Australians intend to work longer than ever before: survey

More Australians than ever before are considering working until the "retirement age", according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday.

More than 70 percent of Australians aged 45 and over intend to work until they're at least 65 years of age or the retirement age, up from 66 percent in 2012-13 and 48 percent in 2004-5.

Jennifer Humphrys from the ABS said the results of the survey were indicative of longer life expediencies and a changing nature of the workforce and pensions, with almost a quarter of those aged 45 and over expecting to work years beyond the retirement age. "The survey found that 23 percent of the persons aged 45 years and over are intending to retire at the age of 70 years or over compared with only 8 percent in 2004-05," Humphrys said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The majority of Australians intend to retire between 65-69 years, but the results show that now over a quarter of males of 45 years and over plan to work past 70 years."

The average intended retirement age in Australia is currently 65 years (66 years for men and 65 years for women).

Humphrys said the most common factors influencing their decision to work longer were "financial security" (40 percent for men and 35 percent for women) and "personal health" or the ability to work longer into life (23 percent for both men and women).

Meanwhile, of those who intend to retire later, only a quarter expect their main income to be from government-funded pensions and superannuation, a figure in stark contrast to the proportion of those who had already retired.

"There were some differences reported by those who had already retired compared with those who intended to retire regarding their main expected source of personal income at retirement," Humphrys said.

"While 47 percent of persons aged 45 years and over who had retired reported a 'government pension or allowance' as their main source of income at retirement, only 27 percent of persons aged 45 years and over who were intending to retire indicated that this would be their main expected source of income at retirement."