One of the most important things I like to look at when assessing ASX dividend shares is the reliability of the dividend.
If I'm investing in a business because of passive income considerations, then I want to see that the payments are likely to continue flowing even during difficult economic circumstances.
If a company is growing its payout, then it's obviously not reducing it. Plus, the growth of the dividend payments means the business is delivering us greater cash flow into the bank account.
Dividend growth is not guaranteed, which is why it's so special that the below ASX dividend shares have delivered investors a growing stream of payments for a number of years.
APA Group (ASX: APA)
APA is the business with the second-longest payout growth streak on the ASX. Impressively, it has increased its payout every year for the last 20 years.
This business owns a diversified portfolio of energy assets across Australia. Its key asset group is gas pipelines across Australia. It also owns gas processing facilities, gas storage, gas-powered energy generation, electricity transmission assets, solar farms and wind farms.
The ASX dividend share pays for its resilient distribution from the cash flow its portfolio generates. The cash flow is growing from a mixture of an expanding energy portfolio and inflation-linked revenue increases.
In FY26, it has guided it will increase its payout to 58 cents per security, which translates into a forward distribution yield of 6.2%, at the time of writing.
Future Generation Australia Ltd (ASX: FGX)
Future Generation is a listed investment company (LIC) that has increased its dividend every year since 2025 – it has delivered a decade of increases.
It's invested in 16 actively-managed funds, with at least 400 underlying securities across different sectors. This gives the ASX dividend share excellent diversification attributes.
Pleasingly, the LIC doesn't charge any management fees. Instead, it donates 1% of its net assets each year to charities focused on helping Australian youths. There are no performance fees either.
At the end of October 2025, its portfolio had delivered an average return per year of 9.9%, outperforming the average return of 8.7% per year for the ASX share market benchmark.
Its FY25 dividend is 7.2 cents per share, translating into a grossed-up dividend yield of 7.9%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
The leader of dividend growth on the ASX is Soul Patts. This investment conglomerate has hiked its annual dividend per share every year since 1998. It has also paid a dividend every year since it listed over 120 years ago, including through the world wars, pandemics and economic crashes.
Its diversified portfolio of assets means the business can call on its (investment income) cash flow to come from a variety of industries.
These largely uncorrelated investments give Soul Patts defensive earnings and the ability to continue growing its dividend even if the economy isn't performing that strongly.
Soul Patts regularly makes new investments for its portfolio, adding further diversification and long-term growth potential.
The FY25 dividend payout translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 4%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.
