Pensioner Concession Card

You can get a card if you get:

• Age Pension
• Bereavement Allowance
• Carer Payment
• Disability Support Pension
• Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance and are single, caring for a dependent child and looking for work
• Parenting Payment single

Your Parenting Payment single ends when your youngest child turns 8. You can keep your card for 12 weeks after your Parenting Payment ends.

You don’t need to apply for a Pensioner Concession Card. We'll send you one if you are eligible.

What may be different

If you are 60 years of age or older you can get a card if for more than 9 months you have been getting:

• Newstart Allowance
• Parenting Payment partnered
• Partner Allowance
• Sickness Allowance
• Special Benefit, or
• Widow Allowance

You may also get a card if you have a partial capacity to work and you are getting:

• Newstart Allowance
• Parenting Payment partnered
• Youth Allowance as a job seeker

If you find a job, you may be able to keep your card for a short time.

We may have cancelled your pension payment on 1 January 2017 because of changes to the pension assets test. If we sent you a non-income tested Low Income Health Care Card, you will regain entitlement to a Pensioner Concession Card on 9 October 2017.

You can use this card in the same way as you did before your pension payment was cancelled.

Your Pensioner Concession Card will be sent to you from 9 October 2017. You can continue to use your non-income tested Low Income Health Care Card until your Pensioner Concession Card arrives in the mail.

With your card you can get:

• cheaper medicine under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
• bulk billed doctor visits – this is up to your doctor
• a bigger refund for medical costs when you reach the Medicare Safety Net
• help with hearing services – read more about the Hearing Services Program on the Department of Health website
• discounts to redirect your mail through Australia Post

Your dependent child may be able to get some of these.

Other benefits

Your state or territory government and local council may offer you more. They may lower your:

• electricity and gas bills
• property and water rates
• public transport fare
• motor vehicle registration
• train fare

Read more about what you can get where you live on the Australia.gov.au website.

As long as you’re eligible, we'll send you a new card 4 to 6 weeks before the expiry date on your current card. The card is valid for 2 years.

Have your concession or health care card with you everywhere you take your phone.

Read more about the Digital Wallet

We need to know about changes that could stop you from having a card.

If you don’t tell us when these changes happen, you may be doing the wrong thing.

You must tell us if:

• you marry or start or stop living with your partner
• you start or stop being the main carer of a child
• your home address changes
• your income changes
• your assets change
• your partner’s income or assets change
• you don’t have to lodge a tax return
• your work or study load changes
• you are leaving Australia
• anything else happens that might change your payment

How and when to tell us

The easiest way to tell us about changes is through our self service options.

You need to:

• tell us within 14 days of the change
• make sure your details are up to date in myGov

It’s never too late to report a change.

We will cancel you card if you stop getting a Centrelink payment. However, you may be able to keep your card for a short time after you return to work.

If you don’t tell us

If you don’t tell us about changes in your life, we may pay you too much. If this happens you’ll have to pay the money back, plus a fee.

There are limits on how long your card remains current when you travel outside Australia.

Read more about Health Care Card and Pensioner Concession Card

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