Accessing your benefit

Contributing members

If you are a contributing member, your age retirement options depend on your age and how you cease employment. This doesn’t include ceasing employment due to invalidity or redundancy.

If you retire before reaching your preservation age

(and are minimum retiring age 55)

Generally, you can take a pension from age 55. You can also preserve your whole benefit in PSS and take it later as either a lump sum, an indexed pension, or a combination of both. However, if you access your pension before preservation age your lump sum will be restricted.

• Take a pension only

  You may take your whole Defined Benefit as an indexed pension from minimum retiring age (usually age 55). You must be permanently retired from the workforce to claim this option (i.e. not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week).

  This option is not available for members who have Post 95 transfer amounts. It cannot be converted to a pension and must be taken as a lump sum, either as cash or rolled over if not preservation age and meeting a condition of release.

• Preserve your whole benefit

  You can preserve your whole benefit in PSS for payment later as a lump sum, an indexed pension or a combination of both. You must claim your Preserved Benefit no later than age 65.

  While any part of your benefit is preserved, your member and productivity components attract investment earnings, and your employer-financed component is adjusted annually in line with upward CPI movements.

  If you have retired permanently once you have reached minimum retiring age—usually age 55 and not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week—you can claim your Preserved Benefit, roll it over to another fund or take it as a pension.

  If you subsequently join another eligible super fund, you may be able to transfer your benefit to that fund. Employment conditions apply and it is up to the receiving eligible to accept the transfer. As at November 2025, eligible funds include:

  • DFRDB
  • Northern Territory Government and Public Authorities Superannuation Scheme
  • Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme
  • Queensland Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Scheme
  • UniSuper Accumulation 2 Plan.

• Partial preservation

  (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS WHO JOINED PSS BEFORE 1 JULY 1999 ONLY)

  You may take a lump sum of any contributions paid before 1 July 1999 (zero if you joined after 30 June 1999) and preserve the balance in PSS for payment later. You will not be able to convert any part of your remaining balance to a PSS pension.

  There are no age restrictions to access under age 60 and not permanently retired from the workforce, however your lump sum will be restricted to your SIS upper limit.

  You must claim your remaining Preserved Benefit no later than age 65.

  While preserved, your member and productivity components attract investment earnings, and your employer-financed component is adjusted annually in line with upward CPI movements.

• Take a lump sum and pension

  (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS WHO JOINED PSS BEFORE 1 JULY 1999 ONLY)

  You may take a lump of any contributions paid before 1 July 1999 (zero if you joined after 30 June 1999) and, if the balance is 50% or more of your total benefit, convert it to a pension. The maximum lump sum that you can take is subject to your SIS upper limit (the rest is converted to pension).

  You must be permanently retired from the workforce to claim this option (i.e. not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week).

If you retire on reaching your preservation age

You can access your whole PSS super benefit as either a lump sum withdrawal, an indexed lifetime pension or a combination of both. You may also combine your benefit with a concurrent super membership (only available if you have another period of contributory membership, i.e. you have worked for multiple eligible employers). Preservation age is based on your date of birth.

When can I retire?

• Convert your PSS super benefit to a lifetime pension

  You may be able to convert a minimum of half, or up to all, of your PSS defined benefit to a lifetime indexed pension. Any amount not converted to pension will be paid as a lump sum. You must be permanently retired from the workforce to claim this option (i.e. intend to not be gainfully employed again for more than 10 hours per week).

• Take a lump sum with no pension

  You may receive a once-only lump sum of your three benefit components (member, productivity and employer). If you’re under age 60, you must be permanently retired from the workforce to claim this option (i.e. not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week).

• Preserve your whole benefit

  You can preserve your whole benefit in PSS for payment later as a lump sum, an indexed pension or a combination of both. You must claim your Preserved Benefit no later than age 65. If you do not claim your benefit by three months following your 65th birthday, your benefit may only be paid as a lump sum.

  While any part of your benefit is preserved, your member and productivity components attract investment earnings, and your employer-financed component is adjusted annually in line with upward CPI movements.

• Transfer to an eligible scheme

  If you subsequently join another eligible super fund, you may be able to transfer your benefit to that fund. Employment conditions apply and it is up to the receiving eligible fund to accept the transfer.

• Partial preservation

  You may take a lump sum of less than the full amount of your PSS benefit and preserve the balance. If you do this, you will not be able to take the balance as a pension.

  You must claim your remaining Preserved Benefit as a lump sum withdrawal no later than age 65.

  While preserved, your member and productivity components attract investment earnings, while your employer-financed component is adjusted annually in line with upward CPI movements.

Preserved members

If you have not reached preservation age but you have permanently retired from the workforce, you can apply for your lifetime pension, lump sum or a combination of both. However, any cash paid before your preservation age cannot exceed your SIS upper limit.

If you have reached preservation age, you can apply for your whole Preserved Benefit from the earliest of these ages:

• minimum retiring age (generally age 55) and you have permanently retired from the workforce (i.e. not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week);
• age 60 and you have ceased an employment arrangement or changed gainful employment (e.g. you might have two part-time jobs and cease one but still continue in the remaining job) on or after that age; or
• age 65.

• Convert your benefit to a pension

  If you haven’t previously accessed any of your Defined Benefit, you can convert your benefit to an indexed pension.

  For more information read Preservation of benefits.

• Take a lump sum with no pension

  You can claim your whole benefit as a lump sum, subject to cashing restrictions. You must have reached preservation age and be permanently retired from the workforce (i.e. not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week).

• Part pension, part lump sum

  If your whole Defined Benefit has remained preserved in PSS, you can convert a portion to pension with the remaining amount paid as a lump sum, subject to cashing restrictions. The amount of lump sum you can take can’t exceed 50% of your defined benefit. You must have reached preservation age and be permanently retired from the workforce (i.e. not gainfully employed for more than 10 hours per week). If you haven’t met your preservation age, cashing restrictions will limit the amount of benefit you can take as a lump sum.

How we convert your PSS benefit to a pension

Your annual pension income entitlement is calculated by dividing the amount of PSS Defined Benefit you wish to convert, by your pension conversion factor. This is based on your age in years and days—on the day you claim your benefit.

The table shows the pension conversion factor by age (in whole years).