The amount paid reflects the available funds in your super account. The balance the ATO have for your account was correct at 30 June 2019, and your account balance may have changed since that date due to:

• contributions added
• tax applied
• fees paid
• any insurance premiums paid; and/or
• market movements.
  

If the balance in any of your super accounts is less than $6,000, you won’t pay more than 3% pa in fees and costs¹. We’ll assess your balances at annual reporting time (or when you exit) and if you’ve paid more than 3% pa in fees and costs on any account with a balance of less than $6,000, you’ll be refunded the difference.

¹These fees and costs include administration fees, investment fees and indirect costs.

For more information about fees, check your Product Disclosure Statement.

Once you have applied, here are the next steps for successful applications:

1. The ATO assesses and approves the request
2. The ATO provides MLC with a determination, optimally the next business day
3. MLC receives the information from the ATO and processes it
4. MLC makes the payment into your nominated bank account, targeting within five business days
5. If we have your mobile number, we’ll let you know via SMS once we’ve completed your payment

We have been receiving files in batches from the ATO since 21 April and the process between the ATO and MLC is up and running. Our teams are focused on processing money accurately and safely to our members’ accounts.

To be eligible for early release of super you must satisfy any one of the following requirements:

• You are unemployed.
• You are eligible to receive a job seeker payment, youth allowance for jobseekers, parenting payment (which includes the single and partnered payments), special benefit or farm household allowance.
• On or after 1 January 2020:
  -  you were made redundant
  -  your working hours were reduced by 20% or more, or
  -  if you’re a sole trader your business was suspended or there was a reduction in your turnover of 20% or more.

• holders of student visas which they’ve held for 12 months or more and who are unable to meet immediate living expenses
  
• temporary skilled visa holders who’ve had their hours reduced to zero since 1 January 2020 and continue to be employed by their employer, and
• other temporary visa holders who are unable to meet immediate living expenses.
  

Eligible temporary residents can apply in the 2019/20 financial year only. They’ll need to register and apply through MyGov in the same method as residents and non-residents.

Further information is available at ato.gov.au including details on which temporary visas are covered.

How to apply

You’ll need to submit an application to the ATO. This will be available from 20 April 2020.

Please note, you can only make one application this financial year for up to $10,000. You will need to submit a separate application next financial year to access the remaining $10,000 by 24 September 2020.

These are the steps to follow:

• Sign in to your myGov account at my.gov.au or create one by selecting create an account and authenticate your identity.
• Complete the application form in ATO Online. If you’re unable to access online services, call the ATO and complete the application over the phone.
• Certify that you’re eligible to receive the benefit.
• Review a list of open accounts including the last account balance reported (in most cases that’s 30 June 2019).
• Input the amount you wish to access from each account (must not exceed $10,000).
• Input your nominated bank account details (account name, BSB and account number).
• Authorise the ATO to provide your application to your super fund. They’ll then action the release of you super into your nominated bank account.

When can you apply

Applications for early release of super in the 19/20 Financial Year are open from 20 April to 1 July 2020.

For the 20/21 Financial Year applications, the dates are from 1 July 2020 to 24 September 2020.

What documents do you need when you apply (i.e. you’ve been made redundant or had hours reduced).

To find out more about what documents are required, please refer to the application process in your myGov account at my.gov.au. You won’t need to supply these documents to MLC.

More information is also available at ato.gov.au or my.gov.au

Yes, you can apply for both.

Yes - your insurance may be impacted. This is because your insurance premiums are paid from your super account which will further reduce your super balance (unless your employer pays for the cost of your insurance cover) - so you must have enough super savings to pay for the cover.

So, it’s important to take a moment and think carefully about whether you want to have insurance as part of your super.

You can find out more about insurance in super here. 

And don’t forget, you can change or cancel your insurance at anytime, by calling us.

Yes. Our members with insurance through their super are covered for claims arising from the Coronavirus - there are no pandemic-related exclusions that apply to our cover or claims.
It’s important to know that other exclusions, terms, conditions, eligibility criteria, and waiting periods still apply to the cover and to claims – details of which you can find in your Insurance Guide, part of the Product Disclosure Statement.

If you need to make a claim, our team is ready to help.

Rest assured our claims payment will continue as normal and it’s important to us that we support you during this difficult time. If you need to make a claim or find out more about your current claim, we’re ready to help.

Income Protection (IP) also known as Salary Continuance Insurance (SCI) is designed to pay you part of your income if you can’t work due to illness or injury while you were employed.

Changes to the hours you work - Typically, you need to be working a minimum number of hours per week to be eligible for an IP/SCI benefit. If your number of work hours drops below the minimum number, or you become unemployed, you won’t be covered.

