Being over your preservation age and drawing a pension is one way to get money out of your superannuation account. But there are many other ‘conditions of release’ that, if satisfied, can provide access to super money.
Your money is not ‘stuck’ in the system forever. The intention is for the money to be used to support your future retirement, but it can be used for other purposes which usually centre around hardship situations, death or disability.
For most people, the process of gaining access to their super is relatively straight forward. If they have reached their preservation age, they can simply ask they superannuation provider to switch over their Accumulation account to a Pension account and they will begin to gain access via pensions.