The number of people working past the age of 85 has increased by 15 percent in the last 10 years.
With life expectancy up three months every year, the number of healthy Australians living for decades past the pension age is only set to rise.
Rafal Chomik, from the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, has found many people are underestimating how just long they have left.
"Sixty-five-year-olds are expected to live until about 95," he told Nine News Australia.
Most over-85s are in farming (19 percent), followed by business and marketing (5 percent), management (4 percent) and hospitality and retail (4 percent).
For detailed information on life expectancy trends, read CEPAR's latest Fact Sheet: Australian Life Tables: 150 years in the making.