WITH housing affordability continuing to challenge younger Australians, proposals to allow people to access retirement savings for a home deposit have again entered the national debate.
But the Super Members Council (SMC) argues the idea risks creating three problems at once pushing property prices higher, failing to improve home ownership and leaving Australians with less money in retirement.
SMC chief executive Misha Schubert said increasing housing supply, rather than giving buyers access to more money through their super, was critical to improving affordability.
“As respected economists have consistently noted, the key to improve housing affordability is to boost housing supply – not to tell people to withdraw their super early which would just push up house prices,” Ms Schubert said.
“These sorts of policy ideas would just make cost of living pressures worse – not better – for battling Australians.”
The council points to research it commissioned in 2025 from University of South Australia housing economist Professor Chris Leishman, which estimated allowing first-home buyers to withdraw super for deposits could increase house prices by between 7.4 and 10.3 per cent.
It has also highlighted New Zealand’s experience with early access to retirement savings for housing.
SMC argues the policy provides a warning for Australia, pointing to rising house prices and declining home ownership among New Zealanders in their 30s following the scheme’s introduction.
For older Australians, however, the debate is about more than today’s property market.
Superannuation has become an increasingly important pillar of retirement planning, supplementing or replacing some reliance on the Age Pension.
Research cited by SMC from National Seniors Australia found 88 per cent of older Australians surveyed were concerned about policies expanding early access to superannuation, while more than 70 per cent said they would not have saved enough for retirement without compulsory super.
