In the week to 20 September, 38,000 applications were received, of which 23,000 were initial applications and 15,000 were repeat applications.

The total value of payments during the week was $294 million, with $33.5 billion paid since inception, APRA said.

The average payment made over the period since inception is $7,674 overall and $8,402 when considering repeat applications only, according to the data.

The ATO recently revealed that at 12 August 2020, around 35,000 approved applications had been processed for nearly 19,000 SMSFs for the early release of nearly $341 million.

The Tax Office also announced this month that it had contacted 1,200 taxpayers who withdrew money under the COVID-19 early release of super measure and immediately recontributed it in a bid to claim a tax deduction.