Figures from Fairfax Newspapers indicate the amount of money Australian’s have withdrawn from Super to pay off debts have quadrupled in the past five years. Applications can be made to access superannuation in cases of severe hardship, such as to prevent foreclosure on your home. In 2001, there was 13,871 applications made to withdraw $35 million dollars. Last year, there was 16,500 applications, withdrawing a total of $135.3 million.
Labor’s assistant treasury spokesman, Chris Bowen said “These figures are more evidence that all is not rosy in the Australian economy.”
Household Net Savings figures presented here @ whocrashedtheeconomy.com shows Australian’s have been dipping into their savings for the past 6 years since 2002.
» Super raided to pay off debt – news.com.au, June 17th 2007.
» The Super news isn’t, well, that super – The Age, June 17th 2007.