JobSeeker Payment Australia: Rates, Income Test and Obligations

JobSeeker Payment is the Commonwealth income support payment for Australians aged 22 to Age Pension age who are looking for work, or who cannot work for a while because of a temporary illness or injury. It is set out in Part 2.12 of the Social Security Act 1991 and administered by Services Australia through Centrelink, with the job search and compliance rules in the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999.

This guide covers who can get it, how much it pays from 20 September 2026, the income and assets tests, the waiting periods that often delay the first payment, the mutual obligation and compliance rules, and how to challenge a decision or a debt. It is general information about federal law, which applies the same way in every state and territory. If you have just lost your job, read it alongside our guides to notice of termination, redundancy pay and final pay, because what your employer pays you on the way out affects when JobSeeker starts.

Who can get JobSeeker Payment

Under section 593 of the Social Security Act, a person is qualified if they are unemployed throughout the period, are at least 22 years old and have not reached pension age, and are an Australian resident (or exempt from the residence requirement). They must also not be receiving Youth Allowance for the same period.

You must generally either meet the requirements of an employment pathway plan and be willing to actively seek, accept and undertake paid work in Australia, or be exempt from those requirements but otherwise willing. Work that is unsuitable for you is excluded from that willingness test.

Pension age: under section 23 of the Social Security Act, a person born on or after 1 January 1957 reaches pension age at 67.

Australian residence

Section 7 of the Act defines an Australian resident as someone who lives in Australia and is an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a protected special category visa holder. Protected status depends on being in Australia on 26 February 2001, or for 12 months in the 2 years before it (section 7(2A) to (2D)).

Newly arrived resident's waiting period

Many new permanent residents face a long wait. Under section 623A, a person who has not been an Australian resident and in Australia for periods totalling 208 weeks is subject to a newly arrived resident's waiting period, which ends once they reach 208 weeks of residence in Australia.

The Act exempts some people, including refugees and former refugees at the time of the claim, certain family members of refugees, people who were Australian citizens when they claimed, and people with a qualifying residence exemption. It also does not apply if you are single, you are the principal carer of a child, and you were not a lone parent when your current period as an Australian resident began (section 623A(7)). Ask Services Australia whether you have a qualifying residence exemption.

Working while unemployed

You do not have to be doing zero work. Section 595 lets Services Australia treat you as unemployed while you do suitable paid work or another activity it decides to disregard, and a person complying with an employment pathway plan may be treated as unemployed.

Temporary illness or injury

Section 593(1A) qualifies a person who is incapacitated for work or study because of sickness or an accident, where the incapacity is likely to be temporary. You must also have had a job before the incapacity that is still available to you, or have been studying on ABSTUDY or Austudy and committed to returning.

If you have a likely permanent medical condition that would prevent full-time work, section 593(1D) can qualify you without an employment pathway plan while your capacity to work is assessed, if Services Australia accepts it would be unreasonable to ask you to enter a plan before then. That ends when you enter a plan, or on the day you fail to enter one when required. If you have claimed the Disability Support Pension and are waiting for a decision, section 593(1B) can qualify you for JobSeeker in the meantime; see our Disability Support Pension guides.

Partial capacity to work

Section 16B of the Act says a person has a partial capacity to work if a physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment on its own prevents them from doing 30 hours a week of work, without a support program, within the next 2 years. People with partial capacity are not penalised for refusing paid work of more than 15 hours a week. Where the impairment prevents 15 hours a week, a higher single rate applies (see the rate table below).

Who is excluded

• Full-time students. Section 613 says JobSeeker is not payable while you are enrolled in a full-time course of education or vocational training, including vacations, unless the course is part of your employment pathway plan.
• Industrial action. Under section 596, you do not qualify if your unemployment is due to industrial action.
• Veterans' payments. Section 614 says JobSeeker is not payable if you already receive a service pension, income support supplement or a veteran payment.

If you are moving off another payment, section 593(4) treats a person who claims within 14 days of their last instalment of a pension or similar payment, and who becomes qualified during that 14-day period, as qualified for the whole of it.

