What does illness separated mean?
An illness-separated couple is a couple who cannot live together in their own home because one or both of them has an illness or a disability, or is frail aged. A common example is one partner moving into aged care while the other stays at home.
Even though the couple still count as a couple, their living costs are higher because they are running two homes or paying for care. To recognise this, each partner in an illness-separated couple can be paid at the higher single rate.
Illness separated is not the same as a couple who have separated their relationship. The couple are still together; they just cannot live in the same home because of illness, disability or frailty.
How it affects your payment
Being assessed as illness separated usually means each partner is paid at the single rate rather than the lower couple rate, which increases the total the couple receive. This applies to pension payments such as the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment.
The income and assets tests still treat the couple as a couple, so their income and assets are generally combined. It is the rate that changes to the single rate, not the way the means tests are applied.
Example
Imagine an older couple where one partner moves into a nursing home and the other stays in the family home. If Services Australia assesses them as illness separated, each is paid at the single pension rate instead of the couple rate. Their combined income and assets are still tested as a couple, but they receive the higher single rate each to help with the cost of two homes.
Age Pension for an illness-separated couple
| Situation | Each partner per fortnight | Combined income limit |
|---|---|---|
| Couple living together | $933 | $4,128 |
| Couple separated by illness | $1,237.70 | $5,346.80 |
- Separated by illness, each partner is paid the single rate of $1,237.70, $304.70 (32.66%) more than the couple rate of $933.00.
- Their combined income can reach $5,346.80 before the pension stops, $1,218.80 higher than for a couple living together.
Related terms
Figures include every indexation up to 20 September 2026; each shows the date it took effect. Next scheduled indexation 1 January 2027. Source: DSS / Services Australia. Last checked 23 September 2026.