Who can get it

You must meet all of the following. You:

• or your partner are Age Pension age or older.
• get or are eligible to get a qualifying pension
• own, or your partner owns, real estate in Australia that you can use as security for the loan
• have adequate and appropriate insurance covering the real estate offered as security
• aren't bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement.

To get a loan, you’ll also need to agree to the terms and conditions of the PLS. If you have a partner, they’ll need to agree to you applying for a loan. Your partner will need to agree within the application and sign it stating they understand the terms and conditions.

You can get a loan even if your income and assets mean you wouldn’t normally get one of the qualifying pensions.

You can use our pension loan eligibility calculator to see if you might want to apply.

If you’re getting an asset hardship payment

If you get a payment under the asset hardship provisions, you can’t get a loan under the PLS at the same time. You can still apply for the PLS. If your application is successful, you can choose which payment is best for you.

Next: How much you can get

The loan payment you can get each fortnight under the Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) depends on how much pension you get.