The government is set to abandon a longstanding plan to increase the pension age from 67 to 70 after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there was no longer any need for the Abbott-era policy.

"I don't think we need that measure any longer when it comes to raising the pension age," Mr Morrison told the Nine Network on Wednesday morning in response to a viewer's question, a surprise announcement pre-empting formal approval by cabinet.

"I was going to say this next week but I may as well say it here ... I've already consulted my colleagues on that. And next week, cabinet will be ratifying a decision to reverse taking the [pension] age to 70. It will remain at 67," he said.

The decision reverses a policy announced in former prime minister Tony Abbott's 2014 budget, which contained a raft of controversial measures.