Use this guide alongside the official service
Read the steps here first and keep the relevant documents or questions ready. Outside websites open in a new tab, so this guide stays here. To continue, return to the Pension Path tab or close the new tab.
If online steps are difficult, find phone, paper or in-person help.
Start with the basics
Services Australia needs evidence of identity and age, bank account and tax file number details, residence, relationship status, income and assets. If you have a partner, relevant information about them is also needed.
Use the official supporting-document checklist. A document may need a recent date or particular details; your own summary is not always sufficient.
Check the extra evidence that applies
- Overseas history: passports, visas, residence periods and foreign pensions.
- Rent or board: your accommodation arrangement, lease or requested rent evidence.
- Money and super: bank and investment statements, super balances and income-stream schedules.
- Property: ownership, market value and relevant secured debts.
- Business, trust or company interests: accounts, returns and details of control.
- Separation, nominee arrangements or permanent blindness: the specific authority or professional evidence requested.
Submit safely and keep records
- Check the claim's document list and match each request to the correct evidence.
- Submit through Services Australia's official online, paper or assisted route. Do not upload claimant documents to Pension Path.
- Keep copies and submission receipts, including when and how each document was supplied.
- If evidence is requested later, act within the stated period. Additional documents generally need to be provided within 14 days; contact Centrelink promptly if you cannot meet it.
If documents or online access are difficult
Ask Centrelink for help if your identity evidence is unavailable, you cannot upload files or your circumstances make a requested document unsafe to obtain. Phone or in-person assistance may provide a suitable route.
An interpreter or authorised nominee can help. A family member is not automatically entitled to act for you. Never give a helper your government account password.
Your next-step checklist
For your own notes. Ticks do not submit a claim or notify an agency.
Print or write down your steps if you prefer.
Your official next step
When you are ready, use the official instructions to apply or make your change. Keep this guide open while you work through the service. Follow that service's instructions and keep any confirmation it gives you.
Services Australia: documents to prepare (opens in a new tab)Official sources for this page
Guidance reviewed 5 October 2026. Source checks and content reviews are different: a successful download does not confirm that every rule is unchanged.
- Supporting documents for Age Pension (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- How to claim Age Pension (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Prove your identity with Centrelink (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Decide how to claim Age Pension (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Extra help when calling Services Australia (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
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