About 8000 Australians are still waiting patiently to access their superannuation early

Thousands of cash-strapped Australians are still waiting for their early access to superannuation payments to be approved.

Thousands of Australians are still waiting to access their superannuation early despite the scheme ending nearly six weeks ago.

Latest figures released on Monday by the financial regulator, the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority, showed at January 31 there were still 8000 applications that had not been finalised.

APRA said the delay in processing the applications was “because funds had been unable to contact applicants to finalise payment”.

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees’ chief executive officer Eva Scheerlinck said, “There could be a number of reasons for processing delays, including funds being unable to contact applicants to finalise payment”.

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees chief executive officer Eva Scheerlinck. said there could be a number of reasons early access to super applications are still waiting to be processed.

“Applicants waiting for their payout should go online and check that their personal details with their super fund are correct and up to date, including their mobile number,” she said.

“If your details are up to date and you are concerned that your payment is being held for another reason then consider contacting your fund.”

The early release of superannuation scheme began on April 20 last year and ran through until December 31.

Over the eight month period more than 4.9 million applications were received and about 4.8 million applications had been paid out to a total value of $36.4 billion.

This fell nearly $6 billion under the total withdrawal predictions at $42 billion.

Of all applications there were 3.5 million initial applications and 1.4 million repeat applications.

The average payment made was $7638.

About 95,000 applications had been closed or knocked back without payment.

The Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy Senator Jane Hume said the scheme “proved a lifeline in a period of financial uncertainty”.

The Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy Senator Jane Hume said the early access to super scheme “proved a lifeline in a period of financial uncertainty”.

“This was an overwhelming success – it was the right policy at the right time,” she said.

“The overwhelming majority of Australians made sensible choices with their savings like paying down mortgages, paying down debt and paying off credit cards.”

The scheme was rolled out by the Federal Government to help struggling Australians financially, allowing eligible applications to access up to $10,000 though until June 30 and another $10,000 up until December 31.

The withdrawals were tax free.

To be eligible applicants had to had suffered an income loss or been made redundant.

Funds were typically able to process applications and make payments in a timely fashion, taking about 3.3 business days to make payments.

About 95 per cent of payments were completed within 1 to 5 business days.

The government’s Moneysmart calculations found for a 30-year-old withdrawing $10,000, would equate to a loss of $21,516 in today’s dollars come retirement at age 67.

@sophieelsworth