Severe financial hardship

Make it happen

Financial hardship claim form
Download the Financial hardship claim form (368KB)

There are two types of financial hardship claims. To be eligible to access your super under severe financial hardship you must meet the criteria of one of the claim types below.

You’ll need to know your preservation age before you start.

Claim type 1 

You're eligible if:

• You don’t meet the criteria for claim type 2, and
• You’ve been receiving an eligible Australian Commonwealth Income Support Payment for at least 26 continuous weeks, and
• You’re unable to meet reasonable and immediate living expenses for yourself or your family, and
• You haven’t made a claim with Sunsuper for severe financial hardship in the past 12 months

Claim type 2 

You're eligible if:

• You're over your preservation age, and
• You’ve received an Australian Commonwealth Income Support Payment for a total of 39 weeks since you reached preservation age, and
• You are unemployed or employed for less than 10 hours per week

How much can you claim?

Claim type 1:

The maximum amount you can claim in a 12 month period is $10,000 (before tax).

Claim type 2:

There is no maximum.

It’s important to remember the amount you claim is before tax so the final amount you receive will be less than the amount you claim, and may be significantly less. Please visit the ATO website for more information about how your payout will be taxed.

To find out more about your eligibility, and to make a claim, follow the instructions on the Early release of super due to severe financial hardship form [PDF 368KB].