Changes to your salary - Your IP/SCI sum insured is based on the amount of your salary. If your salary is reduced, the insurance benefit payment amount that you receive may be lower. This could also apply to your Death and Total and Permanent & Disablement (TPD) cover. Generally, your Death and TPD cover will continue if your employment stops.

Check out your Annual Statement and your Insurance Guide, part of the Product Disclosure Statement, if you’d like to know more.

Yes - you can apply for additional insurance including cover for Death, Total & Permanent Disablement and Income Protection/ Salary Continuance insurance (SCI). To apply, you’ll need to be eligible and generally you’ll also have to provide health and employment information to the insurer — who will approve or decline your application based on that information.

Coronavirus has been declared a pandemic and there are no pandemic-related exclusions that apply to our cover or to claims.

Before deciding if you want to buy more insurance please note other exclusions, terms, conditions, eligibility, and waiting periods that apply to cover and to claims - the details of which you can find in your Insurance Guide, part of the Product Disclosure Statement.

For more information about insurance in super, please visit our insurance page.

If your super account isn’t receiving contributions for a continuous period of 16 months, your super account is considered inactive and your insurance in super may be cancelled. This could happen during the Coronavirus time if you or your employer aren’t making contributions to your super.

You will also need to make sure that there is sufficient money in your super account to pay for the cost of the insurance. If there isn’t, then your insurance in super may be cancelled. Don’t worry, we’ll be in touch if your super account doesn’t have enough money to pay for the premiums or it becomes inactive so you can let us know what you’d like to do with your insurance.

You can change or cancel your insurance at any time. Just call us or visit our insurance page and head to the Useful forms and info page.

Yes, there are no exclusions for a pandemic in the MLC Life policy.

No. Currently, there are no exclusions that relate directly to COVID-19 and there are no pandemic-related exclusions in most group insurance policies.

If you need to make a claim then, like any other claim, it will be assessed. You’ll need to meet the terms of the insurance policy. Current available information about COVID-19 suggests that most people recover within 14 days and can return to their normal activities. If you experience permanent health issues from COVID-19, you may be eligible for a TPD benefit.

No, Income Protection benefit is only available if you can’t work due to illness or injury, and if you’ve met the required waiting period for your plan.

Also, if your employment is impacted resulting in reduced hours or salary, this may impact the amount of any benefit you are eligible for in the event of a claim. Any claims will need to be assessed based on their individual circumstances but we are working with our insurers to ensure all members are treated fairly and reasonably in these unprecedented times.

The Australian Government has announced COVID-19-related financial support for which you may be eligible. To find out more, go to www.servicesaustralia.gov.au

Insurance policies will continue to cover members working from home or on voluntary leave or who’ve been stood down while COVID-19 restrictions are in place. The benefit amount depends on the specific policy terms.

Insurers have advised they’ll continue to support claimants during this unprecedented event. They understand that obtaining medical information may be challenging and accordingly, will work with you to help progress your claim as quickly as possible.

Your existing insurance cover will generally continue, provided you maintain sufficient funds in your super account to pay the insurance premiums. If the benefit value of your insurance cover is linked to your super account balance, your level of cover may be adjusted in line with any withdrawals from your super.

Please see your Insurance Guide for details in relations to the terms and conditions applicable to your plan.

For account-based pensions, there’s a temporary 50 percent reduction in the minimum drawdown requirements for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, as shown in the table below. This measure is designed to assist retirees by reducing their need to sell investments to meet minimum drawdown requirements when market prices may be under pressure. 

*The reduced minimums are available for the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 financial years. The minimum may be subject to change from time to time. For more information go to ato.gov.au/coronavirus.

For this financial year (2019/20), if you’d like to change or suspend pension payments to meet the reduced minimum drawdown rate, you can do this by completing an Update your account details form, or by calling us or your adviser.

If you elected the minimum drawdown rate, then we’ll automatically apply the reduced minimum from 1 July 2020. This means you’ll receive a lower pension payment from 1 July 2020.

If you have further questions, you can contact us at any time.

MLC is aware of current scam phone calls targeting Australians. The caller may claim to be from an organisation that can assist you to get early access to your superannuation. The caller may ask for your personal and superannuation details.

If you ever have any concerns as to the legitimacy of a call, hang up and call the company back on a publicly listed number.

If you have received this type of call and have provided information about your superannuation, please contact MLC immediately on 132 652.

If you receive a text message saying your superannuation fund is going to release your super, and you did not request this, contact us.

If you have provided personal or banking details, please also contact your financial institution.

You can also visit the Scamwatch website for more information about this scam.