Eligibility for a compassionate release of super
We took over administration of early release of super on compassionate grounds on 1 July 2018.
We only approve a release of super on compassionate grounds if you meet all conditions set out in the regulations. These conditions include that you have no other means to pay the expenses.
The 5 main grounds of eligibility are:
- medical treatment or transport for you or your dependant
- accommodating a disability for you or your dependant
- palliative care for a terminal illness for you or your dependant
- funeral expenses for your dependant
- preventing foreclosure or forced sale of your home.
If you apply for compassionate release of super for medical treatment, the law states it must be necessary to:
- treat a life-threatening illness or injury
- alleviate acute or chronic pain
- alleviate acute or chronic mental illness.
To access super early for unpaid medical treatment expenses, you must provide 2 medical reports with your application. They must state that the treatment in question is necessary to treat or alleviate one of the conditions above and that the treatment is not readily available in the public health system. At least one of the reports must be from a specialist treating one of the above conditions.
Applications received and approved
The tables below reflect the applications we have received and approved for release per financial year. We don't see the super amounts actually released because the payments are made by super funds.
Note one person may submit multiple applications in one financial year.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 53,800 | 60,000 | 45,300 | 56,400 | 75,600 |
Applications approved | 31,100 | 33,700 | 29,500 | 34,400 | 41,800 |
Individuals applied | 33,800 | 39,100 | 36,300 | 45,600 | 57,800 |
Individuals approved | 26,900 | 30,000 | 27,200 | 32,200 | 39,600 |
Amount approved | $456.6m | $523.2m | $472.4m | $573.1m | $761.7m |
In the table above, we rounded:
- applications and individuals data to the nearest 100
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.
Totals may not add due to rounding.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 39,100 | 45,500 | 34,800 | 42,600 | 57,700 |
Applications approved | 26,100 | 30,100 | 27,600 | 32,100 | 39,500 |
Individuals applied | 25,500 | 30,100 | 28,400 | 35,200 | 44,900 |
Individuals approved | 22,700 | 26,800 | 25,400 | 30,100 | 37,400 |
Amount approved | $389.1m | $476.6m | $447.4m | $544.7m | $730.5m |
In the table above, we rounded:
- applications and individuals data to the nearest 100
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 2,300 | 2,300 | 1,500 | 1,700 | 2,200 |
Applications approved | 1,100 | 1,000 | 700 | 700 | 800 |
Individuals applied | 1,400 | 1,500 | 1,100 | 1,300 | 1,590 |
Individuals approved | 970 | 890 | 660 | 670 | 720 |
Amount approved | $21.1m | $15.4m | $11.5m | $11.3m | $12.7m |
In the table above, we rounded:
- applications received and approved data to the nearest 100
- individuals data to the nearest 10
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 250 | 205 | 195 | 215 | 260 |
Applications approved | 110 | 90 | 45 | 45 | 35 |
Individuals applied | 175 | 140 | 160 | 180 | 210 |
Individuals approved | 90 | 65 | 45 | 40 | 40 |
Amount approved | $1.9m | $1.8m | $900K | $1.3m | $860K |
In the table above, we rounded:
- applications and individuals data to the nearest 5
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 10,500 | 10,300 | 7,300 | 9,700 | 12,400 |
Applications approved | 2,870 | 1,780 | 560 | 750 | 710 |
Individuals applied | 6,140 | 6,770 | 5,850 | 7,650 | 9,600 |
Individuals approved | 2,470 | 1,630 | 540 | 710 | 680 |
Amount approved | $35.4m | $22m | $7.2m | $8.9m | $9.7m |
In the table above, we rounded:
- applications received data to the nearest 100
- applications approved and individuals data to the nearest 10
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 1,700 | 1,600 | 1,500 | 2,200 | 3,100 |
Applications approved | 920 | 760 | 600 | 740 | 760 |
Individuals applied | 1,190 | 1,160 | 1,240 | 1,790 | 2,340 |
Individuals approved | 840 | 710 | 580 | 720 | 750 |
Amount approved | $9m | $7.5m | $5.3m | $6.9m | $7.9m |
In the table above, we rounded:
- applications received data to the nearest 100
- applications approved and individuals data to the nearest 10
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.
Medical treatment subcategories
The data from our application process allows us to split the medical (treatment or transport) category into the subcategories listed below. While eligible medical treatment is not limited to these categories, we cannot individually identify all treatment types at a reporting level.
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 7,140 | 10,610 | 8,240 | 11,780 | 20,960 |
Applications approved | 3,850 | 6,000 | 5,960 | 8,380 | 14,020 |
Individuals applied | 4,310 | 6,720 | 6,500 | 9,720 | 16,260 |
Individuals approved | 3,470 | 5,580 | 5,530 | 8,020 | 13,540 |
Amount approved | $66.4m | $111.7m | $108.2m | $171.3m | $313.4m |
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 3,380 | 4,250 | 3,700 | 4,150 | 4,290 |
Applications approved | 2,720 | 3,260 | 3,260 | 3,390 | 3,360 |
Individuals applied | 2,140 | 2,610 | 2,670 | 3,020 | 3,080 |
Individuals approved | 2,080 | 2,490 | 2,580 | 2,750 | 2,780 |
Amount approved | $36.2m | $40.1m | $42.1m | $45.4m | $47.9m |
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 17,690 | 18,710 | 14,510 | 15,760 | 17,690 |
Applications approved | 13,790 | 14,570 | 12,970 | 13,960 | 14,770 |
Individuals applied | 12,920 | 13,920 | 12,900 | 14,160 | 15,170 |
Individuals approved | 12,550 | 13,530 | 12,570 | 13,620 | 14,410 |
Amount approved | $207.5 | $234.2m | $220m | $233.9m | $248.9m |
Financial year | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applications received | 9,880 | 10,980 | 7,970 | 10,400 | 14,030 |
Applications approved | 5,440 | 6,040 | 5,260 | 6,230 | 7,230 |
Individuals applied | 6,050 | 6,900 | 6,360 | 8,340 | 10,460 |
Individuals approved | 4,580 | 5,340 | 4,870 | 5,830 | 6,830 |
Amount approved | $74m | $87m | $75.3m | $92.2m | $118.1m |
'Other' includes all other types of medical treatment recommended by a medical practitioner.
These tables exclude applications that were solely for medical transport (totals will differ to tables above).
In the tables above, we rounded:
- applications and individuals data to the nearest 10
- amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000
- all data on this page is current as of 13 February 2024.