Where pension age is the age that you can apply for the Age Pension, preservation age is the age from which you can start to access your super. It’s called ‘preservation age’ as your superannuation is securely locked away until this time—preserved, effectively.
Once you reach preservation age, you can begin accessing your super as long as you meet a condition of super release, such as retiring, or being in transition to retirement.
However, you can still continue working once you reach preservation age, and many do. This means you and your employer can continue making super contributions up until you decide to retire.
The current government preservation age brackets are:
55 for a date of birth before 1 July 1960
56 for a date of birth between 1 July 1960 - 30 June 1961
57 for a date of birth between 1 July 1961 - 30 June 1962
58 for a date of birth between 1 July 1962 - 30 June 1963
59 for a date of birth between 1 July 1963 - 30 June 1964
60 for a date of birth from 1 July 1964 onwards