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Basic Eligibility Requirements for Pension Bonus Scheme
Who is eligible for a pension bonus?
VEA →
In order to receive a pension bonus from DVA, a person must:
- have been eligible prior to 20 September 2009,
- be registered for the scheme prior to 1 July 2014, More →
- be eligible for, and defers claiming a designated pension, and
- satisfy all relevant statutory criteria for the scheme.
The target group includes people who:
- meet the age criteria -
- veterans with qualifying service who are of veteran pension age,
- persons of pension age who are eligible for partner service pension and, More →
- war widows/widowers of qualifying age who are eligible for income support supplement,
- have not received an excluded payment since special date of eligibility (except carer payment, carer service pension or carer income support supplement), and
- remain in the workforce beyond pension age, or qualifying age, beyond their special date of eligibility, or who have a partner who remains in the workforce and meets the other eligibility criteria.
Who can register for the scheme?
VEA →
From 1 July 2014 the Pension Bonus Scheme was closed to new registrations.
Designated pension and residency
VEA →
To register for the scheme, a person must have been eligible to receive a designated pension. A person must have:
- satisfied the requirements for the respective pension, and
- have met Australian residency requirements. More →
Note: Proof of Identity was not required at time of registration for the scheme, but the delegate must have had sufficient information to determine the person's eligibility for the designated pension.
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VEA designated pension
There are three different types of designated pensions that could have been deferred by a member of the pension bonus scheme under the VEA. These were:
- age service pension, More →
- income support supplement payable to a person of qualifying age, and More →
- partner service pension payable to a person of pension age More →
Social Security designated pension
The age pension is a designated pension for the Centrelink scheme.
Income support restrictions
To receive a pension bonus a person must not have received the following at any time after the person's special date of eligibility:
- a social security pension (other than a carer payment),
- a social security benefit,
- a service pension (other than a carer service pension), or
- an income support supplement (other than an income support supplement paid to a carer).
The person cannot have received another pension bonus paid under the VEA or the social security law.
Exceptional circumstances relief payment (ECRP) is not an excluded payment. It is paid by Centrelink on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and does not come under the SSA.
Note: Some DFISA recipients may have been receiving a nil rate of social security payment, but are still taken to have been receiving that payment. DFISA was removed 1 January 2022 and there was an increase in the social security payment because adjusted disability pension became exempt under the Social Security Act 1991.
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Impact of DFISA on pension bonus eligibility
A person cannot receive a pension bonus if they received DFISA after their special date of eligibility. However, this does not apply if the primary payment of the person was a carer payment.
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Designated pension is defined in section 45TA VEA and relates to the pension bonus scheme. Designated pension means:
- age service pension, or
- partner service pension, or
- ISS.
Designated pension under the Social Security Act 1991 means age pension
Qualifying service is one of the criteria used to determine eligibility for certain benefits under the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986. Refer to section 7A of the VEA for the full defintion.
Currently, the pension age for a veteran is 60 years of age (VEA 5QA).
The pension age for a non-veteran is determined by the table below:
Date of birth (both dates inclusive) | Age Pension age |
1 July 1952 to 31 December 1953 | 65 years and 6 months |
1 January 1954 to 30 June 1955 | 66 years |
1 July 1955 to 31 December 1956 | 66 years and 6 months |
On or after 1 January 1957 | 67 years |
A person's 'partner' is someone who is a member of a couple with that person.
A service pension is an income support payment broadly equivalent to the social security age and disability support pensions. It may be paid once a veteran or partner has reached the nominated age or is incapacitated for work.
A war widow/widower is generally a person who immediately before their partners death, was the partner of, or was legally married to:
- a veteran; or
- a person who was a member of the forces; and
- who is receiving:
- a war widow's/widower's pension; or
- a pension that is payable under the law of a foreign country that is, in the opinion of the Commission, similar to a war widow's/widower's pension.
Refer to 5E(1) of the VEA for the full definition.
Qualifying age is defined in section 5Q(1) of the VEA and is equivalent to the pension age for a veteran which is described in section 5QA VEA as:
- 60 years for a male,
- for females subject to age equalisation (refer to the table in section 5QA VEA).
Excluded payments are income support pensions, benefits or allowances paid by DVA or Centrelink. If a person is in receipt of an excluded payment, they are not able to accrue bonus periods under the pension bonus scheme.
