Using Carer's Leave to Top Up the Age Pension While Caring for a Spouse

If you're an employee with a partner on the Age Pension and you reduce your working hours to care for them, three separate income streams legally stack:

1. Paid personal/carer's leave from your employer (10 days per year minimum under the National Employment Standards).
2. Carer Allowance from Services Australia ($162.60 per fortnight from 1 January 2026, and the income test threshold is high enough that it does not catch most working spouses).
3. Work Bonus on the Age Pension means the first $300 per fortnight of your partner's employment income (and another $11,800 carried-forward bank) doesn't reduce their pension.

The catch: if you stop working entirely, you'd typically apply for Carer Payment (income- and asset-tested) instead — which is a different and more involved claim. The "carer's leave to top up" pattern is for people still in the workforce, just dialling hours down.

Authoritative sources: Fair Work Ombudsman — Sick and carer's leave, Services Australia — Carer Allowance, Services Australia — Work Bonus.

Section 96 of the Fair Work Act 2009 entitles every full-time and part-time employee to 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave per year. This is a single combined entitlement — it's used when you're sick yourself, or when you're caring for an immediate family member or household member who is sick or has an unexpected emergency. Spouse counts as immediate family.

Casuals get 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion under section 102.

You can also take 2 days of unpaid carer's leave per occasion if you've used up your paid balance (section 103).

Important boundary: NES carer's leave is for "an unexpected emergency" or short-term illness. It is not a substitute for stepping out of the workforce to provide ongoing full-time care. For ongoing care, the right tool is unpaid carer's leave or — in the genuinely full-time case — applying for Carer Payment from Services Australia.

What this means for the "top up" pattern: you'd typically use paid carer's leave for the bad weeks (hospital appointments, post-surgery recovery, acute illness episodes) while staying employed at reduced hours the rest of the time. Carer Allowance and the Work Bonus run alongside, year-round.

Carer Allowance is paid to people who provide additional daily care to someone with a disability or medical condition, or who is frail aged. From 1 January 2026 it is $162.60 per fortnight. Carer Allowance is indexed on 1 January each year, not in March or September like the pensions. There is no asset test. There is an income test, but the threshold is $250,000 combined adjusted taxable income per year — comfortably above where most caring-spouse households sit.

Eligibility specifics:

• You provide care in a private home (yours or theirs).
• The person you care for has a recognised disability or medical condition (a Health Care Professional Treating Doctor's report is required).
• The care is daily and substantially more than is normal.

If your partner is on the Age Pension and has age-related frailty (mobility, dementia, mental health, post-surgery recovery), you almost certainly qualify on the medical-needs side. The form is the SA304 + the medical report your GP completes. Processing time is typically 6–10 weeks — apply early.

The Carer Supplement of $600 is paid annually in July as a top-up. You don't need to claim it separately — it's automatic if you're on Carer Allowance on 1 July.

This is the lever most caring couples don't know about. The Age Pension is income-tested. Without the Work Bonus, every dollar of combined employment income above the couple income-free area ($396 a fortnight combined, from 1 July 2026) reduces the couple's combined pension by 50 cents — 25 cents off each partner's payment.

The Work Bonus changes that. The first $300 per fortnight of employment income earned by an Age Pension recipient (or their partner where the partner also receives a pension) is excluded from the income test. Plus, any unused Work Bonus accrues into a Work Bonus bank capped at $11,800. The bank carries over indefinitely.

Worked example — Helen and David:

• David is 71, on the Age Pension. Helen is 67, also pension-age but works part-time as a bookkeeper.
• Helen earns $1,200 per fortnight. The Work Bonus excludes the first $300, so only $900 counts as income for the test.
• Couples are assessed on combined income, so the $900 is tested as a couple, not against David alone.
• The couple income-free area is $396 a fortnight combined. $900 − $396 = $504 of assessable income.
• The combined pension reduces by 50 cents in the dollar — 25 cents off each payment. $504 × 0.50 = $252 off the couple's combined pension, so $126 each a fortnight.
• Without the Work Bonus the full $1,200 would count: $1,200 − $396 = $804, a $402 combined reduction. The Work Bonus leaves the household $150 a fortnight better off, or $3,900 a year.

The Work Bonus and Carer Allowance stack — neither cancels the other. So the same household here also gets $162.60/fortnight Carer Allowance on top.

These are two completely different payments and people regularly confuse them.

Carer Allowance is the small (~$160/fn) supplementary payment described above. Generous income test, no asset test, designed for working carers and partners.

Carer Payment is a full income-replacement pension (up to $1,200.90 a fortnight single from 20 March 2026, the same rate as the Age Pension), designed for people who cannot work because they care full-time. It's both income- and asset-tested at standard pension thresholds.

You can't receive both Carer Payment and the Age Pension at the same time. If you (the carer) are pension-age, you'd typically stay on the Age Pension and just claim Carer Allowance on top. If you're under pension-age and providing genuinely full-time care, Carer Payment is the right route — but it precludes meaningful work.

The "top up" pattern in this article assumes you're still working part-time. That puts you in Carer Allowance territory, not Carer Payment.

1. If your partner isn't on Age Pension yet, claim that first via myGov → Centrelink → Make a claim.
2. Once their pension starts, lodge a Carer Allowance claim (form SA304). Get your GP to complete the medical assessment portion. Claim from the date you started providing care — backdating up to 12 weeks is allowed.
3. Tell Centrelink about your employment income via myGov. The Work Bonus applies automatically once they have your wage data.
4. Use paid personal/carer's leave from your employer for the bad weeks. You don't need to ask for permission — section 97 of the Fair Work Act says you can take it if a member of your immediate family requires care or support. Notice and evidence requirements apply (medical certificate or stat dec).
5. Reassess annually. The income-free area, Work Bonus rate, and Carer Allowance amount are indexed each March and September. Your situation may also change — partner's care needs, your work hours, household income. Update Centrelink within 14 days of any change.

Can I take carer's leave to attend my partner's medical appointments?
Yes — accompanying an immediate family member to a medical appointment is a recognised use of carer's leave under section 97 of the Fair Work Act. Notice and evidence rules apply.

Does Carer Allowance count as income for our Age Pension test?
No. Carer Allowance is exempt income for the Age Pension income test.

Can I salary sacrifice into super while claiming Carer Allowance?
Yes. Salary sacrifice doesn't affect Carer Allowance eligibility or amount.

What if my partner moves into residential aged care?
Carer Allowance generally stops when the person you care for is in formal full-time care (residential aged care or hospital for more than 63 days in a year). The Age Pension and Work Bonus continue to apply to their income/asset position.

Is there tax on Carer Allowance?
No. Carer Allowance is non-taxable. It doesn't get reported on your tax return.

What records should I keep?
Your employer payslips (showing carer's leave used), your GP's medical assessment for Carer Allowance, fortnightly income reports to Centrelink, and a calendar log of care provided. Keep five years.