How much JobSeeker pays (from 20 September 2026)

Services Australia publishes the current rates. Its table of maximum fortnightly payments from 20 September 2026 is:

Services Australia calls the table a guide only. It updates rates on 20 March and 20 September each year, matching the indexation days in section 1191 of the Social Security Act, so the next change is due on 20 March 2027.

A few rules sit behind those figures:

• Dependent children. Services Australia says that if you have a dependent child under 16, you are paid the single with a dependent child rate. Under point 1068-B1B, for a single person a child in your care for at least 14% of the time can count.
• Daily rate. Point 1068-A1 makes the rate a daily rate: the fortnightly amount divided by 14. That matters when you start or stop part way through a fortnight.
• Extras. The rate calculator in section 1068 can add Rent Assistance, Pharmaceutical Allowance (for example, if you have a partial capacity to work or are a single principal carer) and Remote Area Allowance if you live in a remote area. Check current amounts with Services Australia.
• Tax. JobSeeker Payment is a taxable Centrelink payment.

The dollar figures printed in the Act itself are base amounts that are replaced by indexed amounts each 20 March and 20 September (section 1192), so always use Services Australia's current table, not the Act, for the amount you will be paid.

The income test

Your rate is reduced by your fortnightly income, and in some cases by your partner's income. Services Australia's income test for a single person who is not a principal carer, from 20 September 2026:

These figures come from points 1068-G12 to 1068-G16 of the Social Security Act: a $150 income free area, a 50% reduction on the first $106 above it and 60% beyond that. If you are a single principal carer of a child under 16, the reduction is 40 cents for each dollar over $150 (point 1068-G17).

Partner income

If your partner gets a pension, Services Australia halves your combined income and assesses each half under its own test. If your partner does not get a pension, your payment reduces by 60 cents for each dollar of your partner's income over a partner income free area (point 1068-G11). From 20 September 2026 Services Australia lists that threshold as $1,440.00 a fortnight where your partner is between 22 and Age Pension age, $1,307.00 where your partner is under 22 with no children, and $1,402.00 where your partner is under 22 with children.

When the payment cuts out

Services Australia publishes the income at which the payment reduces to nil from 20 September 2026:

Services Australia notes your maximum income may be higher if you get Pharmaceutical Allowance or Rent Assistance.

Working Credit

Working Credit lets you build up credit while your income is very low, so a short job does not cut your payment straight away. Under section 1073F you build credit when your income is less than $48 a fortnight, up to a maximum balance of $1,000. When your income goes over the free area, the balance is used up first to shield your earnings from work (not other income) from the income test.

If your payment is cancelled and you claim again within 12 months, section 1073E restores the balance you had.

The assets test

Section 611 of the Social Security Act says JobSeeker is not payable if the value of your assets is more than your assets value limit. The limit depends on whether you are single or partnered and whether you own your home, and if you are partnered your partner's assets are counted too (section 612).

The Act prints base figures that are indexed, so do not rely on them as current limits. Check the current assets limits with Services Australia before you claim. A note to section 611 points to financial hardship provisions in sections 1131 and 1132 for people excluded by the assets test.

Waiting periods before your first payment

Being eligible does not always mean being paid from the day you claim. Several waiting periods can apply, and the Act fixes the order in which they run.

Ordinary waiting period (7 days)

Section 621 sets an ordinary waiting period of 7 days starting on your start day. Under section 620 it does not apply if you received an income support payment at any time in the 13 weeks before your start day, or if Services Australia is satisfied you are experiencing a personal financial crisis. Other exemptions may apply, so ask.

Liquid assets waiting period

If your cash and readily realisable assets (bank deposits, public company shares, money a former employer owes you and can pay, and similar) exceed your maximum reserve when you stop work or claim, section 598 requires you to serve a liquid assets test waiting period before you are qualified. Section 14A sets the maximum reserve at:

• $5,000 if you are single and have no dependent child
• $10,000 in any other case

The waiting period is one week for every $500 (single, no dependent child) or $1,000 (otherwise) by which your liquid assets exceed the reserve, ignoring part weeks, up to a maximum of 13 weeks. For a single person it starts the day after you stopped work or full-time study. Check with Services Australia whether these amounts have changed.

