APRA figures reveal 2m Aussies have accessed their super

Superannuation funds have made payments to approximately 2 million members since the inception of the early release scheme in April, bringing the sum total of released funds to $14.8 billion.

by | 15 Jun, 2020

ASBFEO welcomes Labor's commitment to boost local SME investment

The average superannuation payment since the inception of the scheme is $7,475, with over 94 per cent of payments made within five days.

APRA’s fund-level data shows that 150 of the 177 funds (85 per cent) that submitted data made early release payments in the period since inception to 7 June 2020.

Among all funds that submitted data, 137 (76 per cent) completed more than 90 per cent of payments within the five business days guideline indicated by APRA.

Further, with limited exceptions (1.4 per cent), payments to members have been completed within 10 or more business days from receipt of applications from the ATO.

The 10 funds with the highest number of applications received from the ATO have made 1.33 million payments worth a total of $9.76 billion.

Looking at the funds individually reveals that Australian Super has received and processed the largest number of claims, 290,992 and 264,404, respectively. Payments made by this fund total just under $2 billion.

Australian Super is followed closely by Sunsuper where 209,330 out of a total received 223,801 claims have been processed, to the tune of $1.5 billion.

Earlier this month, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) chair Wayne Byres cautioned that it would be “dangerously naive” to expect things to return to normal as a result of the government’s temporary measures tailored to combat the impacts of the coronavirus crisis.

Speaking before the board of the International Banking Federation, Mr Byres said that “this crisis will almost certainly precipitate enduring change in the way society operates”.

“The idea that we’ll employ some temporary measures and then everything will ‘go back to normal’ is therefore a dangerously naive one on which to base our decisions,” he said.

“Flexibility and agility will be important — we have a long battle ahead.”

Share This