On this page (9 sections)
The short answer
Start five years out: confirm your recognised service and super scheme, and get benefit estimates. Two years out, decide on part-time, transition to retirement and how to use long service leave. In the last 12 months, check your exit date against pay rises and scheme rules, book advice, and give notice. Unused sick leave is generally not paid out.
- Preservation age is 60 for anyone born from 1 July 1964; the Age Pension starts at 67.
- Defined benefit schemes have their own ages: 55 (Gold State, ESSSuper, Super SA) or 58 (SASS).
- Long service leave can be taken before you go, often at half pay, or paid out under your state's rules.
- The concessional cap is $32,500 for 2026–27; DB members use a notional figure.
The ages to plan around
Defined benefit access
55–58
Scheme rules; check your statement
Preservation age
60
Born from 1 July 1964 (ATO)
Super with no conditions
65
Even if still working
Age Pension age
67
Means tested (Services Australia)
There's no compulsory retirement age for teachers. Your checklist is really about lining up three things: when you can get your money, how much you'll have, and how you'll bridge any gap to 67. Our guide to when teachers can retire covers the rules in depth; this page turns them into a timeline.
When can you afford to retire? Build a retirement timeline around your scheme and age. General information; your first plan is free. Build my timeline →Five years out: get the facts
Five years before you plan to stop
- Find out which super scheme you're in. Long-serving teachers may be in a closed defined benefit scheme as well as an accumulation fund.
- Get a current benefit statement and, for a DB scheme, an estimate at each age you might leave (for example 55, 58, 60, 63 and 65).
- Check your recognised service with your employer and fund. Prior service in another state or sector may or may not count for pay, LSL or super.
- In ESSSuper's Revised Scheme, prior service recognition must be applied for, approved and paid for in full before you stop working.
- Check your contribution rate. A low rate in QSuper DB, Gold State, SASS or the ESSSuper New Scheme can cost tens of thousands; some schemes allow catch-up.
- Find lost or small accumulation accounts through myGov and decide whether to consolidate (check any insurance first).
- Check your long service leave balance and your state's rules for taking it or having it paid out.
- Work out your 'bridge years': how many years between when you want to stop and 67.
Each state's scheme has its own traps. Read the scheme guide that applies to you: ESSSuper (VIC), State Super SASS and SSS (NSW), QSuper Defined Benefit (QLD), Gold State Super (WA) or Super SA (SA). For the full list, see teacher defined benefit super schemes.
Three to two years out: decide how to wind down
This is when the big choices get made, because many of them need lead time or change your benefit for every year that follows.
Free calculator
AI Teacher Retirement & Defined Benefit Planner
Put your state, scheme, age, service, salary and target date in and get a general-information countdown with your scheme's rules, the trade-offs of each wind-down option and questions for your fund.
Build my countdownLong service leave: take it, or have it paid out
For most retiring teachers, long service leave is the biggest single entitlement outside super. How it works differs by state.
Sources: our state data files, built from each state's agreement or legislation. Full detail and links on teacher long service leave and each state page, such as NSW long service leave.
What 20 weeks of unused LSL is worth at NSW Step 7
- Salary (from 9 Oct 2026)
- $133,422
- Weekly rate ($133,422 / 52)
- about $2,566
- 20 weeks at full pay
- about $51,316 before tax
- Taken at half pay instead
- 40 weeks at about $1,283 a week
Our arithmetic. LSL taken as leave is taxed like salary; unused LSL paid out on retirement is an 'unused long service leave' payment, and older service periods or a genuine redundancy can change the tax treatment. Ask payroll or a registered tax agent. Check your own balance with the long service leave calculator.
Sick leave and other entitlements
Unused sick (personal) leave is generally not paid out when a teacher resigns or retires. WA's 2023 General Agreement says so explicitly, and other systems don't normally cash it out either. That makes it worth knowing your balance if you have a planned operation or a health issue in your last year. See teacher sick leave.
- Annual leave: teachers take recreation leave during school holidays, so there's usually no large balance to pay out, but check your final pay.
- Leave loading: check whether it's paid on your final holiday period. See teacher leave loading.
- Back pay: if back pay is still to come (Victoria's VGSA 2026, approved on 16 October 2026 with back pay to follow, or Queensland's arbitration), ask how back pay is handled after you leave and how it's reported to your super scheme.
- Registration: keep it current if you might do casual relief work after retiring. See casual relief teacher pay.
The last 12 months: lock in the dates
12 months to go
- Get fresh written estimates from your fund for each exit date you're considering.
- Check how your scheme measures final salary. SASS uses your salary on exit and on 31 December of the two previous years; QSuper averages the last 12 months if you leave at 54 or over; Gold State uses selection dates linked to your birthday.
- Line your exit date up with pay rise dates (NSW 9 October, SA from 8 May in 2026, WA 6 December) where it helps your benefit.
- Book an appointment with your fund's education or advice service, or a licensed financial adviser, for the lump sum versus pension and rollover decisions.
- Decide whether to take LSL before your final day or have it paid out.
- If you'll be over 60, decide whether to resign outright or end one employment arrangement and keep casual work.
- Check what insurance you lose when you stop contributing, especially death and TPD cover in DB schemes.
- Work out the notice period you need to give. See resigning as a teacher.
Centrelink and the Age Pension: the basics
Age Pension age is 67 (Services Australia). To get it you must also meet residence rules, an income test and an assets test. Super in an account-based pension, a DB pension and other assets can all reduce what you get, or mean you get none. If you're pension age but don't qualify, you may still get a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
We don't publish the means-test thresholds here because they change several times a year. Check Services Australia's current figures, or book a free Financial Information Service session with Services Australia, before you assume a part pension will cover your later years. A teacher retiring at 60 has seven bridge years to fund before any pension; retiring at 63 leaves four.
Tax in the year you retire
- Super from a taxed fund (most accumulation funds, including Aware Super and GESB Super) is generally tax-free once you're 60, as a lump sum or pension.
- Untaxed schemes (Gold State, West State, Super SA's schemes, and others) deduct tax on the untaxed element when paid or rolled over, even after 60, within the $1.935m untaxed plan cap for 2026–27 (ATO).
- Before 60, preserved super generally can't be paid unless you've retired after preservation age; DB schemes that pay from 55 may apply higher tax.
- Your final year's salary, LSL payout and any back pay are taxed through payroll. A large final pay can push PAYG withholding up for one pay; it evens out in your tax return.
- Salary sacrifice in your last year still counts towards the concessional cap. Check the total with your fund before your final pay.
For take-home figures in your final working years, use the take-home pay calculator. For anything involving a large payout, a registered tax agent is worth the fee.
This checklist is general information, not personal financial advice. Your fund, Services Australia and a licensed adviser can confirm what applies to you. If you're leaving before retirement age, see leaving teaching in Australia.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should teachers plan retirement?
Is long service leave paid out when a teacher retires?
Is unused sick leave paid out when a teacher retires?
When should I tell my school I'm retiring?
Can I get the Age Pension at 60?
Should I take my defined benefit as a pension or lump sum?
Can I keep working as a casual teacher after retiring?
Does retiring just after a pay rise increase my super?
Sources we checked · last verified 2026-10-28
About this page
Written and fact-checked by the TeacherPay AU Editorial Team against the enterprise agreements, awards and official pages listed in the sources. It is general information, not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it, usually within a day. See our editorial policy and how we calculate.
Keep reading
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How much long service leave teachers get after 10 years in each state, when you can take it early, and how to stretch it.