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How you can start the new year $10,000 richer: Everything you need to know about a special super scheme for cash-strapped Australians - but you'll have to be quick

Cash-strapped Australians have just three days to access up to $10,000 worth of their superannuation early before the government scheme officially ends on December 31. 

More than three million people have accessed approximately $37.5billion in funds since April this year because they were struggling to make ends meet during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The figure falls short of the $42billion the government forecasted in withdrawals before the scheme finishes on New Year's Eve. 

More than 18,000 applications have been processed daily, with Superannuation Minister Jane Hume stating the scheme had been a 'welcome lifeline for millions doing it tough'.

The maximum amount that can be accessed is $10,000. 

The news comes as jobless Australians will have to wait months for further details on the future of JobSeeker payments in 2021.

More than three million people in Australia have accessed approximately $37.5billion since April due to financial hardships associated with the coronavirus pandemic (stock image)

More than three million people in Australia have accessed approximately $37.5billion since April due to financial hardships associated with the coronavirus pandemic (stock image)

December 31 is the cut off date for those who want to access their super early in Australia if they are suffering financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic (stock image)

December 31 is the cut off date for those who want to access their super early in Australia if they are suffering financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic (stock image)

The mid-year budget update provided no clarity on the unemployment benefit beyond March next year, when coronavirus supplements are due to expire.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said even at the tapered rate of $150 a fortnight, which will be in place from January 1, meant the supplements came at a $3billion cost to the budget.

Birmingham also revealed 740,000 Australians had re-entered the workforce in the past six months.

Labor's finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher said it was unacceptable for the government to keep JobSeeker recipients in the dark.

'They have had probably four or five opportunities to put a permanent increase in place for JobSeeker,' Senator Gallagher said.

'We don't think it's acceptable that people should be expected to live on forty dollars a day, it's not enough, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that.

'The government is continuing to refuse to give those who are relying on JobSeeker that certainty.'

JobKeeper wage subsidies are set to expire in March, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ruling out extending the program.

'Certainly our plan has always been for it to be temporary and that means ending at the end of March,' Mr Frydenberg said.  

Long queues at Centrelink (pictured above) were common at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia

Long queues at Centrelink (pictured above) were common at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia

The Morrison government plans to lower the JobSeeker unemployment supplement by $100 a fortnight on January 1 and the JobKeeper payment by $200 from January 4.

The new rates will be $150 a fortnight for Jobseeker and $1000 for JobKeeper,  effective until the end of March.

The announcement was met with criticism by Labor MP Bill Shorten, who told Nine's Today Show on Tuesday the government should 'urgently reconsider.'

'We are not out of the woods yet with this pandemic and the economic effects, they are reverberating around the economy, especially in regional towns and suburbs where there is a lot of casual workers who have born the biggest brunt,' he said.

'For the less well off, we shouldn't be cutting their circumstances at this point in time.'

Mr Shorten noted there are more than one million people currently unemployed in Australia - and that number is forecast to rise over the next few months.

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