There is no mandatory retirement age in Australia. You don’t have to retire. It is just an option you have once you reach a certain age.
Retirement Age in Australia
Australia has no official retirement age. You can work as long as you like. But if you want to access your super or claim the age pension, then you must have reached a certain age before you can do that.
To access your super, you must have reached your preservation age. And to claim the government age pension you must have reached your pension age.
What your preservation and pension ages actually are depends on your date of birth.
Perservation Age
To claim your super you must have at least reached your preservation age, unless you have met a special condition of release that allows you earlier access to your super under special circumstances like severe financial hardship or permanent disability.
The minimum preservation age is 55 years if born before July 1960 and 60 if born in July 1964 or later with a staged transition for anybody born in between these dates as follows:
56 if born between July 1960 and June 1961.
57 if born between July 1961 and June 1962.
58 if born between July 1962 and June 1963.
59 if born between July 1963 and June 1964.
Pension Age
To qualify for the age pension you need to meet four conditions. And one of these conditions is that you have reached pension age.
Your pension age depends on your date of birth. It is 65 years if born before July 1952 (and even younger for women born before 1949) and 67 if born in July 1957 or later with a stage transition in 6 months increments for anybody born between these dates.
65 years and 6 months if born July 1952 to December 1953
66 years if born between 1954 and June 1955
66 years and 6 months if born July 1955 and December 1956
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Disclaimer: numba does not provide specific financial or tax advice in this article. All information on this website is of a general nature only. It might no longer be up to date or correct. You should contact us directly or seek other accredited tax advice when considering whether the information is suitable to your circumstances.
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Last Updated on 14 March 2020
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card 
