Leaving family violence later in life: your Age Pension, your home and Crisis Payment

If you are in immediate danger, call 000. For free, confidential 24/7 counselling, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. The Elder Abuse Help Line is 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374) [16].

Family violence doesn't stop at retirement age, and leaving is often harder later in life. The home may have been shared for decades, and the money is often tangled up in it. A common fear is that leaving will cost you your pension. In most cases it does the opposite. Centrelink's rules also contain several protections for people who flee their home. Few people know about them until they need them.

This article explains what changes for your Age Pension, what happens to the home you left, and the one-off payments that may help in the first weeks. Figures are for FY2026-27.

Before you contact Centrelink: protect your information

If you share a myGov account, a nominee or a Centrelink record with the person you are leaving, updating your address online can expose where you have gone. Services Australia says your records need to be separated before you change contact details. Otherwise your new details may be visible to the other person. To do this you call Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support separately [7].

A few other things to know [6]:

• Claims and letters show up in your online account, so consider changing your myGov password first.
• Letters go to your postal address, which can be different from where you live.
• A correspondence nominee can see that you've made a claim, and a payment nominee receives the payment. Cancelling a nominee arrangement notifies that nominee.
• Removing a partner's permission to enquire about you is not notified to them.

If you have safety concerns, Services Australia asks you to call before updating your details, and you can ask to speak with a social worker [8][6]. Our article on Centrelink nominee and agent arrangements explains how nominees work.

You move to the single rate, and it's higher

You must tell Services Australia when you separate. You can do this online for the Age Pension or with the separation details form [8]. Once you are assessed as single, the maximum rate is higher than a partnered person's share:

Source: [17]. Rates are next indexed on 20 March 2027.

Your income and assets are also assessed on your own from then on, not combined with your former partner's. If you have separated but can't yet move out, the "separated under one roof" rules apply. See our article on separated under one roof and the Age Pension.

The home you left: exempt for up to 12 months

Normally, once you stop living in your home it stops being your exempt principal home. The DSS Social Security Guide has a specific rule for family violence. If you left because of domestic violence and your long-term living arrangements are uncertain, your absence is treated as temporary [9]. Your share of the home stays exempt, and you remain a homeowner, for up to 12 months.

After 12 months the home is no longer your principal home [9]. Your share of it then counts under the assets test. You are also assessed as a non-homeowner, which raises your full-pension assets limit from $333,000 to $600,000 (single, FY2026-27) [18]. That extra $267,000 often cushions much of the impact.

Rent Assistance. Homeowners who are temporarily away from home generally can't get Rent Assistance. The DSS Guide makes an exception for people affected by family and domestic violence who take refuge in a refuge, crisis or emergency accommodation, or in another person's home. Rent Assistance can be paid on that temporary accommodation [10]. Once the home stops being your principal home, ordinary Rent Assistance rules apply. In FY2026-27 a single pensioner gets 75 cents for each dollar of fortnightly rent above $157.80, up to $223.80 a fortnight [21].

If the home's value pushes you over the limit: asset hardship rules

If your share of a valuable home cuts or stops your pension, you may be able to apply under the asset hardship provisions. Under these, an asset you can't sell or borrow against can be disregarded. The DSS Guide lists situations where this is accepted, including [11]:

• a jointly owned home you have fled because of domestic violence
• an asset subject to a pending property settlement or court order
• a jointly owned asset where the co-owner refuses to consent to a sale.

You must also be in severe financial hardship. For a single Age Pension recipient, that means readily available funds (bank accounts, shares, managed investments) under $32,180.20 (FY2026-27, from 20 September 2026) and other income below the pension rate [13]. Services Australia may count a notional income on your share of the property instead [12]. That notional income is not assessed if you have clear evidence that your former partner, who still lives there, refuses to pay rent while the property settlement is pending. A letter from their solicitor is the example the Guide gives. To apply, you phone Services Australia on your payment line [13].

When the property settlement happens, assets you transfer under a court order or property settlement are not treated as gifts under the deprivation rules [14]. Any money or property you receive is then assessed in the normal way.

Worked example: Joan, 72

Joan and Ray are homeowners on the full couple pension ($933.00 a fortnight each). Their home is worth $1.1 million in joint names. They have $60,000 in joint savings and $30,000 of cars and contents. Joan leaves because of Ray's violence and stays with her sister. Her share of their other assets is $30,000 in savings plus $10,000 for her car and belongings.

