Early access to your super
You can access your super early in very limited circumstances. These are mostly related to specific expenses.
On this page
Illegal early release of super
Be aware that some promoters claim to offer early access to your super by transferring your super into a self-managed super fund. These schemes are illegal and heavy penalties apply if you get involved. For more information, refer to Illegal early release of super.
Access on compassionate grounds
You may be allowed to withdraw some of your super on compassionate grounds. Compassionate grounds include needing money to pay for:
- medical treatment and medical transport for you or your dependant
- palliative care for you or your dependant
- making a payment on a home loan or council rates so you don't lose your home
- accommodating a disability for you or your dependant
- expenses associated with the death, funeral or burial of your dependant.
Access due to severe financial hardship
Severe financial hardship is not administered by the ATO. You need to contact your super provider to request access to your super due to severe financial hardship.
You may be able to withdraw some of your super if you are experiencing severe financial hardship.
There are no special tax rates for a super withdrawal because of severe financial hardship. Withdrawals are paid and taxed as a normal super lump sum. If you're:
- under 60, this is generally taxed between 17% and 22%
- over 60, you won't be taxed.
Below preservation age plus 39 weeks
If you are below your preservation age plus 39 weeks, you need to meet both of these conditions:
- You have received eligible government income support payments continuously for 26 weeks. You must have been in receipt of these payments when you obtained written evidence from the relevant government department.
- You are not able to meet reasonable and immediate family living expenses.
The minimum amount that can be withdrawn is $1,000 and the maximum amount is $10,000. If your super balance is less than $1,000 you can withdraw up to your remaining balance after tax.
You can only make one withdrawal in any 12-month period.
Reached preservation age plus 39 weeks
If you've reached your preservation age plus 39 weeks, you need to meet all of these conditions:
- You have received eligible government income support payments for a cumulative period of 39 weeks.
- You were not gainfully employed when you applied.
There are no cashing restrictions for this process.
How to apply for access due to financial hardship
You must apply to your fund directly for release of super on financial hardship grounds. We do not process severe financial hardship requests.
If your super provider requests evidence, ask Services Australia for a letter confirming you have received eligible government income support payments continuously for 26 weeks or more.
See more on how to apply for early access because of financial hardshipExternal Link.
Access due to a terminal medical condition
You may be able to access your super if you have a terminal medical condition.
A terminal medical condition exists if all these conditions are met:
- Two registered medical practitioners have certified, jointly or separately, that you suffer from an illness or injury that is likely to result in death within 24 months of the date of signing the certificate.
- At least one of the registered medical practitioners is a specialist practising in an area related to your illness or injury.
- The 24-month certification period has not ended.
Contact your super fund to request access to your super due to a terminal medical condition.
Your fund must pay your super as a lump sum. The payment is tax-free if you withdraw it within 24 months of certification.
If your fund does not allow access due to a terminal medical condition, you may be able to move your super to a different fund.
If you are suffering from a terminal medical condition and you have super held by us you can either:
- ask your provider to claim this on your behalf
- claim it directly from us yourself.
How to apply
To access ATO-held super due to a terminal medical condition, you can apply online via your myGov accountExternal Link linked to ATO online services.
From the ATO online services home page:
- select the heading option Super
- then Manage
- then Withdraw ATO-held super.
If you are eligible to apply for ATO-held super but can't do so via our online services, you can complete a paper application and return it to us.
Access due to temporary incapacity
You may be able to access your super if you are temporarily unable to work, or need to work less hours, because of a physical or mental medical condition.
This condition of release is generally used to access insurance benefits linked to your super account.
You will receive the super in regular payments (income stream) over the time you are unable to work. A super withdrawal due to temporary incapacity is taxed as a super income stream.
Contact your super provider to request access to your super due to temporary incapacity and to ask about insurance implications attached to your account.
There are no special tax rates for a super withdrawal due to temporary incapacity.
If you do not have access to insurance benefits as part of your super account, consider whether you would be eligible for access due to severe financial hardship.
Access due to permanent incapacity
You may be able to access your super if you are permanently incapacitated. This type of super withdrawal is sometimes called a 'disability super benefit'.
Your fund must be satisfied that you have a permanent physical or mental medical condition that is likely to stop you from ever working again in a job you were qualified to do by education, training or experience.
You may still be eligible to withdraw your super where you meet the above criteria, but are undertaking other work, such as light duties in a different position or casual work in a different field.
You can receive the super as either a lump sum or as regular payments (income stream).
A super withdrawal due to permanent incapacity is subject to different tax components. For you to receive concessional tax treatment, your permanent incapacity must be certified by at least 2 medical practitioners.
Contact your provider to request access to your super because of permanent incapacity.
To work out how your super payment will be taxed you need to know how much of the money in your super account, is a:
- tax-free component
- taxable component the super provider has paid tax on (taxed element)
- taxable component the super provider has not paid tax on (untaxed element).
If you're under your preservation age and receive a disability benefit as an income stream, you will get tax offsets that reduce the tax rate on the taxed element of your taxable component by 15%.
If you have reached your preservation age or if you get a lump sum, your disability benefit will be taxed at the rates described in How tax applies to your super.
Super less than $200
You may be able to access your super if:
- your employment is terminated and the balance of your super account is less than $200
- you have found a 'lost super' account with a balance less than $200.
Contact your provider to request access. Check the eligibility criteria for withdrawing super from ATO-held accounts.
No tax is payable when accessing super accounts with a balance less than $200.
First home super saver scheme
To help you save for your first home, you can apply to release voluntary concessional (before-tax) and voluntary non-concessional (after-tax) contributions you have made to your super fund since 1 July 2017. You must meet the eligibility requirements to apply for the release of these amounts.
You can apply to have a maximum of $15,000 of your voluntary contributions from any one financial year included in your eligible contributions to be released under the first home super saver scheme, up to a total of $50,000 contributions across all years. You will also receive an amount of earnings that relate to those contributions.
Be aware of scams and schemes
We’re concerned about scams or schemes where people:
- impersonate the ATO, or a trusted organisation like your super fund, to steal your money or personal identifying information
- contact you and charge for services that are free, like gaining early access to your superannuation.
If you receive a phone call, text message or email offering to help you release your super early, do not:
- provide your personal information
- click on any links.
You can contact us to confirm if an interaction is genuine.
Stolen or misused identity
If you are concerned that someone has accessed your super without your permission, you should check:
- your myGov and ATO Online account and make sure your contact details are still correct
- your superannuation account to make sure that your account details are also correct, and that there have been no unauthorised transactions.
If you receive a text message or email stating that your myGov details have been changed, or that you have applied for early release of super when you have not, do not click on any links, and consider whether your identity has been compromised.
If you think that someone has stolen or misused your identity, contact both:
- your super fund immediately if you identify unauthorised transactions or updates to your account
- our Client Identity Support Centre on 1800 467 033 (between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday–Friday) to help you establish your tax identity.
You can access your super early in very limited circumstances. These are mostly related to specific expenses.