Disability Support Pension Decoded — Australia's DSP in plain English
The Disability Support Pension, known as DSP, is an Australian Government income support payment paid through Services Australia and Centrelink. It is for people aged 16 to Age Pension age whose permanent physical, intellectual, or psychiatric condition stops them from working 15 or more hours a week. It is not a payment for short-term illness, and it is not the same thing as disability funding for services: DSP replaces income, while other programs fund supports.
Qualifying is deliberately strict. A condition must be fully diagnosed, reasonably treated, and stabilised, it must be likely to last more than two years, it must score at least 20 points under the official Impairment Tables, and it must leave the person unable to work 15 or more hours a week in the next two years, even with training. Residence, income, and assets tests apply as well, except for people who are permanently blind, who are assessed under different rules.
Key numbers at a glance (maximum rates, from 20 September 2026)
- Single, aged 21 or older: $1,237.70 a fortnight, made up of a basic rate of $1,135.40, a maximum Pension Supplement of $88.20, and an Energy Supplement of $14.10.
- Each member of a couple: $933.00 a fortnight ($855.90 basic rate, $66.50 Pension Supplement, $10.60 Energy Supplement), or $1,866.00 combined.
- A couple separated due to ill health: each partner is paid at the single rate of $1,237.70 a fortnight.
- Income test: a single person can have up to $226 a fortnight of income before the pension reduces; for a couple the combined free area is $396 a fortnight.
- Assets test for a full pension: up to $333,000 for a single homeowner and $600,000 for a single non-homeowner; $499,000 and $766,000 respectively for a couple combined.
- Payment rhythm: DSP is paid fortnightly, and adult rates are updated on 20 March and 20 September each year.
The three ideas that explain almost every DSP decision
First, permanence. DSP is for conditions that are not expected to improve enough, within two years, to allow work of 15 hours a week or more. A serious injury that will heal, or a condition still being actively treated with a reasonable prospect of major improvement, will usually point to a different payment instead.
Second, function, not diagnosis alone. Having a diagnosis does not by itself qualify anyone. Services Australia looks at what the condition does to a person's ability to function and work, scored through the Impairment Tables and tested through a Job Capacity Assessment and, in many cases, a Disability Medical Assessment.
Third, the two different hour rules. The 15-hour rule decides whether you get DSP at all. Once you are receiving DSP, a different rule applies: you can generally work up to 30 hours a week in open employment, subject to the income test, without losing pensioner status. Confusing those two numbers is the most common misunderstanding about DSP, and the work capacity and working pages on this site keep them apart.
What this site covers
Each guide answers one question in full: who can claim, how the medical rules and Impairment Tables work, how the work capacity test is applied, what DSP pays and how the income and assets tests reduce it, how to claim through myGov and Centrelink, what happens when you work, what to report and what overpayments are, how reviews and appeals work, and how DSP differs from JobSeeker Payment, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and Carer Payment. The final page answers the myths people most often ask about, including whether working always ends DSP and whether an NDIS plan affects a DSP claim.