Noel Whittaker's September newsletter carries the new age pension figures — plus a reminder about deeming that catches plenty of people out.
The age pension is adjusted twice a year, and the next step up lands on 20 September 2026. Noel Whittaker reports the maximum for a single pensioner rising from $1,200.90 to $1,237.70 a fortnight, which comes to $32,180 a year. For a couple, the maximum goes from $905.20 each a fortnight to $933 each — $48,516 a year between them. Deeming rates have been adjusted at the same time.
If you are in your forties or fifties, it is easy to file this under "not my problem yet". It is worth a second look. The age pension sits underneath almost every Australian retirement plan, and those two figures are the starting point for working out how much of your own money you need on top. A couple hoping for $75,000 a year in retirement is really asking how to fund the gap between $48,516 and $75,000. That is a much smaller and much less frightening question than "how much do I need?"
The deeming note matters too. Deeming is the rate Centrelink assumes your financial assets are earning, whatever they actually earn. But it only affects your payment if the income test is the test cutting you back.
"Just bear in mind that deeming is not relevant for pensioners whose entitlement is determined by the assets test."
That is worth knowing before you rearrange your investments chasing a Centrelink result that was never going to change. Plenty of people move money about to beat deeming when their payment is set by the assets test and deeming has nothing to do with it.
One practical point: the figures above are the maximum rates. What you actually receive depends on your own assets and income, and the thresholds shift on 20 September as well. Services Australia publishes the current rates and cut-off points for your situation.
Read the full article: Latest Pension Changes, NOEL NEWS September 2026 — Noel Whittaker, Noel News, September 2026.
If retirement is close enough that you are doing the sums, Retirement Made Simple (6th Edition) works through the age pension assets and income tests, how much you are likely to need, and how to make it last. Updated for the current financial year. $19.95, buy direct from the author, PDF and EPUB.