Australians have $16 billion in lost and unclaimed super
Is some of it yours?
The amount of lost and unclaimed super across Australia has risen to $16 billion, according to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This is an increase of $2.1 billion since the last financial year.
Lost and unclaimed super can include money spread across long-forgotten super accounts, and small balances that have been transferred by super funds to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). If you’ve changed your name, moved jobs, or changed address and forgotten to update your details with your super fund, you may have super that you’ve lost track of.
According to the ATO, super funds currently hold $10.4 billion in lost super – this is when it’s still held by the fund, but the member is uncontactable or the account is inactive.
If your account reaches certain category requirements, a super fund may be required to transfer the balance of your account to the ATO, where it then becomes ‘unclaimed super’. The ATO will try to consolidate that money into another active super account that you have.
The ATO stated that it currently holds $5.6 billion in super, an increase of $1.6 billion since 2019. Since November 2019, the ATO has consolidated almost 4.7 million accounts with a value of $7.1 billion dollars.
Extra tips
While you’re logged in, it’s worth checking that your contact details are up to date – simply click the ‘Personal details’ tab to check and make any changes.
If you’re using your work email to hear from us, you may want to consider switching this to your personal email address so you can keep track of your Qantas Super, wherever life takes you. Or, if you share an email address with someone else, like your partner, and you both use this address to hear from us, it’s important to make sure you each update your account with your own email address.
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If you want to learn more or need help with making a decision about your super, you can get simple advice over the phone or face to face. It’s included as a part of your membership so there’s no extra cost.