New Centrelink Rates From 20 September 2026: JobSeeker, Pensions, Rent Assistance

Most income support payments are indexed twice a year, on 20 March and 20 September, to keep pace with prices. The Department of Social Services has published the 20 September 2026 rates, and Services Australia has confirmed the pension increases: $36.80 a fortnight for singles and $55.60 a fortnight for couples combined on the Age Pension, Carer Payment and Disability Support Pension (Services Australia, 8 September 2026).

You do not need to do anything. The new amount shows in your Centrelink online account or the Express Plus app from your first payment on or after 20 September. Youth Allowance, Austudy and Family Tax Benefit are on different indexation dates (1 January and 1 July), so they do not change now.

Fortnightly figures are the DSS "typical total rate", which is the basic rate plus the supplements most people receive (pension supplement and energy supplement, and pharmaceutical allowance where it applies). Your own amount depends on income, assets and circumstances.

A couple on the Age Pension goes from $1,810.40 to $1,866.00 a fortnight combined. The JobSeeker basic rate for a single person with no children rises from $808.70 to $824.90; the $833.70 in the table adds the $8.80 energy supplement. Parenting Payment Single's basic rate rises from $1,017.20 to $1,037.50. The same increases flow to ABSTUDY Living Allowance for people 22 and over, and to the pension bonus and transitional pension rates listed in the DSS document.

Commonwealth Rent Assistance pays 75 cents for every dollar of rent above a threshold, up to a maximum. The threshold, the maximum and the rent at which you reach the maximum all move on 20 September.

The single maximum rises by $4.40 to $223.80 a fortnight; the maximum with three or more children rises by $5.88 to $297.36. Estimate your own figure with our Rent Assistance calculator, which we are updating to the 20 September figures.

Indexation matches prices, it does not lift the payment in real terms. The Australian Council of Social Service said on 18 September that income support "needs real increase not just indexation". Whatever your view on that, the practical point is that a $16.20 fortnightly rise in JobSeeker is the CPI catch-up for the last six months, and the next one is 20 March 2027.

Two things worth checking now rather than in March. First, the Rent Assistance threshold rose, so if your rent is close to the old threshold make sure Centrelink has your current rent. Second, if you have started or changed work, income test cut-offs move with the rates; our income test calculator shows how much you can earn before the payment reduces.

Our calculators for each payment show the maximum rate and the income and assets tests: JobSeeker, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, Parenting Payment and Rent Assistance. Each carries a note on the 20 September indexation while the figures roll over. For parents, our Parenting Payment rates guide covers eligibility and the income test in more depth.