You do not serve it again if you or your partner served one that began in the previous 12 months. If you are in severe financial hardship because of unavoidable or reasonable expenses, Services Australia may decide you do not have to serve all or part of it (section 598(5)).

Income maintenance period (leave and termination pay)

If you receive leave payments or a termination payment, including redundancy pay and pay in lieu of notice, points 1068-G7AG and 1068-G7AH treat you as receiving that income for the period it covers. This is the income maintenance period, and that income is counted under the income test for that time.

Services Australia may waive all or part of it if you are in severe financial hardship because of unavoidable or reasonable expenses (point 1068-G7AM). A directed termination payment under section 82-10F of the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 is disregarded (point 1068-G7AF). See final pay in Australia for what your employer must pay out.

Compensation payments

If you receive a lump sum compensation payment, section 1169 makes JobSeeker not payable during a lump sum preclusion period. Section 1170 calculates its length in weeks by dividing the compensation part of the lump sum by an income cut-out amount. Ask Services Australia to work out the period for your settlement.

Order of waiting periods

Under section 621, the 7-day wait runs after any newly arrived resident's waiting period, seasonal work preclusion period, lump sum preclusion period or nil-rate income maintenance period, and starts the day after a liquid assets waiting period ends.

Mutual obligations: your employment pathway plan

Section 40A of the Social Security (Administration) Act lets the department require you to enter an employment pathway plan. Under section 40G a plan can require you to:

• actively look for paid work and accept suitable offers
• do training or study, voluntary work, or an approved work or employment program
• attend interviews
• complete, update or improve your resume

Section 40F says the plan must take into account your disability, illness or physical or mental condition, the local labour market and transport options, your family and caring responsibilities, travel time and the cost of complying. If a plan ignores these, raise it with your provider and ask for it to be changed.

The day-to-day system your provider uses to track activities is set administratively, not in the Acts, so check your own plan for exactly what you must do each reporting period.

Job search requirements from 23 October 2026

The Social Security (Administration) (Job Search Efforts) Determination 2026 commenced on 23 October 2026 and replaced the 2018 version. The number of job searches you must make is set in your plan. The department must first check whether you made that number and may then assess their quality, having regard to:

• whether the searches were made in good faith
• whether they covered a variety of seniority and pay levels
• whether they covered a variety of fields and occupations, including ones outside your qualifications or experience
• whether you used a variety of methods

Exemptions from mutual obligations

Division 2A, Subdivision C of the Administration Act provides exemptions. They include circumstances beyond your control such as a temporary incapacity (with a medical certificate), a relationship breakdown, the death of an immediate family member, a significant personal crisis or an emergency or disaster (section 40L). There is also an exemption from 6 weeks before to 6 weeks after a birth (section 40Q).

Principal carers have mandatory exemptions in some situations, such as foster or kinship care, home or distance education, or caring for 4 or more children (section 40P). Under section 40R, people aged 55 and over who do at least 30 hours of suitable paid work, approved voluntary work or a mix of both in a 2-week period may not have to meet the plan requirements for that period. If you are under 60 and in your first 12 months on JobSeeker, voluntary work alone does not count: you need 30 hours of suitable paid work, or a mix that includes at least 15 hours of suitable paid work. Principal carers and people with a partial capacity to work get the same relief for 30 hours of suitable paid work in a 2-week period.

Compliance: what happens if you miss a requirement

The Administration Act has two separate compliance regimes, and which one applies to you matters.

• Division 3AA applies to everyone who is not a declared program participant. This is most JobSeeker recipients.
• Division 3A applies only to declared program participants. Since 1 November 2025 the Social Security (Declared Program Participant) Determination 2025 limits that group to people serviced by a Remote Australia Employment Service provider.

Division 3AA: the regime most people face

Section 42AC lists mutual obligation failures. They include failing to attend or be on time for an appointment, failing to attend or take part in a plan activity, not showing adequate job search efforts, behaving inappropriately at an appointment or activity, acting in a way that could foreseeably stop you getting a job offer, and failing to attend a job interview or act on a job opportunity your provider gives you.

