Many Australians are facing hard times but mortgage repayments and everyday living expenses continue even when you lose your job, or suffer illness or other misfortune.
We have received many emails from readers asking when, and how, you can access your super benefits.
In brief, there are 12 ways to unlock your super early.
In most cases you cannot withdraw your superannuation until you reach your ‘preservation’ age, which is at least 55 and can be up to the age of 60 years depending on your date of birth. For anyone born before 1 July 1960, the preservation age is 55 and steadily increases to 60 years of age for those born on or after 1 July 1964 (see table below).
‘Preservation’ in this context simply means locked away, although some Australians who have had superannuation accounts prior to 1999 may also have some ‘unrestricted non-preserved’ benefits which they can access at any time.
When you can access your superannuation
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Source: Australian Taxation Office superannuation website (www.ato.gov.au/super)
In most cases, you only access your super if you satisfy a condition of release. Satisfying a condition of release means your preserved benefits can become unrestricted — that means you can access your super now provided the rules of your fund also let you cash your super.
The conditions of release are
- Retirement. This is the most common condition of release.
- Preserved amount is less than $200. You can access your preserved benefit if you leave a job where your employer was contributing to your fund on your behalf, and the preserved superannuation benefit is less than $200.
- Reaching the age of 65. As soon as you reach the age of 65, you can access your entire superannuation benefit, even when you haven’t retired from the workforce.
- Severe financial hardship. If you fall on hard times, the trustee of your fund may give you access to a portion of your benefit, subject to certain conditions. In general terms, here are the rules:
- You have been receiving Commonwealth Government income support, for example, unemployment benefits, for at least 26 weeks, continuously, and the trustee of your super fund is satisfied that you can’t meet immediate family expenses.
- Any payment is for the purposes of meeting everyday living expenses and can be one payment of no more than $10,000 (including tax) in any 12-month period.
- If you’ve reached your preservation age, you may be able to receive your entire superannuation benefit provided that you’ve been in receipt of government income support for at least 39 weeks.
- Compassionate grounds. Your fund can release, before you retire, part or all of your preserved benefits if you’re suffering a life-threatening illness, or trying to prevent the bank selling your home because of overdue loan repayments. You can also apply for early release on compassionate grounds to fund funeral or medical expenses, or palliative care. If you or one of your dependants are severely disabled, you can apply to access your super if this disability requires your home or car to be modified due to the disability. First, contact your fund to find out whether it permits early release of any preserved benefits. If your fund does, you can then apply to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (www.apra.gov.au) for early release of your preserved benefit on compassionate grounds.
- Non-resident leaving Australia permanently. If you’re a non-resident of Australia, you can access your Australian superannuation benefit when you permanently leave Australia. You’re a non-resident if you enter Australia on an eligible temporary resident visa.
- Permanent disability. You can access your preserved super if you become permanently incapacitated, that is, the trustee is satisfied that, due to ill health, you’re unlikely ever to be able to work in a job for which you’re qualified by education, training or experience.
- Temporary incapacity. Your fund may automatically provide income protection insurance, or you may be able to apply for such insurance via your superannuation fund. If you suffer prolonged illness or disability you can receive a regular income, usually for up to two years.
- Death. If you die, your superannuation fund pays your death benefit to your estate, or to your spouse or other dependants.
- Decision to take your benefit as lifetime pension or annuity. Provided you take your super as a non-commutable lifetime pension or annuity, you can access your super at any age. A non-commutable lifetime pension or annuity is one that you receive for your lifetime and which you can’t convert to a lump sum amount.
- Decision to start a transition-to-retirement pension (TRIP). You can access your super as a non-commutable income stream without retiring provided that you’re aged 55 or over and you withdraw no more than 10 per cent of your account balance each year.
- Cease employment. If you’ve been a member of a super fund since before 1 July 1999, you can cash your restricted benefit only when you cease employment with your employer.
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Copyright Trish Power
Hi - I'm Trish Power and I am the author of 
Dear Trish,
I am a small business owner in the incubus stage. I have just submitted my taxes for the first time in 3 years as the struggle to keep a small business alive has left me working to live. Am looking at a substantial tax payment and am wondering if I can cash my super to pay off this debt.
What do you think
J
I was the holder of a subclass 155RRV. I have been trying for a number of months to have my super released as I have departed Australia permanently and my RRV has expired. According to DIMA I am now a Non Resident of Australia. As a consequence I can no longer qualify for the early release of super held preserved in my name under the financial hardship provision. I am currently unemployed and have been so in excess of a year, however as I reside outside Australia and am not in receipt of a commonwealth government supplement, I find myself unable to apply for the early release of said funds on financial hardship grounds.
Is it legally permissible for the Australian Government to continue to withold my super whilst at the same time deny my right to fair and equal access to this provision, as enjoyed by all superannuation holders residing in Australia, simply because I am no longer a resident of Australia?
Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject?
Hi Jaye – I’ve answered your question here: http://www.superguide.com.au/accessing-superannuation/no-super-access-for-business-debts-or-tax-bills
Hi Julian
Thanks for your comment and I’m sorry for the delay in my response.
