Hi Elaine,
one of my super plans had an income protection component to it which kept me going for 2 years. After that I had to consider toatal and permanent disability. Even with metastatic breast cancer, poorly controlled Rheumatoid arthritis, a broken neck of femur which 4 years on is still not properly and severely impacting my mobility, as well as chronic pain, the insurers still sent me for an independent assessment before agreeing to release my super. In other words, it's not an easy process. The financial reasons for allowing early release of super as set out in the Act and outlined on the Commonwealth Services website are very limited. I am about to embark on my second application to another superannuation fund and dreading the process.
So good luck, read your policy carefully and keep the names and contact details of every person at the superannuation fund you speak to.