How we gambled away our early release super

Superannuation savings taken out as part of the early release scheme went straight into the pockets of online gambling sites, according to bank transaction data seen by the Australian Financial Review.

According to reports, workers have “vaporised up to $10,000 on online gambling apps” after receiving a lump sum under the early access program.

The paper quoted one source as saying: “We saw someone take out the whole $10,000 amount on Thursday and by Monday they had none left. From their records, we could see they’d never been a gambler before.”

The early release scheme saw 1.5 million Australians apply to draw down superannuation.  It was hoped in would help the economy as well as family budgets.

Many had warned it might be used for the wrong reasons.

The news came as the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed one in eight Australians are struggling to repay their mortgages thanks to Covid-19.

While health worries are widespread, financial stress remained the main concern among households.

At least 13 per cent who lived in a home with a mortgage have reported that at least one or more people in their household had difficulty in paying the mortgage for their home or investment property.

One in twenty reported that one or more people in their household have involuntarily lost their jobs and one in twenty said that one or more people in their homes were not able to find a job.

The ABS survey of 1000 respondents on the effects of COVID-19 on households from early April to early May, found that one in five Australians had experienced one or more of the employment-related, housing or financial stress because of the pandemic.