What is the retirement age in Australia?

“What is Australia’s retirement age?” or “What age can I retire?” are common questions. The simple answer is “it depends”.

There’s no such thing as a ‘retirement age’ in Australia, nor any laws that dictate when someone can retire. In theory, you can choose to retire whenever you want, although there are some age-based rules that impact when many Australians choose to retire. More on those later.

Rather than thinking about what age you can retire, better questions are “When should I retire?” and “When can I afford to retire?”. These are very personal matters that depend principally on when you can financially support the lifestyle you want to lead in retirement unless ill health or other factors make the decision for you.

So, at what age do most Australians retire?

The average age of retirement

The average age of retirement in Australia has been rising steadily for decades, from age 53.5 in 2000 to 64.8 in 2022, with women tending to retire one or two years before men on average. These are the most recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and the trend towards retiring later is likely to continue.

For a variety of reasons, today’s retirees are likely to stay in the workforce for longer than previous generations. In fact, the workforce participation rate for those aged 65-plus more than doubled in the 20 years from 2001, from 6% to 15% in 2021. Improved health outcomes, greater workforce flexibility allowing a gradual transition into retirement and higher average levels of education leading to less physical work are contributing factors to a trend that is likely to continue.

But for some people there are also financial imperatives to work a little longer. These may include:

• We are living longer and need to save more for our retirement or run the risk that our savings will run out
• Our lifestyle expectations are higher than they were for previous generations
• More of us are carrying a mortgage and other debt later in life
• Our children are leaving home later, leaving us with less time to boost our retirement savings
• The age of eligibility for the Age Pension has increased (to 67).

This last point puts a floor under retirement decisions for many Australians. Given that today’s retirees have not had the full impact of compulsory super throughout their working life, the Age Pension still supplements the income of around 65% of retirees.

When can I access my super or the Age Pension?

In practice, there are two age rules that impact when most Australians can retire because they allow you to access funds to support your retirement. These are:

• Preservation age: This is the age when you can access your super provided you have also met a condition of release (such as retiring or turning 65). From 1 July 2024 the preservation age increased to 60 (for those born from 1 July 1964) and stays there.
• Age Pension age: This is the age when you can access Australia’s Age Pension, provided you’re an Australian resident and you pass both the income test and the assets test. From 1 January 2024 the age of eligibility for the Age Pension increased to 67 for people born from 1 January 1957, and will remain at age 67 from now on.

Retirement age calculator

If you need help working out your own preservation age and Age Pension age, please use our retirement age calculator below.

The bottom line

Deciding when you should retire is an important financial decision. You can use the preservation and Age Pension eligibility ages as a guide, but it’s important to consider your financial circumstances and goals. A good starting point is to follow our guide How to plan for your retirement.  

You may also consider seeking independent professional advice. Doing this will help you make a decision that will enable you to lead a lifestyle you can afford in retirement.

The information contained in this article is general in nature.