linda wrote: So in a way we might not be in financial hardship now but could be after some time. Probably best that we look into the hardship option to see if it can be done.

You may not be approved right now depending on your current balance sheets but as your debts continue to accumulate you can keep on applying and providing up-to-date evidence until  they do approve.  Try filling in the forms and have a look through.  The important thing is to see if you come out with a credit or a deficit on the balance sheet and compare that to your debts.  If you can get a budget adviser or accountant to look over things and write a letter to back up your claim that would be helpful too.

Whoops, I just read your first post properly. 

If you're managing and only intending on using that money as a house deposit then no, you wouldn't qualify for withdrawal under the grounds of hardship.  Financial hardship is reserved for people who are actually struggling to keep afloat.

Also as I said in my previous post it's likely that the condition of transfer is that you must transfer into another locked in super scheme and yes, the bank will know if it's locked in or not they will review a copy of the trust deed of the scheme you're planning on transferring into to ensure it meets their requirements before allowing you to transfer and one of those requirements will be the age it becomes unlocked.

If your savings scheme is locked in until age 50 it is probably a superannuation which will be audited by the government actuary.  There are only certain circumstances in which money can be withdrawn from these schemes and evidence needs to be provided.  Finance companies need to be strict as if the government actuary identifies that they've been lax about letting people withdraw that don't necessarily fit within the circumstances the finance company will be held accountable.

There may be a clause to transfer to another locked in superannuation scheme but it's not likely that you'd be able to transfer to an unlocked scheme - therefore you wouldn't be able to withdraw the money anyway.

Having a baby is considered normal, like having a mortgage or a credit card, so just having a baby would not make you eligible to withdraw on the grounds of financial hardship.  However having a baby (and therefore being on one income) may put you in a position of acute finanacial hardship in which case you would be able to apply to the scheme trustees to allow you to partially or fully withdraw your funds.  Generally speaking financial hardship is considered to be when you cannot pay your bills and you struggle afford the simple necessities of life.

If you want more details of the kind of evidence that trustees would consider relevant as proof of financial hardship let me know and I'm happy to post, it's probably best to do it from work where the info is at my fingertips rather than typing it from the top of my head (I've shifted jobs this year and it's been about 6 months since I last reviewed an application for withdrawal on the grounds of financial hardship).

If you do qualify for withdrawal on the grounds of financial hardship you may as well fill in the forms and gather the evidence asap even if you're in one of the frozen schemes.  It takes awhile for claims to be assessed so the sooner you get the ball rolling the sooner you can get the money if you're eligible.