Applying Australian Age Pension, means-testing and retirement-income planning rules for 2026–27.

Professional reference and assessment | 2026–27

Course overview

This professional development material provides a structured approach to Australian Age Pension qualification, means testing, payment rates, superannuation interaction, housing, aged care and lawful retirement-income planning for 2026–27. It follows the practical sequence from establishing eligibility and classifying income and assets through calculating both means tests and considering special circumstances. The material includes the complete source tables, applied activities, two compact flowcharts, a practitioner toolkit and a final assessment suitable for later LearnDash import.

Course objectives

Apply a consistent review sequence to Age Pension eligibility, relationship status, income, assets and supplementary payments.
Classify income, financial investments, superannuation, real property, gifts and private entity interests for social security purposes.
Calculate and compare income-test and assets-test outcomes using the relevant 2026–27 settings.
Assess retirement-income decisions involving superannuation, housing, aged care and the Home Equity Access Scheme.
Maintain a professional evidence file and monitor rate, threshold and reporting changes throughout the financial year.

Learning Outcomes

You should be able to determine whether the age, residence and payability requirements are satisfied and identify the evidence required for a claim.
You should be able to calculate the Age Pension rate under the income test and assets test and apply deeming, the Work Bonus and gifting rules.
You should be able to distinguish income-tax treatment from social security treatment and classify common superannuation interests.
You should be able to assess the pension consequences of home sales, Rent Assistance, residential aged care and home-equity borrowing.
You should be able to evaluate lawful planning strategies, document constraints and complete an annual or event-driven review.

CPD/CPE compliance mapping

The following mapping shows how the learning outcomes align with common technical and professional development categories used by major Australian accounting and tax bodies. Practitioners should retain the completion record and assessment result and apply the current classification and record-keeping requirements of their own professional body. CPD/CPE compliance mapping

Body or framework	Relevant competency area	Mapped outcomes	Evidence of completion	Suggested classification
CPA Australia	Taxation, superannuation, retirement income, risk and professional skills.	Eligibility, means testing, tax interaction, housing, aged care and professional review.	Completion record, quiz result and retained professional notes.	Technical and professional development.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand	Tax, superannuation, risk, client analysis and practice capability.	Application of income, asset, superannuation, housing and reporting rules.	Completion record, quiz result and reflective application to client work.	Technical competence.
Institute of Public Accountants	Taxation, accounting, retirement income, compliance and public practice.	Means-test calculations, evidence, planning constraints and review controls.	Completion record, quiz result and practice workpaper.	Structured CPE.
Tax Practitioners Board	Australian taxation law and tax-practice issues affecting retirement income.	Income-tax treatment, superannuation interaction, records and lodgement-related decisions.	Course completion certificate and assessment result.	Relevant tax practitioner CPE.