Accessing aussie super from NZ under hardship?

Please note this sub-forum does not provide professional finance advice. You should seek advice from a licensed financial advisor.

To post in this sub-forum you must have made 100 posts or have Trust status or have completed our ID Verification.

If investing please consider our affiliate link for new accounts: Sharesies.

Forums › Finance and wealth management › Accessing aussie super from NZ under hardship?

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#179047 24-Aug-2015 15:16

Im wondering if anyone has gone down the process of trying to access their aussie super early via financial hardship or compassionate grounds?

I know they say on the sites you have to have been on a commonwealth benefit for 26 weeks, but the person Im thinking of has major debts and is incapable of working (physically for last 6 years), lives with a not so finacially committed partner so cant access NZ WINZ or qualify for ACC (sucks big time for the partner).

They do have $80k in super but its spread across multiple funds in aus and could be quite difficult to apply for from NZ?

Just thought id ask and see if anyones got knowledge on the low down.

Thanks

Kyanar

4089 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1373431 24-Aug-2015 22:47

Sorry, but there's no room to move on that one. The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994, which is the Commonwealth act that permits early release of super, quite explicitly says (in 6.01) that the trustee can only release funds if the member has been receiving Commonwealth income support for 26 weeks, and requires evidence from a Commonwealth agency administering income support payments to pay out.

So if they're not in Australia, on Centrelink or similar, they have precisely zero chance of getting their Super.

However, they could potentially transfer their super to KiwiSaver then withdraw that on compassionate grounds, which IRD confirms will actually work as the IRD definition of hardship then applies rather than the DHHS definition.

bfginger

1267 posts

Uber Geek

#1373459 25-Aug-2015 06:13

Is Kiwisaver money of Australian superannuation origin subjected to the same rules of withdrawal?

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1373460 25-Aug-2015 06:18

bfginger: Is Kiwisaver money of Australian superannuation origin subjected to the same rules of withdrawal?

You can do a Google search about kiwi saver and read all about it

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1373497 25-Aug-2015 08:47

You can transfer your super to nz.

What is allowed to happen after that I'm not sure.

If we hit 0.74 to Aussie dollar I'm going to transfer it

Smithy100

180 posts

Master Geek

#1373769 25-Aug-2015 12:33

The info below was included in what my Kiwisaver Fund sent me when I recently asked about repatriating my Aussie super - no mention of hardship withdrawals so I'd assume once it's in your KS standard rules apply. But I'd talk to them if I was you.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU? You need to be aware of the following rules. If you are bringing Australian Super to New Zealand:

If you retire you may access your Australian Super savings at age 60
The transferred amount will not go towards qualifying for KiwiSaver member tax credits
You will not be able to withdraw these savings as a first home withdrawal or use them to count towards qualifying for the deposit subsidy
You will not be able to transfer these savings to a third country
The transferred amount will be treated as being exempt from tax at the point of exit or entry under these portability arrangements.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#1373960 25-Aug-2015 16:15

joker97:

If we hit 0.74 to Aussie dollar I'm going to transfer it

what if it hits 50c with the way the government and folk are ignoring this housing (insert whatever name you like). kaboom. we no longer have a nz currency because all we produce is milk and lamb and are opposed to key hole mining. how did i get to that point, please ignore ;-p

yeah i was going to suggest they do that Joker if the money gets good but NFI what KS is like either. but either way they wont lose.

i do know in oz super if you cant apply under hardship as above there is a method of applying to the government for compassion grounds. but seems vague.

Batman

Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1374009 25-Aug-2015 16:41

I used 0.74 because when we moved to Australia that was the rate that I moved money across! So I'm keeping it there until I can move it back without loss!
[A year prior to that it was 0.92, and a few years after that it was 0.99 as we all recall well, with the economists bragging that we will pass parity!]

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#1374026 25-Aug-2015 16:58

ive seen it go up and down over the years very cyclical. .72 was the lowest i recall. .95ish the highest i recall. i dont often recall much so im a bad source of info haha.

Kyanar

4089 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1374046 25-Aug-2015 17:25

bfginger: Is Kiwisaver money of Australian superannuation origin subjected to the same rules of withdrawal?

Yes and no. It's ring fenced so it cannot be withdrawn before Australian preservation age (which is five years earlier than NZ preservation age), even to buy a house, and to prevent you "laundering" it, you cannot transfer it to another country after NZ. However the NZ hardship withdrawal rules apply not the Australian as they recognise that it's a little hard to get Centrelink payments in New Zealand, and as such it is impossible to meet the Australian hardship rules.