Who can apply, and when
Services Australia sorts the payments into two groups.
After 3 months on the payment
The pensions (Age Pension, Carer Payment and Disability Support Pension), plus JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance for job seekers and Farm Household Allowance.
At any time
Family Tax Benefit Part A and Mobility Allowance, plus the student payments: Austudy, ABSTUDY Living Allowance and Youth Allowance for students.
On the allowances (ABSTUDY, Austudy, Farm Household Allowance, Mobility Allowance, JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance), there is one advance in any 12 months. The exception is Parenting Payment for someone who became single in the past 28 days.
An advance is also refused to anyone who:
- is still repaying an advance received more than 12 months ago
- owes a debt to the Australian Government
- could not afford to repay it within 6 months
- has less available than the lowest advance amount
- is outside Australia
How much, as at October 2026
The limits depend on the payment. Here are three of them, in summary; the full list, including the rules for part-rate pensions and blended families, is on the Services Australia page.
| Payment | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|
| JobSeeker, Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY | $250 | $500 |
| Age Pension, Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment, single | $588.05 | $1,764.15 |
| Age Pension, Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment, part of a couple | $443.30 | $1,329.90 |
The pension figures move with pension rates each March and September. In any 6 months (13 fortnights), a pensioner can have one advance at the highest amount, up to two smaller ones, or three at the lowest. Pension advances can be paid in one go or in two instalments, as can the allowance advances in the first row. For Family Tax Benefit Part A, all advances together cannot go above $1,430.46.
Paying it back
Each fortnight’s repayment is the advance divided by 13. It starts on your next payday after the advance and comes out of your usual payment, with nothing to set up.
Worked example: two advances, repaid over 13 fortnights
Using the highest amounts in the table above, divided by 13 as Services Australia describes.
- JobSeeker advance of $500 ÷ 13
- $38.46
- Single pensioner’s advance of $1,764.15 ÷ 13
- $135.70
- Fortnights until each is repaid
- 13
Figures rounded to the cent.
You can repay early, or raise the repayment amount online or by calling your regular payment line, though Mobility Allowance repayments cannot be changed. If the payment stops before the advance is repaid, the money is still owed, and Services Australia says it will explain how to pay. If repaying becomes hard, it asks you to call your regular payment line about what help is available.
Applying
- Sign in to myGovApplying online needs a Centrelink online account linked to myGov. The Express Plus Centrelink app works too.
- Select Apply for AdvanceThe service says whether you can apply; if so, select Get Started and follow the prompts.
- Give your income and expensesServices Australia uses them to check that you can repay.
- Get the resultA receipt says whether the application succeeded, with a summary of the advance. If you think the decision is wrong, you can ask for it to be reviewed.
Without online access, Services Australia lists phone self service, the regular payment line or a service centre.
A separate advance for starting work
A Special Employment Advance, from $50 to $500, can help someone who has been on certain payments for at least 3 months and has found a job of at least 6 weeks that will cut their income support by at least half, but who cannot afford something needed to start, such as work boots or tools. It can also help when an employer has not yet paid wages that will reduce income support by at least half and will not pay within 2 days.
Other loans can come out of a Centrelink payment too. Centrelink recipients repay a Rentstart bond loan (ticket 01) through an automatic deduction each fortnight.