What is What is the PBLCI??

PBLCI stands for the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index. It is a measure of how the cost of living changes for households that rely on a pension or an income support payment. It is published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The PBLCI is different from the ordinary Consumer Price Index, or CPI. The CPI tracks prices for households in general, while the PBLCI is built around what pensioner and benefit households actually spend their money on, including a bigger share for essentials.

When pensions are indexed, they are adjusted by whichever is higher, the CPI or the PBLCI. This means pensioners get the better of the two cost-of-living measures.

How it affects your payment

The PBLCI protects pensions when the cost of living for pensioners rises faster than prices for the general community. In years when essentials like rent and power go up sharply, the PBLCI can be higher than the CPI, so the pension rises by the larger amount.

It applies to pension payments such as the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension for people 21 and over and Carer Payment. After the higher of CPI or PBLCI is applied, the single pension is also checked against the wage benchmark, MTAWE. Allowances like JobSeeker only use the CPI.

Example

Suppose in one year general prices rise a little, but the cost of living for pensioner households rises more because rent and power went up. The pension is adjusted by the higher of the two measures, so it rises by the larger pensioner figure rather than the smaller general one. A JobSeeker recipient, whose payment only uses the CPI, gets the smaller rise.

Related terms

• MTAWE
• Income free area

Rates current as of 17 July 2026. Source: DSS / Services Australia. Last checked 17 July 2026.