Special date of eligibility is defined in section 45TB VEA and relates to the pension bonus scheme. A person's special date of eligibility for:
- age service pension is the first day on which a person becomes eligible for an age service pension,
- partner service pension is the first day occurring on or after the person reaches pension age and is eligible for a partner service pension,
- income support supplement is the day the person
- reaches [glossary:qualifying age:DEF/Qualifying Age], or
- becomes eligible for income support supplement if this is after the person has reached qualifying age.
If a person is registered under DVA and Centrelink schemes and therefore has 2 or more special dates of eligibility, only the first date is to be counted.
Designated pension is defined in section 45TA VEA and relates to the pension bonus scheme. Designated pension means:
- age service pension, or
- partner service pension, or
- ISS.
Designated pension under the Social Security Act 1991 means age pension
Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.
A service pension is an income support payment broadly equivalent to the social security age and disability support pensions. It may be paid once a veteran or partner has reached the nominated age or is incapacitated for work.
A person's 'partner' is someone who is a member of a couple with that person.
A service pension is an income support payment broadly equivalent to the social security age and disability support pensions. It may be paid once a veteran or partner has reached the nominated age or is incapacitated for work.
Currently, the pension age for a veteran is 60 years of age (VEA 5QA).
The pension age for a non-veteran is determined by the table below:
Date of birth (both dates inclusive) | Age Pension age |
1 July 1952 to 31 December 1953 | 65 years and 6 months |
1 January 1954 to 30 June 1955 | 66 years |
1 July 1955 to 31 December 1956 | 66 years and 6 months |
On or after 1 January 1957 | 67 years |
An age pension is a means tested income support payment paid by Centrelink or DVA on behalf of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The majority of age pensions are paid through Centrelink. However, eligible veterans who have an accepted disability or receive a Disability Compensation Payment from DVA, but do not have qualifying service, may be paid their age pension by DVA. Their partner may also receive their age pension from DVA, if eligible.
Centrelink is a Government service delivery agency responsible for delivering a range of Commonwealth Government services (including social security pensions and allowances) to the Australian community through a network of more than 400 Centrelink offices.
Special date of eligibility is defined in section 45TB VEA and relates to the pension bonus scheme. A person's special date of eligibility for:
- age service pension is the first day on which a person becomes eligible for an age service pension,
- partner service pension is the first day occurring on or after the person reaches pension age and is eligible for a partner service pension,
- income support supplement is the day the person
- reaches [glossary:qualifying age:DEF/Qualifying Age], or
- becomes eligible for income support supplement if this is after the person has reached qualifying age.
If a person is registered under DVA and Centrelink schemes and therefore has 2 or more special dates of eligibility, only the first date is to be counted.
The term social security pension is defined in Section 5Q(1) VEA to mean:
- age pension;
- disability support pension;
- carer payment;
- pension PP (single);
- sole parent pension;
- special needs pension.
As benefits (pensions) may change, for the most current definition access this link to the Social Security Act 1991
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/management.nsf/lookupindexpagesbyid/IP200401781?OpenDocument
The term social security benefit is defined in Section 5Q(1) of the VEA to mean:
- youth allowance;
- austudy payment;
- jobseeker payment;
- special benefit;
- benefit PP (partnered);
- parenting allowance.
As benefits (pensions) may change, for the most current definition access this link to the Social Security Act 1991
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/management.nsf/lookupindexpagesbyid/IP200401781?OpenDocument
A service pension is an income support payment broadly equivalent to the social security age and disability support pensions. It may be paid once a veteran or partner has reached the nominated age or is incapacitated for work.
ISS is an income support payment that may be paid to eligible war widows and widowers under the VEA and persons receiving wholly dependent partners' compensation under the MRCA, and who satisfy the means tests. It is an indexed rate, increased twice-yearly in March and September in line with changes to the cost of living and/or average wages. Income Support Supplement (ISS) legislation commenced on 20 March 1995. It is a payment created to replace the ceiling rate income support age, carer, wife and disability support pensions, paid to war widows/widowers by Centrelink.
The information below is for historical reference only.
Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) ceased on 1 January 2022 because adjusted disability income became exempt income under the Social Security Act 1991. It was an income support payment paid by DVA to people whose income support payment under Social Security Law was reduced, or not payable, because of the impact of adjusted disability pension. DFISA was the difference between the person's existing entitlement, and what the entitlement would have been had adjusted DP been exempt, but was assessed in the calculation of rent assistance.
A Social Security payment refers to the following:
- a social security pension
- a social security benefit;
- an allowance under the Social Security Act 1991;
- family allowance;
- family tax payment; and
- any other kind of payment under Chapter 2 of the Social Security Act 1991.