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Compassionate release of super

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

Last updated 15 June 2023

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.

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