Consumer prices fell by 1.9 per cent in the June quarter,taking annual inflation to minus 0.3 per cent.
"Based on the calculation for indexation,if it's negative,we don't reduce the pension but we also don't increase it,"DSS deputy secretary Nathan Williamson said.
He could not say how long pensioners would have to wait until their payments did go up.
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"I'm not in a position to say that because we have to wait to see the broader economic outcomes,"he said.
JobSeeker payments,which mostly go to unemployed people,also won't rise in September because,like pensions,they are linked to the consumer price index.
"It all comes down to the different formulas,the different statutory formulas which are applied,"acting deputy secretary Shane Bennett said.