Withdrawing your super

How your benefit is calculated

Your PSSap account is valued and declared in units. Your contributions whether made by you or your employer, less any tax that may apply, are used to buy units in PSSap. Each time you or your employer contributes, you buy more units. It’s similar to buying shares in a company.

The value of the units you hold is based on the ‘sell’ price of those units in the respective investment option(s) that applies to you.

Generally, the unit price for a particular day is declared on the next business day and will fluctuate in line with investment earnings. When you withdraw your super from PSSap, you will be cashing in, or redeeming, your units, at the applicable daily unit price on the day your application is processed.

How to claim

You can download a benefit application form, or if you're unable to download the form you can contact us, and we'll send you a copy.

Once we receive your valid withdrawal request, we'll process your request using the unit price applicable to your investment option/s on the business day that the request is processed.

When to claim

The PSSap Rules and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 (SIS Regulations) set out the conditions of release that must be satisfied before your super benefits can be claimed. Generally, you must have reached your preservation age before you can claim your superannuation benefit. However, this is not always the case, and you should consider seeking professional advice to properly understand your options based on your personal circumstances.

Your PSSap benefit may consist of up to three components:

• a preserved benefit – you must meet a condition of release in order to cash all or part of this benefit
• a restricted non–preserved benefit – this benefit  will generally stem from employment-related contributions, other than employer contributions, made before 1 July 1999. Such benefits can't be cashed until you have met a condition of release specific to those benefits, or when you terminate gainful employment from your relevant employer. 
• an unrestricted non–preserved benefit – this benefit can be cashed out at any time.

Preserved and restricted non–preserved benefits

You can withdraw your super benefit*:

• when you permanently leave the workforce on or after age 60
• if you retire on or after your preservation age as set out in Table 1
• if we have approved your invalidity retirement and certified that you are entitled to receive invalidity benefits under PSSap
• if you suffer severe financial hardship or are eligible on compassionate grounds as determined by the Regulator
• if you leave the APS and your PSSap super account balance is $200 or less.

If you are a temporary resident or former temporary resident, you can withdraw your super benefit:

• if you have permanently left Australia after having been a temporary resident on a specified class of visa
• if you become permanently or temporarily incapacitated
• if you develop a terminal illness.

* Note: These lists are not exhaustive. Other conditions of release may apply to you.

Unrestricted non–preserved benefits

Certain benefits, which are not subject to preservation, may be withdrawn at any time. These benefits may consist of benefits in relation to which you have previously satisfied a condition of release, or unrestricted non–preserved amounts you transferred into PSSap.

Compulsory payment of super benefits

If we are required to abide by a superannuation agreement or a court order under the Family Law Act 1975, part or all of your benefit may be paid from PSSap.

We must also distribute your benefits when you die.

Is there a fee for withdrawing?

There are no fees for withdrawing funds from your PSSap account.

What is retirement?

If your preservation age is less than 60 and you reach that preservation age, you are taken to have retired if:

• an arrangement under which you were gainfully employed has finished

  and

• we are reasonably satisfied that you intend never again to become gainfully employed, either on a full–time or part–time basis.

If you have attained the age of 60, you will be taken to have retired if an arrangement under which you were gainfully employed has finished and either:

• you attained that age on or before the ending of that employment arrangement;  or
• we are reasonably satisfied that you intend never again to become gainfully employed, either on a full-time or part-time basis. 

Retrenchment, resignation and dismissal

Retrenchment, resignation or dismissal alone will not satisfy a condition of release. However, your circumstances may otherwise satisfy a condition of release.

For example, if you are retrenched after attaining the age of 60, you may qualify to have your super balance released under the 'retirement' condition of release. 

Leaving Australia

If you are a former temporary resident who accumulated superannuation while working, you can apply to have your super funds transferred to your overseas bank account. To do this, you will need to fill in the Application for a departing Australian superannuation payment form, available from the ATO website. 

Please do not use the Withdrawing your Super form to initiate this process.

Early access to super

You may qualify for early access to your super benefits on two grounds: financial hardship or specified compassionate grounds.

Financial hardship

You can apply for a financial hardship benefit release under two different circumstances:

Circumstance 1

If you have not reached your preservation age, or you have reached your preservation age and are gainfully employed (you are working more than 10 hours a week) Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) may decide (but is not required) to release part of your benefits if it is satisfied on written evidence from a Commonwealth department that you:

• have received a relevant Commonwealth income support payment (such as Centrelink, Department of Veterans’ Affairs or a Commonwealth Community Development Employment Projects organisation) for a continuous period of 26 weeks. You must still be receiving this payment at the date of providing the written evidence and
• are unable to meet reasonable and immediate family living expenses.

In those circumstances, legislation states that CSC can only pay you a single gross lump sum of no more than $10,000 and no less than $1,000 (or a lesser amount if the amount in your personal accumulation account is less than $1,000). Only one payment is permitted in a twelve–month period.

Circumstance 2

If you have reached your preservation age and are no longer gainfully employed (you are not working more than 10 hours a week) CSC may decide (but is not required) to release your benefit under financial hardship grounds if it is satisfied on written evidence from a Commonwealth department that you:

• have reached your preservation age plus 39 weeks and
• have received a relevant Commonwealth income support payment (such as Centrelink or Department of Veteran’s Affairs) for a cumulative period of 39 weeks after reaching your preservation age.

In this circumstance there is no restriction on what we can pay you up to your account balance.

Compassionate grounds

In very limited circumstances you can apply for the early release of your super on compassionate grounds through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). These conditions are set out in the SIS Act and cover expenses related to a serious medical condition or to prevent the forced sale of your home by your mortgagee.

The ATO is required to consider and approve any request to release super on compassionate grounds and any withdrawal request sent to PSSap must include notification of ATO approval. Once we have this information we will advise which benefits we can and cannot release to you.

How your benefit is paid

If you have met a condition of release (outlined earlier), you choose whether you take your benefit as a lump sum amount or convert your super balance into an income stream or pension.

A lump sum benefit will also be paid on death or invalidity.

If you have income protection cover through your super account and you successfully claim, you may also receive an income stream for the period stipulated.

How your lump sum will be taxed

See the Tax and your PSSap super booklet for the most up to date information on how your super will be taxed.

Convert your lump sum to an income stream or pension

You can choose to convert some or all of your super balance to an account-based income stream via Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation retirement income (CSCri). CSCri enables members to receive their super savings as either a:

• transition to retirement income stream or
• standard retirement income stream.

It also allows you to stay within the government superannuation environment once you stop working with the flexibility to call on lump sums if and when you need them.

Transferring your benefit

You can transfer your PSSap super to another complying fund at any time. The amount you transfer is up to you, but if you wish to remain a PSSap member you must leave a $6000 minimum balance in your PSSap super account.

If making a partial withdrawal and the requested amount will leave an insufficient remaining balance, we will pay the lesser amount to ensure the minimum balance is maintained.

Before you do decide to transfer your PSSap to another super fund, it is important that you consider any future implications (for example, you may not be eligible for CSCri once you have transferred your PSSap account to another fund).