Ask An Adviser - Should I Change My Wife's Disability Pension To The Aged Pension And Will This Affect My Carer Allowance? (2)

Top answer provided by:

Cathy Beh

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Hi Ian,

Thank you for your question. There are a couple of aspects to this that you may need to consider.

Typically, when you reach aged pension age you can apply to move from a disability support pension to an age pension payment. At around 13 weeks prior to becoming eligible you should be sent an invitation or communication from Centrelink. This may happen via your MyGov account if you have one. The information that Centrelink has about your circumstances would typically be pre-populated.

Some things to consider:

1. Moving to the aged pension means that you no longer must comply with the medical rules and reviews that apply to disability support pension.
2. Your payment may change depending on your assets and income, as assessed by Centrelink for aged pension purposes.
3. There are different rules for the potential impact of travelling on your payment
4. Under DSP you may be eligible for education supplements, higher rates of rent assistance and mobility support and continue to receive an allowance for supported employment, which are different to those payments you can receive under age pension.

As we don’t have a full picture of your circumstances, it will be challenging to determine which is a better option for your wife. However, be aware that if you do not inform Centrelink of your decision they may cease payment once she is age pension age.

You can find out more here. 

As far as the carer allowance is concerned, there are a couple of things to consider; you are eligible to retain this payment so long as:

1. You meet the condition that you are caring for someone with a disability or medical condition.
2. The person receiving care must meet certain conditions based on Adult Disability Assessment Determination, have an ongoing illness or disability and receive care from someone in their home or hospital
3. Meet the relevant income test

Without your full circumstances it will be challenging to determine whether you would be able to continue to meet these requirements if you opt for an Age Pension payment as certain assets such as superannuation are assessed differently.   

You can find out more here.

Depending on your assets and income you may also be eligible for a carer payment, which is a separate payment with its own requirements. Once you are age pension age this payment becomes taxable.

You can find out more about this payment here.

In short, there may be some impact on your eligibility for payments under Centrelink by moving between disability support pension and age pension. In some cases, these may be of benefit to you depending on your individual circumstances.

While the Adviser Ratings Website facilitates the question and answer functionality, all such communications are between users and authorised financial advisers, of which Adviser Ratings has no affiliation. Adviser Ratings is not the advice provider and does not provide financial product advice and only provides information that is general in nature.

Article by:

Cathy Beh

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