The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released superannuation data revealing that more than $20.8 billion is either lost or unclaimed across Australia.
ATO Assistant Commissioner, Graham Whyte said the amount of lost and unclaimed superannuation had been published by postcode to help people find the super they have lost track of.
“Last year over 540,000 active, lost and unclaimed super accounts worth more than $4.4 billion was consolidated using ATO online via myGov,” Mr Whyte said.
“Often people lose touch with their fund by simply changing jobs or moving home. It’s important to know that this doesn’t mean it’s lost forever, getting back in touch is easier than you think.”
He said new legislation meant that, for the first time, the ATO could begin reuniting Australians with their super without them needing to take any action.
“We will let them know when we have done this,” Mr Whyte sad.
“The new law also requires super funds to report and pay ‘inactive low-balance accounts’ to us. This includes accounts that have not received a contribution for 16 months and have a balance below $6,000.”
He said the ATO had received more than 2.3 million inactive low-balance accounts from super funds, valued at approximately $2.16 billion.
“We are now working to reunite Australians with these amounts by either transferring it into an active super account, or directly into their bank account where the amount is less than $200 or the member is aged over 65 years,” Mr Whyte said.
“So far, we have reunited just over 841,000 accounts worth nearly $1.38 billion.”
The top postcode for lost and unclaimed super was 2170 (Liverpool and surrounds – $81,085,282), followed by 3030 (Werribee and surrounds – $72,114,112) and 2560 (Campbelltown and surrounds – $63,231,975).
