked questions
My partner is 63 and still working. Does their income affect my pension?
Yes. Couples are assessed on combined income, so your partner's wages count under the income test even though your partner is not receiving a pension.
We live apart because my partner is in aged care. Do we get the single rate each?
In most cases, yes — couples separated due to illness are paid at the single rate each ($1,237.70 from 20 September 2026). Tell Services Australia about the separation so it is applied.
If my partner becomes eligible later, does our pension double?
Not automatically. The household is reassessed on the combined basis, and each partner is paid their own rate from that assessment. The combined maximum for a couple is $1,866.00 a fortnight from 20 September 2026.
Official links
Verify every figure on this page at Services Australia: