$14 billion in lost and unclaimed super - is any yours?

There is almost $14 billion held as lost or unclaimed superannuation in accounts across Australia. See how to check if any of this money is yours and how to get it back.

According to the Australian Tax Office (ATO), there was $13.8 billion held as lost or unclaimed superannuation in accounts across Australia as at 30 June 2020, with almost $2 billion in Queensland alone.¹

Across the country there were more than 2.2 million lost or unclaimed accounts.

The figures show the amount of lost and unclaimed super has dropped from almost $21 billion in 2019.

QSuper CEO Michael Pennisi said members could have thousands of dollars being held by the ATO or old super funds and he encouraged everyone to make a simple check for any lost or unclaimed super.

“I am pleased to see that the amount of lost and unclaimed super in Queensland has dropped significantly over the past year,” Mr Pennisi said.

Who has lost or unclaimed super?

If you have ever changed your name, address, job or lived overseas, you may have unintentionally lost track of some of your super.

Lost super is money that is held on your behalf when your super fund, your employer or the government can't find an account to deposit your super into.

You may be reported as a ‘lost member’ if:

• Your super fund has not been able to contact you
• Your super fund has not received any contributions or rollover amounts for you in the past five years
• Your account was transferred from another fund as a lost member account and no new address has been found.

The ATO may be holding ‘unclaimed super’ money for you if you are:

• A member 65 years old or older
• A non-member spouse
• A deceased member
• A former temporary resident
• Have a lost account with a balance less than $6,000
• Have a lost account which has been inactive for five years or more and the super fund has not had sufficient records to identify you as the owner of the account.

Super funds are required to report and pay unclaimed super money to the ATO twice a year.

Snapshot of lost and unclaimed super in Queensland

Where is the lost and unclaimed super?

Three Queensland postcodes rank in the nation’s top 10 postcodes according to the number of lost and unclaimed super account values as at 30 June 2020 from the ATO.

• Queensland postcode 4870 around Cairns in Far North Queensland is the second highest in Australia on the rankings. People who have listed this postcode as their residential address have 10,963 lost or unclaimed superannuation accounts with a total value of almost $40.3 million.
• People in postcode 4740 around Mackay have 8,173 lost or unclaimed super accounts with a total value of more than $36.6 million.
• People in postcode 4350 around Toowoomba have 9,675 lost or unclaimed super accounts with a total value of $36.5 million.
• Residents in the Brisbane metropolitan area own more than one-third of the state’s lost and unclaimed super, with around $645 million sitting in more than 123,000 unused accounts.

Put your lost super to work

The sooner you find any lost super you may have, the sooner you may be able to get your money working harder for you.

“Money in multiple super fund accounts means multiple fees and potentially insurance premiums eating into future income,” Mr Pennisi said.

Consolidating or combining your super², including any lost super, means moving all of your super into one account.

Is some of the super held by the ATO yours?

You can search for any lost or unclaimed super you may have in MyGov or if you already know the accounts you are consolidating with QSuper log in to Member Online.

1. ATO, 18 March 2021, Lost and unclaimed super by postcode, accessed 23 March 2021 at ato.gov.au
2. Before you consolidate your super, please consider if withdrawing savings from your current fund/s could crystalise any lost earnings. You should also check with your other fund/s if you will lose access to benefits such as insurance or pension options, if the other fund/s will charge you exit penalties or fees, or if there are tax implications.

The opinions expressed and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the QSuper Board. No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of any of the information supplied and you should seek advice for your circumstances.