$257 million wiped from retirement nest eggs

Thousands of people on the Dawson electorate wipe out superannuation funds under early access scheme

Industry Super Australia has crunched the numbers of how many people possibly accessed their superannuation early.

MACKAY residents have wiped millions from their superannuation nest eggs, with more than 4800 wiping their accounts completely.

Industry Super Australia data shows more than 145,000 Queenslanders have wiped out their retirement savings under the government's early release scheme.

It breaks down the number of applications received per federal electorate for each state, with the total amount of super paid out to Queenslanders a whopping $7.4 billion.

About 27 per cent of Queenslanders accessed the scheme.

About 156,000 people live in the Dawson electorate, and more than 34,300 people applied for early access to their superannuation funds.

Just more than 32,300 of those applications were paid for a total of $257.9 million, or an average of $7972 each.

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The Dawson electorate ranked 13th in the state, with Brisbane ($360.7 million), Griffith ($334.4 million) and Moncrieff ($300.4 million) making the top three respectively.

It compares to the Capricornia electorate, ranked 22nd in the state, with a population of just more than 147,400 people of which 30,700 people applied to access their super.

The 28,910 paid applications totalled $231 million for an average of $7991 each, with 4212 people wiping their accounts completely.

The figures were determined based on ISA analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on electorate employment using Australian Bureau of Statistics data by industry and age.

The estimated number of accounts that were wiped was based on Australian Taxation Office data on the distribution of superannuation balances by region and age.

ISA chief executive Bernie Dean said 145,000 Queenslanders wiping out their super was "a tragedy waiting to happen for Queensland".

"The only way to repair the retirement savings of Queenslanders is to lift the super rate," he said.

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"It is critical to helping rebuild savings wiped out and to avoid tax hikes on working people to prop up more people drawing a full pension."

The ISA has called on the Federal Government to lift the super rate to 12 per cent, a figure it said would boost workers' retirement funds.

The government in April relaxed rules surrounding accessing super for people who lost their jobs or had hours reduced, with workers able to access $10,000 before July 1 and a further $10,000 until December.

ISA said a 30 year old who withdrew $10,000 could have up to $41,000 less at retirement.

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