Eligibility Age for the Age Pension.
The eligibility age for the Australian Age Pension became 67 years on 1 July 2023.
This means that if you were born on or after 1 January 1957, you must be 67 years old to be eligible for Age Pension.
It began to change from age 65 on 1 July 2017, when the pension age for males increased to 65 years and 6 months, increasing to 67 years by 2023.
The pension eligibility age was 60 years for females until 1995, when it began the change to equality with men by 2004.
The Age Pension eligibility age changes, that began on 1 July 2017, were:
1 July 2017: 65 years and 6 months, if you were born between 1 July 1952 and 31 December 1953.
1 July 2019: 66 years, if you were born between 1 January 1954 and 30 June 1955.
1 July 2021: 66 years and 6 months, if you were born between 1 July 1955 and 31 December 1956.
1 July 2023: 67 years, if you were born on or after 1 January 1957.
What do other websites say about the Australian Age Pension?
This is one example from a tax expert website:
“In Sept 2023, the Australian Government increased the benefits rates by per fortnight. For singles, the age Aged Pension Increases to $32.70. The benefits are granted from the age of 65 for men and 60 for women.”
But, in reality, the age pension for singles increased to $1,096.70 in September 2023.
Also, the age pension is granted to both men and women, when they reach age 67. This was in effect from 1 July 2023. It changed from age 60 for women in 1995, and for both men and women from age 65 in 2017.
Sources: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-get-age-pension
www.dss.gov.au/seniors/benefits-payments/age-pension
The age at which a person could be eligible for the Age Pension was 65 upon introduction in 1909, this was reduced to 60 years for women in 1910.
From 1995, the Age Pension eligibility for women began to increase from age 60 to age 65 by 2004.
More recent changes have seen the eligibility age for the Age Pension progressively increase to reach 67 years for both males and females starting from 2017.