Accessing Your Super in Australia (Before & After Retirement)

Written By James hayes

Summary

You can usually access super once you reach preservation age and retire, cease an employment arrangement after 60, or turn 65. Earlier access is only allowed under strict conditions, such as permanent incapacity or the First Home Super Saver Scheme. After 60, most benefits from taxed funds are usually tax-free.

Table of Contents

Introduction

For most households in the Sutherland Shire and Sydney CBD, super is a major retirement asset. Knowing when and how you can access it, and how withdrawals are taxed, is as important as building the balance.

This article explains the rules for accessing super before and after retirement for 2025–26. It complements:

James Hayes is an ASIC-licensed financial planner based in Caringbah, with over 15 years’ experience advising wealth builders, pre-retirees, and retirees across the Sutherland Shire and Greater Sydney. He does not assist with Centrelink Jobseeker support, debt consolidation using super, or schemes aimed at early super withdrawal outside legislated rules.

Understanding When You Can Access Your Super

Australian law restricts when super can be paid from a fund. Access is only allowed when a condition of release is met. 

Common conditions relevant to most readers include: 

There are also special early access conditions for situations such as permanent incapacity, terminal medical condition, severe financial hardship, and certain compassionate grounds. 

Not sure which rules apply to you? The Super Access Planning Workbook walks you through the key questions — preservation age, retirement timing — and helps you map out what you can access and when. A simple starting point before you make any decisions. 

The next sections separate “normal” retirement access from earlier access pathways.

Superannuation Conditions of Release in Simple Terms

Conditions of release are set in legislation and applied consistently across super funds and SMSFs. They determine whether benefits are preserved, restricted non-preserved, or unrestricted non-preserved. 

Preserved benefits are held until a condition of release is met. Once released, amounts generally become unrestricted non-preserved, which you can withdraw or use to start an income stream.

For most people, super becomes accessible through one of the following: 

  • Reaching preservation age and retiring 

  • Reaching preservation age and starting a TRIS 

  • Ceasing an employment arrangement after age 60 

  • Turning 65, even if still working

“Retirement” here has a specific meaning. If you are under 60, it usually means you stop gainful employment and intend not to return to work more than 10 hours per week. If you are 60 or over, ceasing a particular employment arrangement can be enough to release super tied to that job. 

These conditions are the focus for most 55–65-year-olds planning retirement income strategies, covered in more detail below.

Special Early Access Conditions

Some conditions of release allow earlier access, usually for specific, serious situations: 

  • Permanent incapacity 

  • Terminal medical condition 

  • Temporary incapacity (usually by income stream) 

  • Severe financial hardship 

  • Specific compassionate grounds (for example, medical treatment or preventing foreclosure) 

  • First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) 

  • Temporary resident permanently leaving Australia 

  • Small preserved balance under $200 on leaving a job 

These are tightly defined, require evidence, and are administered by funds, the ATO, or both. James does not assist with debt consolidation or promotional early-access schemes. His work focuses on standard retirement, pension structuring, and lawful, planned withdrawals. 

If you'd like a clearer view of your own access pathway, download the Super Access Planning Workbook. It helps you map your key ages, understand which access options apply at each stage, and note the questions to resolve before making decisions.

Preservation Age and Types of Super Money

Two concepts control timing and amount: preservation age and the classification of your balance. 

Preservation age depends on date of birth:

Date of Birth Preservation Age
Before 1 July 1960 55
1 July 1960 – 30 June 1961 56
1 July 1961 – 30 June 1962 57
1 July 1962 – 30 June 1963 58
1 July 1963 – 30 June 1964 59
After 1 July 1964 60

Most people currently aged 35–50 will have a preservation age of 60. 

From a fund’s perspective, your balance sits in three buckets: 

  • Preserved: Generally not accessible until a condition of release is met. 

  • Restricted non-preserved: Certain old employer contributions, accessible when linked employment ends or a condition of release is met. 

  • Unrestricted non-preserved: Amounts already released that can be accessed at any time.

An advice engagement will usually confirm how much of your current balance falls into each category.

Accessing Super After Retirement

Once you meet a retirement-related condition of release, you may access super as lump sums, income streams, or a combination. 

Broadly: 

  • Lump sums are one-off withdrawals. 

  • Account-based pensions (or similar income streams) pay regular amounts and have minimum annual drawdown requirements. 

  • You can keep part of your balance in accumulation and part in pension phase. 

Selecting between lump sums and income streams affects tax, Age Pension tests, and how long your assets last. For the strategic side, you should read How to Grow Your Super Balance.

Account-based Pensions and Minimum Drawdowns

An account-based pension is the most common retirement income stream. You transfer money from accumulation into a pension account (up to your transfer balance cap, $2.0m from 1 July 2025), then draw a minimum percentage each year. 

