Compassionate release of super

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 unpaid 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.

Total compassionate release of super applications

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	53,800	60,000	45,300	56,400
Applications approved	31,100	33,700	29,500	34,400
Individuals applied	38,800	39,100	36,300	45,600
Individuals approved	26,900	30,000	27,200	32,200
Amount approved	$456.6m	$523.2m	$472.4m	$573.1m

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.

Medical (includes medical treatment or transport)

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	39,100	45,500	34,800	42,600
Applications approved	26,100	30,100	27,600	32,100
Individuals applied	25,500	30,100	28,400	35,200
Individuals approved	22,700	26,800	25,400	30,100
Amount approved	$389.1m	$476.6m	$447.4m	$544.7m

In the table above, we rounded:

• applications and individuals data to the nearest 100
• amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.

Accommodating a disability

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	2,300	2,300	1,500	1,700
Applications approved	1,100	1,000	700	700
Individuals applied	1,400	1,500	1,100	1,300
Individuals approved	970	890	660	670
Amount approved	$21.1m	$15.4m	$11.5m	$11.3m

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.

Palliative care for a terminal illness

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	250	205	195	215
Applications approved	110	90	45	45
Individuals applied	175	140	160	180
Individuals approved	90	65	45	40
Amount approved	$1.9m	$1.8m	$900K	$1.3m

In the table above, we rounded:

• applications and individuals data to the nearest 5
• amounts approved data to the nearest $100,000.

Preventing foreclosure or forced sale of a home

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	10,500	10,300	7,300	9,700
Applications approved	2,870	1,780	560	750
Individuals applied	6,140	6,770	5,850	7,650
Individuals approved	2,470	1,630	540	710
Amount approved	$35.4m	$22m	$7.2m	$8.9m

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.

Funeral expenses for a dependant

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	1,700	1,600	1,500	2,200
Applications approved	920	760	600	740
Individuals applied	1,190	1,160	1,240	1,790
Individuals approved	840	710	580	720
Amount approved	$9m	$7.5m	$5.3m	$6.9m

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.

Dental treatment subcategory

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	7,140	10,610	8,240	11,780
Applications approved	3,850	6,000	5,960	8,380
Individuals applied	4,310	6,720	6,500	9,720
Individuals approved	3,470	5,580	5,530	8,020
Amount approved	$66.4m	$111.7m	$108.2m	$171.3m

IVF subcategory

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	3,380	4,250	3,700	4,150
Applications approved	2,720	3,260	3,260	3,390
Individuals applied	2,140	2,610	2,670	3,020
Individuals approved	2,080	2,490	2,580	2,750
Amount approved	$36.2m	$40.1m	$42.1m	$45.4m

Weight loss subcategory

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	17,690	18,710	14,510	15,760
Applications approved	13,790	14,570	12,970	13,960
Individuals applied	12,920	13,920	12,900	14,160
Individuals approved	12,550	13,530	12,570	13,620
Amount approved	$207.5	$234.2m	$220m	$233.9m

Other subcategory

Financial year	2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22
Applications received	9,880	10,980	7,970	10,400
Applications approved	5,440	6,040	5,260	6,230
Individuals applied	6,050	6,900	6,360	8,340
Individuals approved	4,580	5,340	4,870	5,830
Amount approved	$74m	$87m	$75.3m	$92.2m

'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 at 2 March 2023.

Accessing early release of super on compassionate grounds and how many applications we have received and approved.