Who can get it
Services Australia says there are certain requirements to be eligible for a scheme loan. It lists these, all of which must be met:
- “you or your partner are Age Pension age or older”
- “you get or are eligible to get a qualifying pension”
- “you or your partner own real estate in Australia you can use as security for the loan”
- “you or your partner, or any co-owner of the property, aren’t bankrupt or subject to a personal insolvency agreement”
- “you have adequate and appropriate insurance that covers the real estate offered as security.”
Services Australia counts the insurance as adequate when the cover equals at least 90% of what the buildings on the security property are worth.
A pension does not have to be paid. Services Australia lists two situations in which a person can get the loan, one of them being that they qualify under a qualifying pension’s rules but are paid none of it, for instance because income or assets over the threshold bring their rate to zero. For someone who doesn’t get a pension and is Age Pension age or older, Services Australia says the qualifying pension is the Age Pension. Someone receiving or qualified for Farm Household Allowance may be eligible if they would not qualify for the Age Pension because of their income and assets.
The borrower must agree to the scheme’s terms and conditions, and a partner must agree to the application. A person getting an asset hardship payment can still apply, but cannot be paid under both at the same time.
What is paid each fortnight
The borrower chooses the fortnightly amount, within a cap. For someone getting a pension, the loan and the pension together are capped each fortnight at 150% (1.5 times) of that person’s maximum pension rate, and if the pension changes, Services Australia adjusts the loan payments to keep the total under that line.
Someone who does not get a pension can still get a loan, with a fortnightly payment up to the full 150% of the maximum rate of their qualifying pension.
Payments continue until the loan balance reaches the maximum loan amount, the most that can be borrowed through the scheme; after that, nothing more is paid.
Lump sums
Since 1 July 2022, the loan can be taken as an advance payment, that is a lump sum, in addition to or instead of fortnightly payments. Choosing an advance may reduce the fortnightly loan amount for the next year, 26 fortnights.
How it grows over the years
The loan is repaid with interest and legal costs. Services Australia charges an annual rate that compounds each fortnight on the loan balance, until the loan is repaid in full; on 8 October 2026 it gave that rate as 3.95% a year. Like any compounding debt with no repayments, the balance climbs faster the longer it runs, as how the balance grows works through.
| Years after it is paid out | Owed |
|---|---|
| 0 | $10,000 |
| 5 | $12,182 |
| 10 | $14,839 |
| 15 | $18,077 |
| 20 | $22,021 |
How the table was workedBy hand, for this guide, reading the annual rate of 3.95% as one twenty-sixth of it charged each fortnight and added to the balance. The rate is held at the figure Services Australia gave on 8 October 2026 for the whole twenty years, and nothing is repaid. $10,000 is a round unit for the arithmetic, not an amount the scheme sets.
Each fortnightly payment starts its own compounding from the day it is paid, so a loan drawn every fortnight builds up in layers: the earliest payments have grown the most by the time the loan is settled.
A no negative equity guarantee applies: at settlement, the borrower or their estate repays no more than the property’s market value, less other mortgages or legitimate claims on it, with stated exceptions. Those are set out in the no negative equity protection.
While the loan runs
If there are significant changes to the insurance policy covering the property used as security, Services Australia must be told within 14 days. The loan can be repaid in part or in full at any time, and settling it follows the steps in when the loan ends.
For questions along the way, Services Australia points older Australians to its Centrelink older Australians line, for help with the Age Pension, a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, a Pensioner Concession Card or another service. Its number is on Services Australia’s repayment page.
Services Australia’s own word
Services Australia says the scheme may be used by a person and their partner to supplement their retirement income. On its eligibility page it adds one plain line:
“If you’re thinking of applying for the loan, you should get independent legal or financial advice.”
Services Australia, who can get a loan under the Home Equity Access Scheme