Suspension and reconnection. For a mutual obligation failure, your payment can be made not payable for a period (section 42AF). The suspension ends when you comply with the reconnection requirement, and the payment is then treated as payable from the start of the suspension, so you are generally back paid (section 42AL). If you do not comply with the reconnection requirement within 4 weeks of being notified, your payment is cancelled (section 42AM(3)).

Persistent failures. If Services Australia decides you have persistently committed failures without a reasonable excuse, it can reduce an instalment by half or by the whole amount (section 42AN), or cancel your payment (section 42AP). After a cancellation, no participation payment is payable for 4 weeks (6 weeks for some unemployment failures where relocation assistance was paid in the previous 6 months). The rules for what counts as persistent are set by a Ministerial determination; ask your provider or Services Australia what your compliance record shows.

Refusing a job. Refusing or failing to accept an offer of suitable paid work is a work refusal failure (section 42AD). Your payment can be stopped for a period, or cancelled if you do not show a reasonable excuse (section 42AG). Principal carers and people with partial capacity do not commit a failure by refusing work of more than 15 hours a week.

Leaving a job. Becoming unemployed through your own voluntary act, or because of misconduct as an employee, is an unemployment failure (section 42AE). It is not a failure if you satisfy Services Australia that the voluntary act was reasonable. For a new claimant, Services Australia can impose an unemployment preclusion period of 4 weeks from the day you became unemployed, or 6 weeks if you received relocation assistance in the previous 6 months (section 42AO). If you are already on JobSeeker, it can cancel your payment, with no payment for 4 weeks (or 6 weeks) from the cancellation (section 42AP). Principal carers and people with a partial capacity to work do not commit this failure by leaving work of more than 15 hours a week. If you believe you were dismissed unfairly, see unfair dismissal in Australia.

Reasonable excuses

Under the Act, a reasonable excuse matters most when Services Australia considers you have persistently committed failures, or when you refuse a job: it can prevent an instalment reduction or a cancellation (sections 42AF and 42AG). The Reasonable Excuse (Participation Payments) Determination 2018 lists matters Services Australia must take into account, including:

• not having safe, secure and adequate housing, or using emergency accommodation or a refuge
• literacy and language skills
• an illness, injury, impairment or disability, including mental illness or a cognitive or psychological impairment
• a drug or alcohol dependency
• unforeseen family or caring responsibilities
• being subjected to criminal violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault
• the death of an immediate family member or close relative
• being at paid work or a job interview at the time

The matter must have directly prevented you from meeting the requirement. Timing also matters: for a missed appointment or activity, section 42AJ says an excuse generally cannot count for that purpose unless you notified it before the appointment or activity, to the person or body named in your plan or notice. The exception is where it was not reasonable to expect you to notify, so call ahead whenever you can.

Division 3A: Remote Australia Employment Service participants

If your provider is a Remote Australia Employment Service provider, Division 3A applies instead. It uses no show no pay failures, connection and reconnection failures, and serious failures, where payment is not payable for 8 weeks unless the period ends early (sections 42A and 42P).

Before deciding you have committed a persistent non-compliance serious failure, the Secretary must carry out a comprehensive compliance assessment (section 42NA). Since 1 October 2025 the Persistent Non-compliance Determination 2025 requires the Secretary to consider that assessment's findings and whether you committed 3 or more failures in the 6 months before it, and the Act says failures outside your control must not be taken into account (section 42M).

How to claim and when payment starts

Section 16 of the Administration Act says you make a claim by lodging a written claim or in a manner approved by the Secretary. Services Australia sets the approved methods; check its website or contact Centrelink for the current way to claim and the documents you need.

