Temporary early access to your super
We’re committed to assisting any customer experiencing financial hardship, particularly during this difficult period.
The Government is allowing eligible individuals who have been financially impacted by COVID-19 to access their super early. If you’re eligible, you can apply using the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) online services through your MyGov account.
If you are about to or have already lodged an application:
Applications for the 2019–20 financial year closed on 30 June 2020. If you're eligible, you can submit an application for the 2020-21 financial year between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 through your myGov account. You can also use myGov to keep track of the status of your application with the ATO.
Once we receive advice from the ATO, which may take up to 4 business days, we will arrange payment to your nominated bank account as soon as possible, but within 5 business days. It may then take a further day or two for the amount to show in your bank account balance.
In some cases, we may require further information from you before we can make payment, in which case we will contact you directly. Please make sure your contact details are up to date via online services.
If you are considering lodging an application:
Step 1. Consider your options carefully, obtain help
There are
significant implications for customers who access their super early—for example, if you’re with a defined benefit scheme
(such as PSS) you may forgo your option to receive a pension when you retire.
CONSIDER THE LONG TERM IMPACT ON YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS.
Super is designed to provide income for you when you retire, so it’s important to understand the impact that accessing super early can have on your retirement savings. Any amount accessed prior to retirement may have a considerable impact on your retirement savings, reducing your account balance now and in the future.
OTHER SOURCES OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT
You may be able to access financial support from the Government through income and household support payments. Some places with helpful information about this are:
moneysmart.gov.au – COVID-19 Financial Assistance
treasury.gov.au – Coronavirus support for individuals and households
serviceaustralia.gov.au – Coronavirus Financial support
ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT
If you require further support in assessing your options, you can schedule a 15 minute phone session with one of our specialists here.
You can also make an appointment to speak to a Financial Counsellor or Financial Information Service Officer.
Step 2. Check if you are eligible
If you have been adversely financially affected by COVID-19, and you meet one or more of these requirements you may be able to apply to access your super.
- You are unemployed.
- You are eligible to receive a job seeker payment, youth allowance for jobseekers (subject to restrictions), parenting payment (which includes the single and partnered payments), special benefit or farm household allowance.
- On or after 1 January 2020, either
- you were made redundant,
- your working hours were reduced by 20 per cent or more, or
- as a sole trader, your business was suspended or there was a reduction in your turnover of 20 per cent or more.
Check the ATO website for more information on eligibility criteria.
Step 3. Check whether you have eligible superannuation funds for release
You can check your super balance in your member services online account, your myGov account, or by getting in touch with us.
Whilst the ATO may approve the release of superannuation funds, there may be specific rules related to your superannuation account. The following table provides some guidance on rules specific to your selected superannuation scheme, but please contact us if you are unsure.
| PSSap eligibility | ||||
Contributing |
Preserved |
Ancillary |
Associate |
Pensioner |
| If eligible, you can access your benefit under these provisions. Your account balance will be reduced by the amount released. | If eligible, you can access your benefit under these provisions. Your account balance will be reduced by the amount released. | If eligible, you can access your benefit under these provisions. Your account balance will be reduced by the amount released. | Not applicable |
CSCri TRIS: Unfortunately, this provision does not allow you to drawdown any additional benefits. However, existing rules allow you to withdraw a maximum of 10% per annum from your account.
CSCri RIS: Unfortunately, you are unable to access any benefits under these provisions. However, you are able to make ad-hoc withdrawals from your account at any time. |
*These amounts are referred to as ERDA’s. They aren’t deducted from your account balance straight away. Instead, the amount released will be adjusted with fund earnings and deducted from your final benefit. You can find out more about ERDA’s in our Early Access factsheet.
Step 3. Consider your options, obtain help
There are some key things you should think about before deciding to access your super early.
Other sources of financial support
You may be able to access financial support from the Government through income and household support payments. Some places with helpful information about this are:
moneysmart.gov.au – COVID-19 Financial Assistance
treasury.gov.au – Coronavirus support for individuals and households
serviceaustralia.gov.au – Coronavirus Financial support
Consider the long term impact on your retirement savings.
Super is designed to provide income for you when you retire, so it’s important to understand the impact that accessing super early can have on your retirement savings. Any amount accessed prior to retirement may have a considerable impact on your retirement savings, reducing your account balance now and in the future.
You can use our interactive retirement modeller to project how long your super might last in retirement.
CONSIDER ANY IMPACT ON YOUR INSURANCE
If you want to maintain your insurance cover, check you have enough money in your super account to keep paying insurance costs after you have accessed your super. If you aren’t sure how much insurance cover you have or how much it is costing you, log into online services. You can also use the LIFEapp calculator to review your insurance needs.
Additional financial support
If you require further support in assessing your options, please call us on 1300 277 777 or email financial.advice@csc.gov.au to schedule a time to speak to a specialist.
You can also make an appointment to speak to a Financial Counsellor or Financial Information Service Officer.
Step 4. Check your contact details
Please check your contact details so we can quickly contact you if we need to confirm anything. You can do this via our online services.