A part-time job offer lands in the inbox two years after the age pension started, and behind the excitement comes a familiar worry: will taking the work mean losing the payment altogether?
The answer is no, not automatically. Working past age pension age does not switch off entitlement by itself. Income earned from paid work and access to superannuation savings are governed by two separate sets of rules, and knowing where each line sits makes it possible to plan work, pension payments and super withdrawals without a nasty surprise from Services Australia, the agency that administers the age pension.
Does going back to work cancel the pension?
No single rule disqualifies someone from the age pension just because they draw a wage. Services Australia runs two separate assessments – an income test and an assets test – and pays whichever result produces the lower rate. Paid work counts as income under that test, alongside any superannuation income stream a person draws, but it sits inside the calculation rather than outside it.
That distinction matters. A person whose income or assets sit above the applicable threshold on either test alone receives no pension, regardless of how the other test would have treated the same circumstances. Someone whose income and assets sit within current thresholds can keep working and keep receiving a payment, even a reduced one, rather than losing it outright.
How the income and assets tests decide the rate
Both tests are reviewed and indexed three times a year, so the dollar figures deciding who qualifies, and at what rate, move regularly rather than staying fixed. According to Retirement Essentials, around 8 in 10 people over 65 currently receive some level of age pension, which shows how many older Australians sit somewhere on the sliding scale rather than either fully qualifying or missing out altogether.
Because the settings shift three times a year, the exact income and asset thresholds applying to any given fortnight need to be checked against Services Australia’s current published rates rather than an earlier figure. The same applies to deeming rates, which affect how account-based income and investments are treated under the income test.
When can superannuation be accessed while still working?
Superannuation access runs on its own timeline, separate again from the pension means test. Most people can access their super once they turn 60 and stop working for an employer, even if they go on to take another job afterward – the trigger is separation from that employer, not a permanent exit from the workforce. Super can also be accessed at 60 if a person permanently retires, meaning they do not intend to work more than 10 hours a week in paid employment from that point on.
For people working between 55 and 59, a super income stream is split into taxable and tax-free components, with the taxable portion taxed at marginal rates. Once a person turns 60, that changes: income drawn from a super income stream is usually entirely tax-free. A Transition to Retirement income stream allows regular payments from super to be drawn while a person continues working, without needing to leave a job to do it.
Not every fund follows that general 60-plus tax-free treatment. Untaxed super funds, including some public sector schemes and constitutionally protected funds, are taxed differently, and anyone unsure which category their fund falls into can confirm it with their fund or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
What changes at 65?
Turning 65 removes the “stopped working” condition entirely. From that age, super can be accessed regardless of whether a person is still employed, drawing a wage, or intends to retire at all. It is the point at which super access and continued paid work stop being linked under the rules.
Extra concessions, cautions and where to check the current figures
Within the income test, age pensioners taking on paid work can also draw on the Work Bonus, a concession affecting how much of that employment income counts toward the test. The current Work Bonus amount, like the income and asset thresholds themselves, is reviewed regularly, so the figure applying to any given period should be confirmed directly with Services Australia rather than assumed from an earlier year.
MoneySmart, the government’s financial guidance service, has warned that “high-pressure sales tactics are putting your super savings at risk”, pointing to phone calls, click-bait advertising and promises of unrealistic returns used to pressure people into switching their super quickly. It is worth treating any unsolicited call or advertisement about moving super with the same caution applied to any other unsolicited financial approach.
Age pension rates, income and asset thresholds and deeming rates are scheduled for their next indexation on 20 September 2026. Anyone weighing a job offer, a change in hours or a super withdrawal against their pension position can check current figures directly through Services Australia, or confirm super access rules through MoneySmart.
What it adds up to is simpler than it first looks: taking on paid work after pension age doesn’t close a door, it moves a person into a different room with its own set of measurements. Once those numbers are known, working, drawing super and receiving a pension can all sit in the same fortnight without contradiction.