Your start day is normally the day your claim is made, if you are qualified that day (Schedule 2, clause 3). Some rules move it:

• Early claims. You can claim up to 13 weeks before you will be qualified, and the claim is treated as made on the first day you are qualified (clause 4).
• Interviews. If Centrelink requires you to attend an interview, clause 4A replaces the general rule. Your start day is the interview day if it is 2 business days or less away, or the day the requirement was set if Centrelink sets a later interview. If the later interview is at your request, your start day is the interview day. If you do not attend, your start day can be pushed back (clause 4A(5)).
• Illness. If you claim within 5 weeks after an incapacity begins, your start day can go back to when you first qualified after it began. A later claim can go back up to 4 weeks if the medical condition was the sole or principal reason for the delay (clause 11).
• Bereavement and birth. A claim within 4 weeks of a partner's death or of a birth can be backdated (clauses 12 and 10).
• Re-claiming after some cancellations. If your payment was cancelled while it was on hold under a compliance penalty (for example, a suspension for a missed requirement), and the cancellation itself was not a compliance cancellation under Division 3AA, a new claim lodged within 14 days can start the day after the cancellation (clause 15). This does not help if your payment was cancelled because you did not reconnect within 4 weeks, because that cancellation is made under Division 3AA. In any other case, claim again as soon as you can.
• Waiting on DSP. If you are qualified because a Disability Support Pension claim is pending, your start day is the day you claimed that pension (clause 28).

Challenging a decision

If you disagree with a decision about your eligibility, rate, waiting period, compliance penalty or debt, you can have it reviewed. The steps are set by Part 4 and Part 4A of the Administration Act.

1. Internal review. Under section 129 you can apply for review of a decision. Under section 135 the Secretary, the Chief Executive Centrelink or an Authorised Review Officer must review it and affirm, vary or set it aside. You must be given written notice of the outcome (section 136).
2. Administrative Review Tribunal. Once the internal review is decided, you can apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (section 142). The Tribunal began on 14 October 2024 and now hears these reviews.
3. Second review and court. If you are dissatisfied with the Tribunal's decision, you can apply to the Tribunal for a second review, and you can appeal to the Federal Court on a question of law (section 139).

Time limits and back pay

Section 147 of the Administration Act switches off the usual Tribunal time limit in section 18 of the Administrative Review Tribunal Act 2024 for social security decisions, so the Administration Act sets no deadline for applying to the Tribunal. A late application can still cost you back pay (see below), so apply as soon as you can.

The 13-week mark applies at both steps. If you ask for internal review more than 13 weeks after you were given written notice of the original decision and the decision is changed in your favour, the change generally takes effect only from the day you asked for review (Administration Act sections 107 and 109). The same rule applies again to a Tribunal application made more than 13 weeks after you were given written notice of the internal review decision (section 147). Asking within 13 weeks at each step protects your arrears.

Payment while you wait

For many decisions, Services Australia can declare that your payment continues while the review is under way (sections 131 and 145). That power does not apply to decisions made under Division 3AA, which covers most compliance decisions for job seekers.

Some decisions cannot go to the Tribunal at all, including decisions about how and where a claim is lodged, the reconnection requirement under section 42AM(1), and whether payment continues pending review (section 144). The Disability Support Pension review process uses the same pathway; our guide to DSP reviews and appeals explains it in more detail.

Debts and overpayments

If you are paid an amount you were not entitled to, for any reason, that amount is a debt you owe the Commonwealth (section 1223 of the Social Security Act). That includes payments made because of a computer or administrative error, not only your own mistakes.

The debt notice. Section 1229 requires a notice stating the reason for the debt, the period it covers, the amount outstanding, the due date, that a range of repayment options is available, and how to contact the department. The debt is due on the 28th day after the date of the notice.

Interest. If the debt is unpaid on the due day and no repayment arrangement is in place, an interest charge can start to accrue (section 1229A). Setting up an arrangement under section 1234 and keeping to it avoids that charge (missing a payment under the arrangement can trigger it, section 1229B). People receiving a social security payment are generally exempt (section 1229E).

Repayment arrangements. Section 1234 allows an arrangement to repay the debt in a way set out in the arrangement. The department can change or end it on 28 days' notice, or without notice if you did not disclose information about your true capacity to repay.

No time limit. Section 1234B allows recovery action to be started at any time. A debt that is written off (for example, because you have no capacity to repay) can still be recovered later (section 1236).

