Does my house count for the Age Pension if I move overseas?

The first 12 months away

Not for the first 12 months of a temporary absence. Services Australia keeps treating it as your principal home, so it stays exempt from the assets test and you are assessed as a homeowner.

Still overseas after 12 months? Then the home becomes an assessable asset. Leaving to live overseas for good is different again, and the 12 months doesn’t apply at all. Services Australia’s staff guidance treats that as leaving your home permanently, and your homeowner status is updated when you move.

How does a trip differ from a move?

It comes down to whether your absence is temporary. A winter away, a long stay or a trial year is temporary. Leaving to live in another country is not.

Your situation	What happens to your home for the Age Pension
Away on a temporary trip, up to 12 months	Still your principal home. Exempt from the assets test. Homeowner limits apply.
Still overseas after 12 months	Your home becomes an assessable asset.
You leave to live overseas	Your homeowner status is updated when you move. If you have not bought another home, you are assessed as a non-homeowner.
Your partner still lives in the home	Services Australia says it does not count it as an asset.

According to Services Australia’s operational guidance, you still get the 12-month exemption even if you say your trip might run longer than that. Longer exemptions may apply if something beyond your control stops you getting home.

There are two clocks running. The 12-month home rule is separate from the 6, 12 and 26-week pension rules. After 12 weeks away the Pension Supplement stops, but your house is still exempt until the 12-month mark.

What if I rent it out while I am away?

The rent counts as income. Services Australia takes the gross rent, subtracts the deductions it allows (loan interest, rates and upkeep, for example) and puts what’s left into the income test. If the property makes a loss, the income is counted as zero.

On its real estate page, Services Australia says it does not count your home as an asset while you are away temporarily, and that rent from a former home counts as income. We couldn’t find anything there saying that renting the home out ends the 12-month exemption. Ask Services Australia to confirm how it applies to you, and how much the rent would lower your pension. Our guide on whether to keep, rent or sell the family home covers the tax side too.

Why does being a homeowner matter?

Homeowners get lower assets test limits, because their home is exempt. Once your home counts as an asset, you lose that exemption and its value is added to everything else you own, which can push you over a limit.

Assets test limits from 20 September 2026	Homeowner	Non-homeowner
Single: pension starts to reduce above	A$333,000	A$600,000
Single: pension stops above	A$745,750	A$1,012,750
Couple, combined: pension starts to reduce above	A$499,000	A$766,000
Couple, combined: pension stops above	A$1,121,000	A$1,388,000

Assets you hold outside Australia count too.

An example, not real people

Lorraine is 72, single, and owns her house, worth about A$900,000. She has A$300,000 in savings and other assets. She plans a long trial stay in Chiang Mai.

When	Her house	Assets that count
Months 1 to 12 away	Exempt, still her principal home	A$300,000, under the A$333,000 homeowner limit
Still overseas after 12 months	Becomes an assessable asset	About A$1,200,000, above every cut-off in the table

On these figures, her pension could stop after 12 months away unless she comes home or something else changes. That’s a big swing from one month to the next, and Services Australia can tell her the actual figure. If she rents the house out, the rent counts as income from the start as well.

Do I need to tell Services Australia?

Yes. Services Australia says you must tell it if you will be away for more than 6 weeks, or if you are going to live in another country. You can do it online through myGov, by phone on 132 300, or at a service centre.

Changes to your real estate, such as a change in its value or a sale, need reporting within 14 days. If you are planning a move for good, our guide to moving overseas permanently on the Age Pension sets out what else changes the day you leave, and our page for homeowners brings the house questions together.

What this means for you depends on

• Whether your time away is a trip or a move to live overseas.
• How long you are away, measured against the 12-month mark.
• Your partner staying in the home, if they do.
• Rent, if you let the home out, and how much.
• What your home and other assets are worth, against the homeowner and non-homeowner limits.
• Anything outside your control that stops you coming home on time.