Pauline Hanson is targeting superannuation. Should it be easier to access your savings?

Investment experts say early withdrawal can substantially reduce retirement funds, but they suggest reducing contribution rates

The One Nation leader has made it clear that her party backs looser rules around how Australians can access their retirement savings.

In a cost-of-living crisis, she argues it’s not right to force people to save for the future when they can’t make ends meet today.

“Some people, you know, who need these [medical] operations can’t get access to their superannuation to have that done,” Hanson claimed this week. “Superannuation should be lightened up a bit so people can utilise this money in times of crisis. It is their money.”

Jane Hume, the deputy Liberal leader, in response said the Coalition would revisit whether Australians should be able to get access to their retirement savings early - albeit for the narrower purpose of helping buy a first home.

Hume added: “I do think that superannuation is highly valued by Australians, it’s not something that you need in your working life, it’s something you need in your retired life.”

When asked, Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, has repeatedly pointed out that there are already ways for people to pull from their retirement for compassionate reasons or due to financial hardship.

According to the ATO, 63,300 individuals in 2024-25 were granted early access for compassionate reasons, the vast majority to pay for a medical treatment.

To put that into context, there are roughly 14 million people with at least one super account who are not past retirement age.

The sums were not trivial – more than $1.4bn was withdrawn early under compassionate grounds in that financial year. That suggests the average amount was about $22,400.

The total amount approved for early release for compassionate reasons is also climbing quickly. It was up about 40% on 2023-24, and was nearly double the $762m accessed in 2022-23, according to the ATO.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority reports the amount of early release of super payments for severe financial hardship. A little over $1bn was paid out to fund members under this category in 2024-25, and has also increased rapidly over recent years.

Jessica Spence, the director of policy at Super Consumers Australia, says there’s always room for improvement in the super system.

“Certainly if you make the rules more straightforward then it will be easier for people to access their money, but they may have less in retirement - at the end of the day, that’s the main trade-off,” Spence says.