Pauline Hanson has unveiled a major shake-up of Australia’s superannuation system that could give struggling renters and mortgage holders thousands of dollars extra in their take-home pay.

Under the new One Nation proposal, eligible Australians would be able to redirect up to three percentage points of their future compulsory super contributions into their bank accounts for up to three years.

With employers currently required to contribute 12 per cent of an employee’s ordinary earnings into super, workers taking up the scheme could effectively receive nine per cent into their retirement savings and the remaining three per cent as additional take-home pay.

Importantly, the proposal would not allow Australians to raid the super savings they have already accumulated. Instead, it would apply only to future employer contributions.

The scheme would also be voluntary and restricted to people paying rent or a mortgage on their primary residence, with investment properties excluded.

According to modelling accompanying the proposal, a couple earning a combined $168,000 could receive around $4300 more a year – approximately $82 a week – while a single worker earning $90,500 could receive about $2300 extra, or $44 a week.

Workers would have to demonstrate to their super fund that they were paying rent or a mortgage, while partners contributing towards household housing costs could also qualify even if their name was not on the lease or mortgage.

The arrangement would be limited to 36 months, and changing jobs or switching super funds would not restart the clock.

Workers could also choose to stop receiving the additional money before the three-year period was up and return their full compulsory contribution to super.

One Nation says the redirected money would retain superannuation’s concessional 15 per cent tax treatment, rather than being taxed as ordinary income.

The policy represents a more detailed version of Hanson’s recent push to give Australians greater control over their retirement savings.

Last month, the One Nation leader described Australia’s compulsory super system as “broken”, arguing people struggling with mortgages and other immediate expenses should have greater access to what was ultimately their own money.

“A lot of Australians are doing it tough now and struggling to pay off their mortgages,” Hanson said at the time.

“In some ways, I feel that you should give them their money now and … help them with the cost of living.

“It is their money; they’ve sacrificed it in lieu of pay.”

The debate has quickly become politically charged.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has strongly defended compulsory superannuation and warned that moves to make retirement savings more readily accessible could leave Australians worse off later in life.

He has previously accused One Nation and sections of the Coalition of threatening the retirement security of Australian workers, declaring that the next federal election could effectively become a “referendum on superannuation”.

Critics of allowing greater access to super have also warned that money withdrawn or diverted today misses out on decades of potential investment returns, meaning a relatively modest boost to household finances now could translate into a substantially smaller retirement balance later.

Hanson’s latest proposal attempts to address some of those concerns by leaving existing retirement balances untouched and putting a strict three-year limit on the arrangement.

One Nation argues the measure would come at no direct cost to the federal budget while giving households immediate breathing room as housing, energy, insurance and other living expenses continue to squeeze family finances.

For Australians battling to meet their rent or mortgage today, the choice presented by Hanson is a simple but potentially significant one: keep the full 12 per cent building for retirement, or temporarily sacrifice part of tomorrow’s nest egg for some extra money in the bank now.

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