Australians were reunited with $7 billion in lost and unclaimed super over the 2019/20 financial year, but a further $13.8 billion still remains to be claimed.
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.
When this happens, your account may be deemed ‘inactive’. By law, a super fund may then be required to transfer the balance of your account to the ATO, where it becomes ‘unclaimed super’. The ATO will try to consolidate that money into another active super account that you have.
According to the ATO, approximately 2.3 million accounts worth $3.7 billion were transferred by the ATO to active super accounts from November 2019 to the end of February 2021.
With billions of dollars still left to be claimed by its owners, the ATO has compiled a list of the top 10 postcodes around Australia with the highest amount of lost and unclaimed super as at 30 June 2020.
| Ranking | Postcode | State | Total number of accounts | Total value of accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000 - Sydney CBD and surrounds | NSW | 8,301 | $63,628,141 |
| 2 | 4870 - Aeroglen and surrounds | QLD | 10,963 | $40,293,494 |
| 3 | 2026 - Bondi and surrounds | NSW | 6,641 | $38,484,269 |
| 4 | 2138 - Concord West and surrounds | NSW | 4,164 | $38,058,252 |
| 5 | 2010 - Darlinghurst and surrounds | NSW | 6,194 | $37,607,666 |
| 6 | 2170 - Casula and surrounds | NSW | 11,259 | $37,373,976 |
| 7 | 4740 - Alexandra and surrounds | QLD | 8,173 | $36,606,452 |
| 8 | 4350 - Centenary Heights and surrounds | QLD | 9,675 | $36,558,421 |
| 9 | 3030 - Werribee and surrounds | VIC | 7,690 | $33,483,251 |
| 10 | 2560 - Campbelltown and surrounds | NSW | 8,728 | $32,265,752 |
There’s been some interesting movement in the rankings from 30 June 2019 to 2020.
While NSW postcode 2170 topped the 2019 list with 13,251 accounts worth just over $81 million, it’s dropped to sixth place on the 2020 list, with under $38 million left to be claimed.
Similarly, Victorian postcode 3030 fell from second place in 2019, when the total value of accounts in the area sat at over $72 million, to ninth place and just $33.4 million in lost and unclaimed super.
Meanwhile, the Sydney CBD rose from eighth place in the 2019 list to first in 2020, with the total value of accounts growing from around $56 million to $63.6 million.
If you had a job before joining the Qantas Group, you might have money sitting in an old super account. Searching for lost super is easy. Simply log in to your account to search and combine your super in a couple of minutes.
Before you combine, check whether any insurance cover you have with other funds may be affected.
Having more than one super account means you could be paying multiple sets of admin fees and insurance premiums, eroding your hard-earned super balance. It can also mean extra paperwork, and more difficulty keeping track of your super – especially if you change your name or contact details.
By combining your super and saving on extra fees, you’re keeping more of your money invested, so it can work hard for you and your retirement.
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.
Welcome to Super Chats, a podcast helping you learn about super. We know super can be complicated, so with Super Chats we want to demystify superannuation so you can tell your binding beneficiaries from your non-concessional contributions.
We asked a few members of the Qantas Super team why they started making voluntary contributions, and the benefits they’ve seen in making those contributions.
According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), around 80 percent of women are currently retiring with insufficient super savings to fund a comfortable lifestyle, with the average balance for women at retirement sitting at around $85,000 less than the average for men. But there are a number of quick, easy things women can do to take control of their super.
If you 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.
