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The maximum Work Bonus balance you can accrue is $11,800.
You may get a $4,000 credit to your Work Bonus balance when you claim if you’re eligible and haven’t already received one.
Each payment has different rules. If you get Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension, you’re still subject to normal work rules for those payments.
Your Work Bonus eligible income is less than $300 in a fortnight
You have $300 of Work Bonus available each fortnight, which can accrue up to the maximum amount.
When your Work Bonus eligible income is less than $300 a fortnight, we’ll reduce your income to zero.
Example
Sarah started a short-term contract with an income of $200 a fortnight. Sarah’s income is less than the available Work Bonus of $300 for the fortnight. We’ll apply $200 of the Work Bonus to her eligible income. This will mean that Sarah’s contract income won’t reduce her payment in that fortnight. We’ll also increase Sarah’s Work Bonus balance by $100.
Your Work Bonus eligible income is $300 or more in a fortnight
Work Bonus eligible income is $300 in a fortnight
We’ll use your $300 Work Bonus amount to reduce your eligible income to zero. Your Work Bonus eligible income won’t reduce your pension payment amount or change your Work Bonus balance.
Work Bonus eligible income is more than $300 in a fortnight
We’ll use your Work Bonus to reduce your eligible income by $300. We’ll then reduce the remaining eligible income by any Work Bonus balance you have. Then we’ll apply the income test to your remaining income amount.
Example
Tim’s Work Bonus eligible income is $400 a fortnight. We’ll apply the $300 Work Bonus amount to his eligible income. This leaves Tim with $100 of assessable income.
If Tim’s Work Bonus balance is greater than $100 we’ll use that to reduce his eligible income to zero. This means Tim has no Work Bonus eligible income to assess for the income test this fortnight.
If Tim has no Work Bonus balance, we’ll apply the income test to the remaining $100 of his assessable income. Depending on Tim’s circumstances, we may reduce his pension this fortnight.