In conjunction with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), the regulator is targeting practitioners who use business models and inappropriate practices that seek to use super to pay for overly expensive or unnecessary medical treatments.
New data released by the ATO has shown significant growth in applications for compassionate release of super, particularly for dental services, where the number of requests more than doubled in two years.
The data showed that applications for CRS have grown from 56,400 in 2021–22 to 90,700 in 2024–25, with costs rising to $104.4 million. The majority of those applications were for dental treatment, which increased from 20,960 in 2023–24 to 31,780 in the last financial year. The majority of applications were from people aged between 34 and 60 years.
The ATO said that for CRS to be approved, the services needed to be certified by two practitioners as necessary to alleviate acute or chronic pain, to treat a life-threatening illness or injury or alleviate acute or chronic mental illness.
ATO deputy commissioner Emma Rosenzweig said the ATO is concerned that some health practitioners and registered agents are inappropriately supporting individuals to access their superannuation on compassionate grounds, particularly for cosmetic procedures that aren’t aligned with compassionate release requirements.
‘While superannuation can be accessed early under compassionate grounds, this is strictly available in very limited circumstances, including for critical medical and dental procedures,” she said.
“I want to make it clear, compassionate release of super should only be considered as a last resort, where all other options of paying for the eligible expenses have been exhausted.”
AHPRA and the Dental and Medical Boards of Australia are also releasing new guidance for doctors and dentists in response to ongoing concerns of inappropriate conduct.
The guidance followed the release of a position statement in May and reiterated that any treatments recommended by practitioners should only be certified if they are necessary.
It also included a warning for practitioners that providing financial advice without a licence could also result in severe penalties from ASIC.
Rosenzweig said the Tax Office is seeing practitioners making inaccurate statements in medical reports, and added that it relies on medical and dental professionals to act in the best interests of their patients to prepare accurate reports regarding their diagnoses and required treatment strategy.