Standard minimum pension drawdown rates for 2025–26 (no COVID reductions) are:

Age on 1 July Minimum % of account balance per year
Under 65 4%
65–74 5%
75–79 6%
80–84 7%
85–89 9%
90–94 11%
95+ 14%

You can always withdraw more than the minimum, but not less. Tax and social security outcomes depend on your age, fund type, and whether the pension is in retirement or transition-to-retirement phase.

Accessing Super While You Are Still Working

Many people want to partially access super while reducing work hours, rather than stopping work abruptly. 

The law recognises this through the transition-to-retirement rules, which apply after preservation age but before a full retirement condition is met.

Transition to Retirement Income Streams (TRIS)

A TRIS (also called a TRIS or TTR pension) allows you to start an income stream from your preserved benefits once you reach preservation age, even if you keep working. Key settings: 

  • Minimum annual payment: 4% of the TRIS account balance if under 65 

  • Maximum annual payment: 10% of the TRIS account balance 

  • Earnings on assets backing a TRIS are taxed at up to 15% (they are not in the tax-free retirement phase until a full retirement condition is met) 

TRIS arrangements are often used to: 

  • Supplement income while reducing paid work hours 

  • Restructure contributions and withdrawals to smooth tax in the final working years

However, TRIS strategies involve interaction between contribution caps, marginal tax, and Age Pension tests, so they are usually considered alongside How to Grow Your Super Balance rather than in isolation.

Early Access Pathways and Why James Hayes Avoids Schemes

Beyond TRIS and standard retirement conditions, early access is limited to specific situations. 

The main special conditions of release include: 

  • Permanent incapacity: Ill health makes you unlikely ever to work in a job for which you are reasonably qualified. 

  • Terminal medical condition: Supported by certification from two medical practitioners. 

  • Severe financial hardship: Typically long-term receipt of eligible income-support payments, plus unable to meet reasonable and immediate living expenses. 

  • Compassionate grounds: For certain medical, funeral, or foreclosure-related expenses. 

  • Temporary incapacity: Often paid as an income stream, such as salary continuance. 

  • Temporary resident leaving Australia: Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP). 

Each pathway has strict evidence, caps, and application processes. The ATO and APRA supervise these arrangements closely. 

James does not assist with early-access arrangements designed primarily for debt consolidation, cashflow relief, or schemes that attempt to circumvent these rules. His practice focuses on standard retirement planning, lawful pension strategies, and estate planning.

First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS)

The First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) allows you to access certain voluntary contributions for a first home deposit before retirement. It is a distinct, legislated mechanism, not an early-release loophole. 

Key features in 2025–26: 

  • You can release a maximum of $15,000 of eligible voluntary contributions per year, up to $50,000 in total across all years. 

  • Eligible contributions include certain personal voluntary contributions, within normal contribution caps. Employer SG is excluded. 

  • The ATO calculates associated earnings using a deemed rate of return. 

  • When released, FHSS amounts are included in your assessable income, but a 30% FHSS tax offset applies.

FHSS planning interacts with contribution strategy and housing goals, so it is often considered beside How to Grow Your Super Balance, especially for 30–40-year-olds targeting a first home.

Tax on Super Withdrawals

Tax on super withdrawals depends on: 

  • Your age 

  • The tax components of your super (tax-free, taxable taxed element, taxable untaxed element) 

  • Whether the payment is a lump sum or an income stream 

  • Whether the fund is a taxed or untaxed scheme 

  • Most readers will be in taxed funds, so the summary below focuses on taxed elements. 

Not sure how withdrawals fit into your broader retirement plan? Use the Super Access Planning Workbook to sketch your access ages, list the types of withdrawals you’re considering, and highlight the points to check with your adviser before acting.

Under Preservation Age

If you are under preservation age and do not meet a special condition (for example, terminal illness), taxable parts of lump sums from taxed funds are generally taxed at the lower of your marginal rate or 22% including Medicare. Income streams are taxed at your marginal rate, with no standard offsets. 

Because of this, large withdrawals before preservation age are usually tax-inefficient unless they fall under specific concessions.

Between Preservation Age and 60

Once you reach preservation age but are still under 60, the low-rate cap applies to the taxable component of lump sums from taxed funds. 

The low-rate cap is $235,000 for 2024–25 and $260,000 for 2025–26. 

For lump sums from taxed funds: 

  • The tax-free component is always tax-free. 

  • The taxable taxed element up to the low-rate cap is effectively taxed at 0%. 

  • Amounts above the cap are taxed at 15% plus Medicare (17% effective). 