I can provide you with the general rules on accessing super, in particular the rules relating to permanent residents who depart Australia, and temporary residents who depart Australia, but I am not familiar with the specifics of the different types of visas that are available. I couldn’t find your type of visa on the Department of Immigration website.
In any case, only temporary Australian residents who have visited the country under an eligible temporary resident visa (temporary visa listed under the Migration Act 1958, but not subclasses 405 and 410) can withdraw any super benefits (less tax) when the visa expires and when they leave Australia.
Permanent residents cannot withdraw super benefits unless they satisfy a condition of release. I explain this in a recently published article http://www.superguide.com.au/2009/08/i%e2%80%99m-leaving-australia-can-i-access-my-super/. I agree that there seems to be an oversight in that permanent residents who depart Australian cannot access super benefits under the financial hardship provisions because they are not able to receive Commonwealth income support.
Another option available to individuals in financially difficult circumstances is to apply to APRA (www.apra.gov.au) under compassionate grounds. An example of a compassionate ground is if the bank was to foreclose on a person’s mortgage. You can find information on this scenario by clicking on this link: http://www.apra.gov.au/Superannuation/Early-Release-of-Superannuation-Benefits.cfm
I wish you all the best, and I hope your circumstances improve.
Regards
Trish
Hi,
I was an Australian citizen, age 37, and had been a part of a super fund from about 1993/4 I left Australia in 2001.
I see from your 12 legal reasons to cash your super that I maybe able to access my restricted benefit “Cease employment. If you’ve been a member of a super fund since before 1 July 1999, you can cash your restricted benefit only when you cease employment with your employer”. As I said earlier I left Australia and my employer does this mean I can access my super?
Also I am in the early stages of changing my citizenship to British what are the super rules governing ex-Australians and their super fund.
Many thanks
Hi
Many thanks for your query. You can find my answer to your question by clicking on the following link http://www.superguide.com.au/accessing-superannuation/unrestricted-access-to-super-sometimes.
Thanks again for your interest and support of our website.
Regards, Trish
Thanks for this very useful info. We too have recently moved overseas and do not intend to return to Australia. Due to the economic crisis, it is however taking us a lot longer than anticipated to find work, so we could really use a portion of our super! So I guess we fall in the permanent departed Australia and hardship category. How and where can we apply for this?
Hi GCL
Thanks for your comment and I’m sorry that you’re having a challenging time finding work.
I have commented on a similar situation to your own in the comments above. Permanent departure from Australia is not considered a condition of release (although it used to be prior to 1998). Briefly, permanent residents who leave Australia cannot access super benefits under the financial hardship provisions because they are not able to receive Commonwealth income support, although it’s worth checking with your Australian super fund to confirm this view.
If you are facing financially difficult circumstances, you may be able to apply to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (www.apra.gov.au) under compassionate grounds. An example of a compassionate ground is if the bank was to foreclose on a person’s mortgage, or if you need the money to pay for medical or dental expenses for you or your family. You can find information on this scenario by clicking on this link: http://www.apra.gov.au/Superannuation/Early-Release-of-Superannuation-Benefits.cfm
Note: Your super fund may have special rules in place that state that no fund member can access super benefits under financial harship or compassionate grounds. If this is the case, then you will need to satisfy a different condition of release (outlined in the article above) to access the super benefits
Best of luck
Regards
Trish
Hi Trish
excellent article. Common question – I have accumulated a nice sized fund – so how can I get access to it now to finalise my personal home loan? I’m sure this is a question asked over and over again. My view is that I can help my retirement better by NOT having to pay $1,000 per month to a bank for my home loan. The money would be better to go to my personal home loan that I can use again in my retirement.
Can you please elaborate on the following:
Decision to take your benefit as lifetime pension or annuity, and
Cease employment – is this to cease employment for good or does it relate to when you have left your current employer and job hunting?
thanks
Con
Hi Con
Thanks for your kind feedback. Yes, the comments you make, and the questions that you ask are very popular. The Government has made a policy decision that fund members can only access super benefits for the purposes of mortgage repayments if the bank holding the mortgage over the property is intending to foreclose on the property. You can find out more information on the ‘compassionate grounds’ condition of release by visiting the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) website (click on http://www.apra.gov.au/Superannuation/Early-Release-of-Superannuation-Benefits.cfm).
You mention two other conditions of release in your comments:
* ‘decision to take your benefit as lifetime pension or annuity’. This condition of release is quite specific and many of the older public sector funds pay such benefits to exiting or retiring employees. The condition of release relates to preserved benefits and the pension or annuity must be non-commutable, that is, it cannot be converted into a lump sum. The exact wording of the regulation describing when such a non-commutable life pension can be paid is: “Termination of gainful employment with an employer who had, or any of whose associates had, at any time, contributed to the regulated superannuation fund in relation to the member:
* ‘Cease employment’. The ‘cease employment’ condition of release relates to a special type of benefit known as a non-preserved benefit which can either be ‘restricted’ or ‘unrestricted’. Such a benefit is ‘restricted’ until an individual ceases employment, and then it becomes ‘unrestricted. I explain how an individual can find out whether they have such benefits, and how to access these benefits, in the article ‘Unrestricted access to super, sometimes’ http://www.superguide.com.au/accessing-superannuation/unrestricted-access-to-super-sometimes
Regards
Trish