Raising super access age would hurt workers

As concern grows over funding retirement as life expectancy increases, Deakin Law School has found that the detriment to workers of increasing the superannuation access age to beyond 60 would outweigh the policy’s economic benefits.

Such a policy change could leave “many workers in a position where they have no viable choice but to continue to work” according to tax and superannuation expert, Dr Rami Hanegbi.

He pointed to physically demanding jobs such as bricklayers as examples of situations where this would pose a significant problem.

Raising the super access age would also impact those in non-physical roles negatively, as it would eat into their retirement time. While life expectancies have increased, that has not been coupled with a similar growth in ‘healthy life years’.

“As a result, raising the superannuation access age from say 60 to 65 would dramatically reduce the percentage of one’s life spent in the ‘golden years of retirement’ where one is both retired and in good health,” Hanegbi said.

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“The negative impacts of such a policy on people’s right to self-determination, as well as on widespread confidence in the superannuation system, are also important consequences on legislating such a policy.”

Hanegbi warned that any economic benefits of the change “are likely to be limited” and “the consequences of making changes … need to be carefully considered”.