Maximise your pension or Veteran Payment

Last updated:

21 December 2023

This page provides information on the date of effect for pension or Veteran Payment variations and how to maximise your entitlement under the date of effect rules.

This information is for recipients of Service Pension, Social Security Age Pension, Veteran Payment or Income Support Supplement.

Pensions and Veteran Payment are calculated based on a daily entitlement

The Service Pension, Social Security Age Pension, Income Support Supplement or Veteran Payment you receive every fortnight is calculated based on a daily entitlement. For example, a change in your income or asset value mid-way through a pension or Veteran Payment fortnight may change your payment from that day. This means that the amount of pension or Veteran Payment paid will more accurately reflect your true entitlement. To get the most out of these arrangements, you must tell us:

about changes that affect your pension or Veteran Payment, within 14 days of the event (28 days if you live overseas or receive remote area allowance)
the date of the change.

A detailed explanation of the arrangements is below.

How can I maximise my pension or payment

For Service Pension, Income Support Supplement or Veteran Payment

Any references to “pension or payment” in this following section refers to Service Pension, Income Support Supplement or Veteran Payment only. Please read the next section for information on Social Security Age Pension.

If a change you tell us about results in an increase to your pension or payment, the increase will apply from the day you tell us about the change or on the day that the change occurred, whichever is the later.

If a change you tell us about results in a reduction in your pension or payment, and you let us know about the change within 14 days of it happening (28 days if you live overseas or receive remote area allowance), the reduction won’t apply until after the 14 days (or 28 days) have passed.

If a change results in a reduction in your pension or payment, and you tell us about it more than 14 days after it happens (28 days if you live overseas or receive remote area allowance), the reduction will apply from the day that the change occurred. This means that any excess payment made after that day would have to be paid back. DVA would advise you about the best way to repay any excess payments.

For all changes, it is very important that you tell us the date the change occurred. This will assist DVA to respond to your changes as quickly as possible and ensure that you receive exactly what you are entitled to.

Any delays in processing the information you give us will not alter the date that the change applies to your pension or payment. This means that if you are due for an increase to your pension or payment, the increase will apply from the day you tell us about it. Similarly, if you are due for a reduction, the reduction will apply from either the day of the change, or after the 14 days (or 28 days) have passed as outlined above, depending on when you tell us about it. In all cases, any excess payments made after the date that the change applies to your pension or payment are recoverable.

For Social Security Age Pension

Any references to “pension” in this following section only refers to Social Security Age Pension.

If a change you tell us about results in an increase to your pension, the increase will apply as soon as you let us know about it.

The following social security rules apply if a change you tell us about results in a reduction to your pension:

If you tell us about the change more than 14 days after it happens (28 days if you live overseas or receive remote area allowance), the reduction will apply from the day that the change occurred
If you tell us about the change within 14 days of it happening (28 days if you live overseas or receive remote area allowance), one of the following three rules will apply, depending on when the change is processed. The reduction will apply on either:
- the day of the change
- the day after the end of the ‘pension period’ in which the change occurs
- the day after the 14 day (or 28 day) notification period has passed.

Any excess payment that is made from the day on which the pension reduction applies would have to be paid back. DVA will advise you about the best way to repay any excess payments.

What is a pension period?

A 14 day period called a ‘pension period’ relates to the fortnightly payment. A pension period starts on a Tuesday and ends a fortnight later on the Monday before pension payday. All changes that have an effective date within the pension period affect the amount paid on the pension payday. Here is a table to illustrate.

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
		Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Day 6	Day 7	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10	Day 11	Day 12
Day 13	Day 14			PAYDAY

Please refer to When we pay your pension and allowance for more information.

What is within 14 days?

A change to your circumstances must be notified within 14 days. This excludes the day of the change. For example, if a change occurs on the 1st of the month, you have to tell us on or by the 15th of the month, as shown in this diagram.

1^st

change occurs

2^nd

3^rd

4^th

5^th

6^th

7^th

8^th

9^th

10^th

11^th

12^th

13^th

14^th

15th

notify on or by here

Exceptions to the 14 day rule

The general rule is that a change to your circumstances must be notified within 14 days. There are some situations where DVA may have specified a different notification period, mainly relating to employment earnings, businesses or income earnt from property. Where a person lives overseas or receives remote area allowance, the 14 day period is extended to a maximum of 28 days. In addition to this, if you are in receipt of Social Security Age Pension and you become aware that you have received or are to receive a compensation payment, you must tell us within 7 days.

In cases of bereavement, it is especially important to notify us of a death as soon as possible if your late partner received a pension, Veteran Payment or Disability Compensation Payment from DVA.

Pension or Veteran Payment indexation increases and paydays

For the first payday occurring after an indexation increase, your pension or Veteran Payment is calculated for part of the fortnight where the old rate applies and the remainder of your fortnightly payment is at the new increased rate. This ensures that you receive your correct daily entitlement.

Your pension or Veteran Payment is made up of an amount for each day of the previous fortnight's pension period ending on the Monday before the payday being calculated. This means that your first full payment at the new rate of pension or Veteran Payment will be paid from the second payday after the indexation date.

You may read in News for Seniors that paydays can vary for Centrelink customers. Social Security Age Pension paid by DVA is however paid on every second Thursday, similarly to Service Pension, Veteran Payment or Income Support Supplement.

What is a change in circumstances?

When we talk about changes to circumstances, we mean changes that are likely to affect your rate of pension or Veteran Payment. If you are unsure about the things that you should tell DVA about, you may wish to read our page about the related topics, What you need to tell us about and The things you do not need to tell us about or contact DVA for advice. You can also refer to the You and Your Pension booklet (refer to Chapter 2).

Obligations

When you are granted an income support pension, and periodically after that, you will be notified of your obligations. You will be required to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you live overseas or receive remote area allowance) of changes to your circumstances that might affect the rate of income support pension you receive or your eligibility to receive that pension. These obligations apply equally to trustees.

Usually an overpayment of pension will not occur when you have met your obligations. However, sometimes even if you have met your obligations, an overpayment can occur because we have not been able to process the change before the next payday. We do our best to avoid this occurring, but it is not always possible. To provide you with your exact entitlement we are obliged to recover overpayments of pension where they do occur.