Centrelink Gifting Rules: How Much Can You Give Away?

You can give away as much as you like, but if you get a payment such as the Age Pension, gifts above Centrelink's gifting free areas may still count towards your income and assets tests. The free areas are $10,000 in one financial year and $30,000 over 5 financial years, and the 5-year total can't include more than $10,000 in any single financial year. They are the same whether you are single or part of a couple. Anything over the limits is counted in your assets test and deemed under your income test for 5 years from the date of the gift. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

What counts as a gift?

Services Australia treats it as a gift when you sell or transfer income or an asset and get less than its value, or nothing, in return. If you get money, goods or services of the same value, it is not a gift, and Services Australia calls that adequate consideration. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

Spending money on normal costs is not gifting, and the examples given are buying a fridge, a holiday or home improvements. Things that may be counted include buying your child a car as a present, forgiving a loan owed to you, repaying a child's business loan you guaranteed, and donating to a church or charity. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

How do the $10,000 and $30,000 limits work?

Both limits apply together, and Services Australia says your payment may be affected if the total of your gifts goes over them. Its worked example shows how the excess is tracked: a $13,000 gift made on 1 June 2020 was $3,000 over the yearly limit, and that $3,000 was counted as a financial asset until 31 May 2025. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

The 5 years matter in another way too. Services Australia says any gifts you made in the past 5 years may be included in your income and assets tests. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026) If you are claiming for the first time, a gift may not be counted if you can show you did not expect to need a payment when you made it, and that is decided case by case. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

What does deprivation mean?

Deprivation and gifting describe the same thing. Services Australia puts it plainly: another word for deprived assets is gifting, meaning you gave away an asset without getting something of at least equal value in return. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

Income works in a similar way. If you give away or refuse an increase in your income without adequate consideration, Services Australia calls it deprived income, includes it in your income test and can keep doing so indefinitely. Its example is someone who turns down a $1,000 a year rise in a super pension, and the $1,000 is still counted each year. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

Can you put the house in the kids' names?

General information only, not legal advice. It is not financial advice either. Transferring a home can affect Centrelink payments, tax, duty and family arrangements in ways that depend on your circumstances and your state. Please get your own legal and financial advice before anything is signed.

Your principal home, and up to the first 2 hectares of land it is on, generally isn't counted in the assets test. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026) Giving it away may change that. If you transfer an asset for less than its value, the difference may be assessed as a gift. Services Australia's own example is a property worth $380,000 sold to a child for $200,000, where the $180,000 difference is assessed as a gift. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

The exception that matters here is a granny flat interest. If you transfer your house for less than its value but get a right to live there for life, Services Australia says it may not be a gift. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026) Services Australia recommends getting financial and legal advice before you create one, and a legal document confirming your right to live there for life. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

If you leave within 5 years for a reason you could have expected when you set it up, the gifting rules will apply. Unexpected reasons, such as sudden illness, family relationship breakdown, elder abuse or property damage, may not trigger them. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

Centrelink is only one part of it. In Victoria, for example, the State Revenue Office says land transfer duty is worked out on the greater of the price paid and the market value, and a transfer between relatives needs the market value declared with an independent valuation. Other states and territories have their own rules. (Source: sro.vic.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

Do you need to tell Centrelink about a gift?

Yes. Services Australia suggests calling your regular payment line before you or your partner make a gift, to check whether it will change your payment. If you don't report your income regularly, you must tell it about a gift within 14 days. If you do, you tell it on or before your reporting date for the period when the gift happened. Otherwise you may be overpaid. (Source: servicesaustralia.gov.au, checked 6 Nov 2026)

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Keep reading: how to get your affairs in order, talking to your parents about their estate plans, enduring power of attorney, and what to organise before a parent dies

Educational content only. Not legal, financial or tax advice. Estate laws vary across Australian states and territories. Always consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.

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