Work Bonus - How it works - Services Australia

If you don’t work

If you don’t work we’ll add $300 to your Work Bonus balance each fortnight. We’ll stop adding to your Work Bonus balance once it reaches $7,800.

If you start working, we’ll use your Work Bonus eligible income to reduce your Work Bonus balance. We’ll do this before we reduce your pension.

We’ll reduce your eligible income to zero when you earn less than $300 a fortnight.

When you earn $300 a fortnight, we’ll use your $300 Work Bonus to reduce your employment income to zero. We won’t change your Work Bonus balance.

You need to tell us how much you earn. We use this information to apply the Work Bonus and income test.

Your partner’s assessable income can change with the Work Bonus.

Active participation means you’re doing work that involves effort. This is the opposite of income from passive involvement.

Page last updated: 12 December 2019