Waiver. Waiver permanently stops recovery, but only on the grounds the Act lists. Under section 1237A the debt must be waived to the extent it is attributable solely to an administrative error by the Commonwealth and you received the payment in good faith, but only if the debt was not raised within 6 weeks of the first payment that caused it. Debts caused partly by your own error are not covered by that rule. Sections 1237AA to 1237AB set out other waiver grounds; ask Services Australia or a legal service whether one fits your situation.

A debt decision is reviewable through the same internal review and Tribunal path described above.

Where to get free help

Services Australia administers JobSeeker, and your employment services provider manages your plan, but neither acts for you in a dispute. The Tribunal's own legal and financial assistance scheme generally does not apply to social security reviews, except in guidance and appeals panel proceedings (Administration Act section 147C), so free help usually comes from legal aid commissions and community legal centres. Our legal aid in Australia guide lists where to start in each state and territory.

For workplace questions that led to your claim, such as notice, redundancy pay or dismissal, see our Australian employment law guides.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is JobSeeker Payment per fortnight right now?

From 20 September 2026 Services Australia lists a maximum of $824.90 a fortnight for a single person with no children, $883.30 for a single person with a dependent child, aged 55 or over after 9 continuous months on income support, or with a partial capacity to work of less than 15 hours a week, and $755.10 if you are partnered. These are maximums before the income and assets tests, and they are updated each 20 March and 20 September.

How much can I earn before JobSeeker stops?

Your payment starts to reduce once your income is over $150 a fortnight. For a single person with no children, Services Australia states the payment reduces to nil at $1,557.17 a fortnight from 20 September 2026. Other cut-out points apply to other situations, and they can be higher if you get Rent Assistance or Pharmaceutical Allowance.

Does my partner’s income affect my JobSeeker?

Yes. If your partner does not get a pension and is aged between 22 and Age Pension age, your payment reduces by 60 cents for each dollar of their income over $1,440.00 a fortnight. If your partner gets a pension, your combined income is halved and each half is assessed under its own test. The value of your partner’s assets also counts in the assets test.

Will my redundancy pay delay JobSeeker?

It can. Leave paid out on termination and termination payments, including redundancy pay and pay in lieu of notice, can create an income maintenance period that covers the period the payment represents. Separately, cash and readily realisable assets above the maximum reserve, including money your former employer owes you and can pay, can trigger a liquid assets waiting period of up to 13 weeks. Both can be reduced if you are in severe financial hardship because of unavoidable or reasonable expenses.

What happens if I miss an appointment with my employment services provider?

Under Division 3AA of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, which applies to most people, missing a required appointment is a mutual obligation failure. Your payment can be suspended until you complete a reconnection requirement, and you are generally back paid for the suspension once you do. If you do not reconnect within 4 weeks of being told to, the payment is cancelled. Tell your provider before the appointment if you cannot attend.

Can I get JobSeeker if I quit my job?

Leaving a job through your own voluntary act, or losing it because of misconduct, can be an unemployment failure. For a new claimant that can mean an unemployment preclusion period of 4 weeks (6 weeks if you received relocation assistance in the previous 6 months). It is not a failure if you satisfy Services Australia that leaving was reasonable.

How many job searches do I have to do?

The number is set in your employment pathway plan, not in the law. From 23 October 2026 the Job Search Efforts Determination 2026 says the department first checks whether you made the required number, and may then look at their quality, including whether you searched in good faith and across a variety of jobs, pay levels and methods.

Is JobSeeker Payment taxable?

Yes. Services Australia describes JobSeeker Payment as a taxable Centrelink payment.

Does my payment continue while I appeal a decision?

For many adverse decisions Services Australia can declare that payment continues while an internal review or Tribunal review is under way. That power does not apply to compliance decisions made under Division 3AA, which covers most job seekers, so for those your payment is generally not continued pending review.

Can I get JobSeeker while I wait for a Disability Support Pension decision?

Yes, if you meet the conditions. Section 593(1B) of the Social Security Act 1991 qualifies a person who has made a claim for Disability Support Pension that has not been decided and whose condition has a significant adverse effect on their ability to work, subject to residence conditions. The start day can go back to the day you claimed the pension.