AustralianSuper has responded swiftly to the change in superannuation legislation allowing for the release of superannuation to members suffering from a terminal medical condition.
AustralianSuper has negotiated with it’s Insurers to extend the provision to also cover the earlier release of life insurance benefits.
Aligning the Insurer’s terms and conditions with the new superannuation condition of release will help alleviate any extra stress or hardship at an already difficult time as members with a life expectancy of 24 months or less will now be able to fully access their superannuation savings and life insurance.
The old regulations meant members living with a terminal medical condition had to wait until their doctors signed off on a life expectancy of less than 12 months.
AustralianSuper’s decision follows the recent government changes to regulations, which enable those certified by two medical practitioners to have a terminal medical condition and with a life expectancy of less than 24 months to gain early access to their superannuation savings. AustralianSuper decided to extend its offering to cover life insurance payouts and provide extra financial assistance.
“AustralianSuper wants to make sure members are not forced to endure any extra stress and trauma in what is an already very difficult period,” AustralianSuper’s Head of Insurance Product Richard Weatherhead said.
“This will go some small way towards making a member’s life more comfortable and allow them and their families a greater level of dignity and financial security.”
The change to extend the life expectancy provision from 12 to 24 months takes effect from 1 July 2015 and applies to members of AustralianSuper’s Industry, Finsuper and Personal Divisions.
There will be no change to members’ insurance premiums until the next premium review.
AustralianSuper manages more than $90 billion of members’ assets on behalf of more than two million members from across 200,000 businesses. One in 10 working Australians is a member of AustralianSuper, the nation’s largest industry super fund.
Source:AustralianSuper