• First 12 months. Joan is single and still treated as a homeowner. Her $40,000 of assets is well under $333,000. Deemed income on her savings is $30,000 × 1.75% = $525 a year, about $20 a fortnight, well under the $226 income free area [19][20]. She gets the full single rate of $1,237.70, $304.70 a fortnight more than before.
• After 12 months, settlement still pending. Her half of the home ($550,000) now counts. That brings her total to $590,000, still under the $600,000 non-homeowner limit, so she keeps the full pension. She now rents at $460 a fortnight, which entitles her to the maximum Rent Assistance of $223.80. Her total becomes $1,461.50.
• If the home were worth $1.5 million, her share would be $750,000 and her total $790,000. That is $190,000 over the limit. At $3 a fortnight per $1,000, it cuts her pension by $570, to $891.50 including Rent Assistance [18]. In that position she may wish to ask about the hardship provisions above.

One-off help in the first weeks

Crisis Payment (Services Australia). This is a non-refundable payment equal to one week of your maximum basic rate, not including supplements [3][5]. For a single Age Pension recipient that is $567.70 (from 20 September 2026). To be eligible [2]:

• You left home because of family and domestic violence. Or the violent family member left or was removed by police, or you are legally prevented from returning.
• "Family member" includes a partner or ex-partner, a parent, a child, a sibling or a grandparent. So it can apply to abuse by an adult son or daughter.
• You must contact Services Australia within 7 days of your living arrangements changing, then lodge the claim within 14 days.
• You must be in severe financial hardship, and a social worker will assess your claim.

The hardship test is strict. A single person's liquid assets must be under two weeks of their maximum rate. For a single pensioner that is $1,237.70, or more if you get Rent Assistance [4]. Liquid assets include money you can access. If savings sit in a joint account you can't safely use, tell the social worker. You can get up to four Crisis Payments in 12 months for these circumstances combined [3]. For the related advance payment rules, see our article on Centrelink advance payments and hardship.

Leaving Violence Program (Department of Social Services). Since 1 July 2025 this program has offered up to $5,000 (indexed annually). Up to $1,500 is paid as cash and the rest as goods and services. It also offers up to 12 weeks of safety planning and referrals [15]. It is only for intimate partner violence, not abuse by other family members. You must be experiencing financial stress, and you must have changed living arrangements in the past 12 weeks or plan to. Call 1800 253 283 [15][16]. DSS warns that fake look-alike websites exist, so use the official contacts.

What this means for you

Questions worth considering, ideally with a social worker or adviser:

• Is my Centrelink record linked to the other person, through a nominee, shared myGov access or an address? What needs separating first?
• Am I likely to return home? Is my long-term housing still uncertain?
• What is my share of the home worth, and would it push me over $600,000 once the 12 months are up?
• Is a property settlement under way, and do I have evidence (such as a solicitor's letter) that rent isn't being paid?
• Do I have money I can actually access in the next fortnight?

Financial abuse often comes with other abuse. Our article on financial abuse of older people covers warning signs. For dividing super, see superannuation splitting on divorce.

Where to go next

• Services Australia: call your regular payment line and ask for a social worker. You can also ask about Crisis Payment and asset hardship [2][13].
• 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732, 24/7), 1800 ELDERHelp (1800 353 374), Family Relationship Advice Line (1800 050 321) and free financial counselling through Financial Counselling Australia [16].
• A family lawyer for property settlement and any intervention order.
• A licensed financial adviser for how a settlement or a move affects your pension over time.

Sources

1. Services Australia — Crisis Payment for extreme circumstances family and domestic violence
2. Services Australia — Who can get Crisis Payment for extreme circumstances family and domestic violence
3. Services Australia — How much Crisis Payment for extreme circumstances family and domestic violence you can get
4. Services Australia — Severe financial hardship for Crisis Payment
5. DSS, Social Security Guide 1.2.6.30 — Crisis payment (CrP) description
6. Services Australia — How to protect yourself when you claim Crisis Payment
7. Services Australia — Keeping your information safe
8. Services Australia — Updating your relationship status
9. DSS, Social Security Guide 4.6.3.60 — Exempting the principal home: temporary vacation of property (version 1.345, 3 November 2026)
10. DSS, Social Security Guide 3.8.1.90 — Temporary accommodation & Rent Assistance
11. DSS, Social Security Guide 4.6.7.50 — Unrealisable assets: unable or unreasonable to sell or borrow against
12. DSS, Social Security Guide 4.6.7.90 — Notional ordinary income: non-farm property & other assets
13. Services Australia — Asset hardship provisions (Age Pension)
14. DSS, Social Security Guide 4.1.5 — Deprivation related to deceased estates, superannuation funds & separation
15. Department of Social Services — Leaving Violence Program
16. Services Australia — Help from other places for family and domestic violence
17. Services Australia — How much Age Pension you can get
18. Services Australia — Assets test for Age Pension
19. Services Australia — Income test for Age Pension
20. Services Australia — Deeming
21. Services Australia — How much Rent Assistance you can get