Superannuation is a way of saving for your retirement.
Due to it being for this very specific purpose, there are lots of rules around accessing your super. Let’s have a look at when you can access your super:
You are 65 years old
If you’ve turned 65, you can access your super, even if you’re still working.
Being at least 65 means you can access all the super you’ve built up to this point plus any future contributions that go into your super in the future. It is all completely accessible to you.
You are considered to be “retired”
There are specific definitions for the meaning of ‘retire’ under super legislation.
You are at least 60 years old and you have terminated an employment arrangement
- This can mean that you end working at your one and only current job. The classic idea of retirement!
- It can also be that you end your employment with one job to start working at another job.
- Or it can be that you had a main job with a side job and you end your employment with one of those jobs, even if you keep working at the other job.
So you don’t need to actually stop working or even reduce your working hours to a minimum under this condition. As long as you end an employment arrangement after you’ve turned 60, you meet this condition.
You will be able to access the super you’ve built up to this point, but any contributions that come into your account in future if you are still working, or return to work, will be locked away until you meet another condition of release, such as turning 65, or ending another employment arrangement.
If you’re under 65 and want to take your super, you need to be very careful that you meet all of the conditions. There are severe penalties for illegal early access of super.
You meet a different condition of release
Your super is also accessible if you meet this conditions of release:
Reaching age 60 AND opening a Transition to Retirement Income Stream
You could use some or all of your super to open a Transition to Retirement Income Stream. This allows you to draw a regular income from your Income Stream while you are still working.
There are rules regarding the minimum and maximum you can take out of a Transition to Retirement Income Stream (eg a maximum of 10% of your balance at the start of the financial year). You can find out more about Transition to Retirement in our Transition to Retirement video.
You die
If you die, your super will no longer be locked away. It will be able to be released to the appropriate beneficiary (or beneficiaries). Read our article about who gets your super if you die to learn more.
You meet other special circumstances (early release)
There are other special circumstances where, if you are eligible, you might be able to access some of your super, or receive a benefit from super, before you reach preservation age. They include:
- You are temporarily incapacitated.
- You are permanently incapacitated.
- You are suffering severe financial hardship
- You meet the conditions under ‘compassionate grounds’
- You have a terminal medical condition
- You are participating in the First Home Super Saver Scheme
You can read more about the criteria for each of these circumstances on the ATO website and in our article “Early Access To Super“.
ElectricSuper members are also permitted to access their super from age 55. However, there are tax implications for doing this. We recommend that you speak to us and to your financial planner before you access your super to make sure you understand the implications to you for accessing your super before the age of 65.
If you meet a condition of release, you can request to release your super by using the appropriate form for your needs from our website. Find our forms here.
Preservation age
Prior to 1 July 2024, there was also another ‘condition of release’ under which you may have been able to access your super. That condition of release relied on your ‘preservation age’. The preservation age was a sliding scale that, depending on your date of birth, allowed you to access your super at an age between 55-60. If you accessed your super under the ‘preservation age’ rule before you were 60, you needed to sign a declaration that you were intending to permanently retire. From 1 July 2024, the age that all people are allowed to access their super, is age 60 and the requirement to sign the declaration that you are intending to permanently retire no longer applies.
Members of ElectricSuper are permitted under ElectricSuper’s Rules to access super from age 55, however. Please note that taxation applies if you access super before you reach age 60.