For income streams, taxable amounts are generally taxed at your marginal rate, with a 15% tax offset on the taxed element if you are between preservation age and 60.

Age 60 and Over

From age 60 onwards, for benefits from taxed funds: 

  • Lump sums: Tax-free (non-assessable, non-exempt income) for both tax-free and taxed elements. 

  • Account-based pensions: Payments are generally tax-free in your hands. 

Different rules apply to untaxed funds (commonly some public sector schemes), where lump-sum taxable untaxed elements can be taxed up to 15% or 30% subject to caps, and pensions are taxable at marginal rates with possible offsets. 

Interactions with Divorce, Estate Planning, and SMSFs

Access rules do not operate in isolation. They interact with relationship status, wills, and SMSF trust deeds.

Divorce and Relationship Splits

Super is treated as property and can be split by agreement or court order, but usually remains in the super system until a condition of release is met.

Estate Planning

If you die with remaining super, your fund pays a death benefit to dependants or your estate. Components and recipient type determine tax.

SMSFs

SMSF members follow the same conditions of release and tax rules as any other fund, but trustees are responsible for applying them correctly. 

These interactions are common reasons people seek personalised advice, particularly where business interests, blended families, or larger SMSF balances are involved. 

Working with a Local Planner in Sutherland Shire or Sydney CBD

For households in the Shire and Sydney CBD, practical questions about accessing super usually include: 

  • When can I legally access my super under current rules? 

  • Should I use a TRIS, move directly to an account-based pension, or take lump sums? 

  • How will withdrawals affect tax, Age Pension, and estate outcomes? 

  • How do access decisions interact with contributions, investment risk, and SMSFs? 

James Hayes is an ASIC-licensed financial planner based in Caringbah who works with local clients on super, pensions, and retirement planning. 

His work on access focuses on: 

  • Mapping conditions of release and retirement timing. 

  • Designing pension and lump-sum strategies within tax and Centrelink rules. 

  • Integrating super access with contributions. 

  • Coordinating access with estate planning and, where relevant, SMSFs. 

He does not provide advice on Jobseeker, debt consolidation using super, or early-access schemes outside standard conditions of release.

Book a complimentary 15-minute call with him.

FAQs

  • You can usually access your super when you reach your preservation age and retire, start a transition-to-retirement income stream after preservation age, cease an employment arrangement after 60, or turn 65 regardless of work status. Earlier access only occurs under specific conditions such as permanent incapacity, terminal illness, or other legislated pathways.

  • Preservation age is the minimum age at which you can usually access super, currently between 55 and 60 depending on date of birth, with people born after 1 July 1964 having a preservation age of 60. Age Pension age is generally 67 and determines eligibility for government pension benefits, not fund withdrawals.

  • Once you reach preservation age, you may start a transition-to-retirement income stream while still working. Payments must be between 4% and 10% of the TRIS balance each year, and earnings remain taxed at up to 15% inside the fund. It can supplement part-time work but requires careful tax and contribution planning.

  • Not always. If your super is in a standard taxed fund, most lump sums and account-based pension payments after 60 are tax-free in your hands. However, payments from certain untaxed public sector schemes, or specific components such as untaxed elements, may still incur tax. Defined benefit pensions can also be treated differently.

  • Generally, no. Super is preserved for retirement. Limited early-release options exist for severe financial hardship or specified compassionate grounds, but they require strict eligibility and evidence, and are not general debt-consolidation tools. James Hayes does not assist with debt consolidation or promotional early-access schemes using super to manage consumer debts.

  • The First Home Super Saver Scheme allows eligible first home buyers to withdraw certain voluntary contributions, plus associated earnings, for a deposit. You can release up to $15,000 of eligible contributions per year and $50,000 total. Released FHSS amounts are taxable but receive a 30% FHSS tax offset to reduce the final tax.

  • Once you turn 65, your preserved super becomes fully accessible even if you keep working. You can take lump sums, start an account-based pension, or leave money in accumulation. Employer contributions may still be made while you work. Tax outcomes depend on fund type and payment structure, but many benefits are tax-free.

  • It depends on your income needs, tax position, Centrelink prospects, and estate planning goals. Lump sums can clear specific debts or fund one-off spending but reduce future investment income. Account-based pensions provide structured, tax-effective income and keep money invested. Most retirees use a combination, structured within an overall retirement and estate plan.

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Disclaimer

The information in this article is provided as a general guide only. It does not constitute personal financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. Readers should seek advice from a licensed financial adviser before making any financial decisions. James Hayes and his associated entities accept no responsibility or liability for any loss, damage, or action taken in reliance on the information contained in this article. Links to third-party websites are provided for reference purposes only. We do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of their content.

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