Age Pension age

Age Pension age is the age at which an Australian can claim the Age Pension, subject to meeting the other Age Pension rules. Australians retiring today can access the Age Pension from age 65 (for men) and since July 2013, from age 65 for women. The Age Pension age for women used to be 60 years but has steadily increased to 65 years, in line with the Age Pension age for men.

The Age Pension age has also risen for Australians born after a certain date.

For anyone born after June 1952, your Age Pension age will be older than 65 years. (The Age Pension age will remain at 65 for anyone born before July 1952.) If you were born after June 1952, then your Age Pension age depends on your specific date of birth.

The first shift upwards in Age Pension age will occur in July 2017 when the eligibility age increases to 65.5 years (for Australians born on or after 1 July 1952 and before January 1953), and then in six-month increments every 2 years, until it reaches the age of 67 years from 1 July 2023.

Note: The Liberal government wanted to increase Age Pension age to 70 years but has received no support from the ALP opposition or the minority parties. The Liberal government intended to increase the Age pension age in six-month increments (every 18 months) from July 2017, until it reached the age of 70 years from 1 July 2035.

For more specific information on your Age Pension age, see SuperGuide article Age Pension age increasing to 67 years (not 70 years).