Lost super is a national problem for retirees in Australia. Billions of dollars in lost and unclaimed super are being held by super funds and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The money is yours and you can claim your small super account back if it’s with the ATO. You can also request for the funds to be transferred into your preferred super account.
Lost and unclaimed super
You may have lost or unclaimed super, and you don’t even know about it. This could happen if you’ve changed jobs or held a second job that paid superannuation.
Superannuation is mainly held by the fund into which it was paid. It remains idle if the super fund is unable to contact you.
Before, super funds that hold small and inactive accounts have transferred the money to Australia’s unclaimed super fund or AUSfund, where it is held until claimed. You’ll be reported as lost member by your super fund if either:
- they cannot contact you
- in the last 5 years, they’ve not received any contributions or rollover amounts for you
- your account was transferred from another fund as a lost member account, and no new address has been found.
Small and inactive accounts with less than $6,000 and haven’t received a contribution in 16 months are transferred to the ATO. The ATO will attempt to match the funds with a member’s active account that’s been receiving contributions. If no active account is found, the money will remain with the ATO until claimed.
Where to find it?
Search online and find your super at:
- AUSfund
- Australian Tax Office via MyGov — Log in to your myGov account and click on ‘Manage my super’.
Try to phone the super search line. Individuals and agents can call the automated super search line on 13 28 65 to complete a super search.
You can also complete a paper form. Download and complete the form — Searching for lost and unclaimed super (NAT 2476, PDF 256KB), then send it to: Australian Taxation Office, PO Box 3578, ALBURY NSW 2640.
Or, ask your preferred super fund to conduct a search on your behalf.
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