People should be able to get access to thier superannuation in cases of hardship. Otherwise, there is a possibility some of them may not reach retirement due to the extreme personal stresses they and thier famalies will be under. Large percentage of Australians have been living off credit and have very little savings to fall back on.

Monumentally stupid and short-sighted for many of the reasons explained above. There are alternative ways for governments to fund short term cash needs (and they are doing it) without cocking up the super system.

Doesn’t early access to super mean less strain on Centrelink? We are in an unprecedented territory - health and financial crises at once. Let those who have a super nest egg access it, and allow Centrelink to manage the wave of need from younger parts of the population who’ve not yet built theirs.

People can't eat their superannuation statements. This is obviously one of, if not, the last options for people given they often have few other savings apart from compulsory super. The lack of basic empathy is staggering.

Depends where you are on the age and desperation scale. The government loves tinkering with super. By the time I retire I'm certain they'll come up with some other ways of taxing the crap out of it. I'm guessing they could even borrow it without asking and go on a massive junket.

I am of the view that this is a very astute call by the Government and would encourage liberalising access further, and increasing the amount that can be withdrawn. Australia is at imminent risk of a deeper drop in GDP than has been experienced in all of our lifetimes. The largest employer in this country is small business. Many are confronting deep duress e.g. people off the land (floods, droughts bushfires then corona (or was that Greta) virus) and entrepreneurs who are highly indebted whose revenue is turning down sharply. For these people, the turndown threatens ALL of their accumulated capital and their homes. I believe it should unequivocally be offered to ALL superannuation members (no qualifying criteria) and up $20k this financial year per member, and review come July. Nobody obliged to withdraw - but the leveraged impact of flexibility due to this source of liquidity can be life altering and have a bigger impact on the members retiremnt than keeping this amount in super. The difference between emerging from the impending/recession owning a business, or bankruptcy effects far more people than most would like to think.

I'm 65yrs old and will work 3 more yrs do you think my super will bounce back for me befor this crisis my super was sitting just over 700,000

Three times now the super funds have managed to lose most of my super in GFC's. The first two times were six figure sums.... what was left was mainly eaten by fees. I'm not sure it's not a mythical beast.

If a 20 year old takes out $10,000 today, it will cost him or her at least $100,000 in retirement, and maybe as high as $300,000. Think about that? That's an extra $5,000 every year in pensions the taxpayer must find. This is an example of short term thinking, because we humans are poor at imagining the future. Unless you need the money to save your or your spouses life, super should not be allowed to be touched until retirement.

with SMSF's, if the value of assets and return by way of dividends drops below eligibility requirements for Age Pension, then we'll just have to go on a pension, right?

Barry, you're best off checking that with Centrelink, they'll be able to advise if the change in your circumstances might make you eligible for the Aged Pension.

co contributions to replace the $20K i.e. take $10k in May, put $1 k back in June as a co contribution = ( $0.5k in Oct from government added to super ), then take out another $10k in July reduce budget by $20 per week and make a $1 k co contribution next 13 years ???

Standing back and looking at the possibilities that will be forced on the Superannuation Fund Managers being forced to pay out up to $20,000. Consider their illiquid due to the types of investments, i.e. Property, Private Equity, Research, Growth Shares etc. .Forced to find cash for payouts and to manage to have a viable fund to manage after some normality returns to the market they will increase the spread between buying and selling, give thought to this before drawing down.