Age Pensioners will enjoy the biggest increase to pension rates in 7 years. Nearly 2.6 million Australians are on the age pension so this 1.4% increase will be very welcome. Last September there was no increase at all for the first time in 24 years so this boost will go some way towards rectifying that.
The maximum single age pension will increase by $14.80 a fortnight and the maximum couples combined age pension will increase by $22.40 or $11.20 each.
The table below shows the fortnightly rates before and after the change which will become effective from Monday 20th September.
Fortnightly age pension rates
The rates for full Age Pension for Australian residents for the period 20 September 2021 to 19 March 2022 are:
- Single: $967.50 per fortnight (approximately $25,155 per year)
- Couple (each): $729.30 per fortnight (approximately $18,962 per year)
- Couple (combined): $1,458.60 per fortnight (approximately $37,924 per year)
- Couples separated due to illness each receive the Single rate (see above), which combined is $1,935.00 (approximately $50,310 per year)
Note: The figures above include the pension and energy supplements.
