Income support supplement

Income support supplement provides regular income in addition to the war widow’s or widower’s pension for Australian war widows and widowers with limited means.  This includes wholly dependent partners under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 (MRCA) with limited means.

There is no age requirement for income support supplement eligibility. The payment may also be granted on the basis of invalidity if you are permanently incapacitated for work.

The payment is subject to an income and assets test and a ceiling rate. The ceiling rate of ISS is indexed in March and September each year to take into account changes to the cost of living and/or average wages. Blind income support supplement recipients are exempt from the income and assets tests and are paid at the ceiling rate. 

When working out your rate of ISS, your war widow’s or widower’s pension from DVA (or equivalent foreign pension), and any disability pensions paid by other governments are counted as income for pension purposes.

You cannot receive income support supplement from DVA as well as a service pension, age pension or any other social security pension or benefit. 

See also:

• IS03 Income support supplement overview (PDF 131kB)
• IS04 How to claim for income support supplement (PDF 98kB)

Information about eligibility and how to make a claim is available online.

Detailed information about pensions, allowances and other payments can be found in You and Your Pension