Jelena Dokic slams plan to ban early release of superannuation

Tennis commentator Jelena Dokic has criticized Labor’s push to halt early retirement withdrawals, pointing to her own experience of fleeing domestic violence.

The 39-year-old former teen sports star told ABC’s Q&A Monday night how she fled violence at age 19, arguing that many women in that situation would be financially destitute without mentioning her father. abusive, Damir.

“There are a lot of different areas that I think you should be able to access, I think there’s a lot that we’re seeing today when it comes to domestic violence,” she said.

“Women are so afraid to leave and one of the reasons is because they feel like they won’t be able to start over, they won’t be able to establish them.

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“I was in that position when I was 19 years old, I was lucky with the fact that I was a professional athlete, I was already on tour, I had the ability to go and make a living, but I left home with nothing, I was basically in the street.

Early access to retirement is only allowed in situations where someone is permanently disabled, has a physical or mental condition that prevents them from working, is dying, or their loved one is dying.

Severe financial hardship is also another reason for early access, but domestic violence is not specifically mentioned, and it is on the individual to prove this to their retirement fund.

Dokic said allowing women leaving a violent relationship to access $10,000 from her grocery store would help them survive financially.

“There are so many women out there who are in the same position, so maybe making it so you can withdraw maybe it’s $10,000, you can have these situations where you actually use your money when you really need it,” Dokic said. .

His political position echoes former Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s proposal in 2021 to allow victims of domestic abuse to withdraw $10,000 from his super.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet developed this policy in 2018 as part of its Declaration of Economic Security for Women.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed out new laws Monday to prevent future governments from allowing early access to supermarkets.

The coalition government of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison had allowed workers to withdraw up to $20,000 from their super, through two installments of $10,000 in 2020, during the first months of the covid pandemic.

Dr Chalmers called the early release a “debacle” that “forced” Australians to “choose between better income in retirement or paying their bills” after $36 billion was withdrawn.

‘Never again,’ he said. “Our government will take a different approach.”

“Some of the most disastrous policy proposals we’ve seen in recent years, like allowing billions of balances to be withdrawn during the pandemic, have come about, in part, because our predecessors were navigating the super big picture without a compass.” .

The Liberal Party in the last election campaigned to allow Australians to access $50,000 from their super to buy their first home.

It would have allowed first-time homebuyers to invest up to $50,000 or 40 percent of their retirement if they had saved for a deposit of at least 5 percent.

Australians born after July 1, 1964 have to wait until they are 60 to access their retirement savings, but Dokic said many women in situations of domestic violence unfortunately don’t go into old age.

“There are so many people who are not even going to retire,” he said.

Mandatory retirement debuted in 1992 when Paul Keating was Labor Prime Minister.

While union membership has plummeted over the last three decades, unions have been active investors with super industry.

The super-compulsory rate increases to 11 percent, up from 10.5 percent, beginning July 1, 2023 and increases by half a percentage point each year until reaching 12 percent in July 2025.