Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten promises review into dying Australians being denied access to their superannuation
DYING Australians are being denied access to their superannuation, often until it is too late to make a difference.
Gravely ill people can apply for super if two doctors agree they have less than a year to live.
But government and industry red tape often ties up the money for more than four months, a Herald Sun investigation has found.Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten yesterday promised a review of the system, including a proposal to grant access a year sooner. The review would also examine the way appeals are processed.
Breast Cancer Network Australia and the Cancer Council both want people given two years or less to live to have access to their savings.
"It would allow individuals and their families to make the most of their time together and lessen the financial burden of terminal illness," cancer network CEO Maxine Morand said.
Al they can tell me every single time is that the claim is being looked at. How much longer is it going to go on?
"Earlier access would give women with secondary breast cancer access to their funds while they are still feeling well and able to do so."
The red tape is not only affecting those who are dying, but also those who are sick or injured and need help paying their medical bills.
Tania Martin needed to withdraw $7955 from her superannuation to pay for an urgent hip operation, but she had to battle pain and bureaucracy for four months.
The 33-year-old journalist, who has rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, faced waiting up to three years for an operation in the public hospital system.
"I knew I couldn't wait that long. I could hardly walk as it was and there was no way I could handle it much longer," she said.
She applied for early access to super to have the operation privately.
It took Tania Martin four
months to withdraw $7955 from her superannuation to pay for an urgent
hip operation. Picture: Norm Oorloff
Source: Herald Sun
His wife, Katherine, died in March, a day before her 27th birthday, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in June last year.
Since April Mr Green has been asked four times by the insurance company to fill out forms.
The train driver said he was struggling to deal with grief as well as manage his finances, including a $300,000 mortgage.
"All they can tell me every single time is that the claim is being looked at. How much longer is it going to go on?" Mr Green said.
Mr Shorten said he understood the concerns.
"I have started investigations into how we can make the process easier," he said.
"I've had people in my family touched by breast cancer. I am more than happy to meet with support groups to see what I can do.
"One of the issues I will be looking at is the 12-month restriction. I'm sympathetic to a two-year proposition. People need time to sort out their affairs."
Cancer Council manager Louisa Fitzgerald said: "Financial planners and lawyers say that the funds are being incredibly obstructionist and taking an undue length of time to release funds to terminally ill people in particular.
"Given the law says you need to be likely to die within 12 months, taking in excess of three months to release the money is really eating into a lot of the time they have left."
She said doctors should be given more help with certification of terminal illness. "We get a sense that medical practitioners are wary of certifying a patient as terminally ill and likely to die within 12 months."
Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief Pauline Vamos said the group would help explore changing the way claims were processed.
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