How can I find lost Superannuation?
Febb Borje, a tax professional with 12 years of expat tax experience, specializes in US tax preparation, tax planning, and tax advice for US citizens and Green Card holders living and working in Australia.
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Table of Contents
How can I find lost Superannuation?
You can find lost superannuation in Australia by using myGov and ATO online services to search for unclaimed accounts, then transfer balances into your main fund.
What counts as “lost Superannuation” and why does it happen?
In simple terms, lost Superannuation is money sitting in a Super fund that isn’t clearly linked to you or hasn’t had activity for a while. Funds can mark an account as lost if they can’t contact you or there’s no contribution or rollover activity for an extended period.
Some small, inactive balances are moved to the ATO as ATO-held Super so fees don’t keep eating into them. You can later claim or transfer that money to your active fund.
Here’s what the common labels mean in plain English:
- Lost: Your fund can’t find you, or nothing’s happened on the account for a long time. The money may still be with the fund.
- Inactive low balance: A small account that hasn’t received contributions or rollovers for a long stretch.
- Unclaimed or ATO-held Super: A fund has transferred the money to the ATO, usually because the account was small and inactive, or they couldn’t contact you.
Why this happens:
- Job changes where a default fund was opened each time.
- Name or address changes that were never updated.
- Multiple default funds running in the background.
- No Tax File Number (TFN) on file, which makes matching your records harder.
How can I find lost superannuation fast using myGov and the ATO?
This is the quick path to find your lost Super and move it where you want.
Step-by-step in myGov (ATO online services):
- Sign in to myGov, then open Australian Taxation Office.
- Go to Super.
- Under Information and manage, use:
- Super accounts to see every fund the ATO has on record for you.
- Lost Super to check accounts your fund can’t match to you.
- ATO-held Super to check if the ATO is holding my unclaimed Super.
- Transfer Super to consolidate into your main fund on the spot.
What you’ll need:
- TFN to match all your records quickly.
- ID for myGov/ATO sign-in.
- Your current fund’s member number so the rollover lands in the right place.
How to action a transfer right now (ATO online rollover):
- Open Super → Transfer Super inside ATO online services.
- Choose the from account(s) you want to close and the to account (your main fund).
- Review insurance attached to old accounts before you confirm. Consolidating can cancel cover you might want to keep.
- Submit the rollover. You can track confirmations in myGov and through notifications from the funds involved.
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How do I check if the ATO is holding my unclaimed Super, and move it to my fund?
The ATO may hold your unclaimed Super if your fund couldn’t contact you or your balance was inactive and low.
Open myGov, select Australian Taxation Office, then Super. In Manage, you’ll see four tiles: Super accounts, Lost Super, ATO-held Super, and Transfer Super. Your ATO-held balances appear on that ATO-held tile with the amounts listed. This is the quickest way to check if the ATO is holding my unclaimed Super and start a transfer.
Before moving money, do a quick comparison:
- Fees: check your latest statements or product pages for total annual fees.
- Insurance: confirm the type and level of cover in each fund, and what happens to cover if you close an account.
- Performance: focus on multi-year net returns rather than a single year.
When everything looks right, use Transfer Super inside ATO online services:
- Choose the account to move from and the account to move to.
- Read the insurance note and confirm you’re comfortable with any changes.
- Submit and keep the confirmation. You can track the status in myGov and via fund messages.
It’s fine to pause if an employer contribution is in transit, if you need to keep insurance in an old fund for now, or if your personal details need updating first. If you’re overseas, switch your sign-in to the myGov Code Generator so you can access the ATO without Australian SMS. Keep rollover confirmations and year-end statements for your records, especially if you’re a US expat who tracks accounts for US filings.
For better context on how your Australian Super interacts with a US 401(k), you can read our other article.
For most people, consolidating Australian Super is an administrative move rather than a US-taxable event, but get advice if you’re unsure.
How do I find all my old job Super accounts and make sure they’re really mine?
Start in myGov under Super → Manage to see everything the ATO can match to you. To find all my Super accounts under old jobs that might be missing, add these steps:
- Contact your current or former fund: ask them to search for other accounts in your name and confirm any matches they find.
- Use your fund’s “find my Super” tool: many funds offer a guided search that surfaces forgotten accounts.
- Check Super Fund Lookup: pull official fund details when you need an ABN or contact info to follow up.
Get your data matching right so transfers go through smoothly:
- Fix name, date of birth, or address mismatches with the fund before you roll over.
- Add your TFN everywhere so your Super fund can find you reliably and link future contributions.
- Update contact details in both myGov and fund portals.
Have a small evidence pack ready:
- Payslips that show Super contributions and fund names.
- Member statements or welcome letters from past funds.
- Employer details from each job, including business names and approximate dates.
- Photo ID and any name change documents if relevant.
Once you’re sure an account is yours, compare fees, insurance, and performance one last time, then consolidate. The result is fewer fees, less admin, and a clear view of your Super you can manage from the US or anywhere else.
What should I update before consolidating, and who do I call if something’s missing?
Before consolidating super, update your TFN, contact details, beneficiaries, and insurance so transfers don’t cause problems.
Start with the items that help the system match your records quickly and accurately. Update your email, mobile, and postal address in myGov and with each fund. Add or confirm your TFN with every fund. Review your beneficiaries so they still reflect what you want. If you’ve been in the system for years, ask each fund whether you’re in a lost-policy or legacy product and what that means for fees, insurance, or transfer rules.
If any detail looks wrong, call the fund’s member services and get it corrected before you request a rollover.
Do an insurance check before you move money. Look at the life, TPD, and income protection cover attached to each account, the premiums you pay, waiting and benefit periods, and any exclusions that apply to your work. Closing an old account can cancel its insurance. If you rely on that cover, ask the fund how to transfer or replace it in your target fund before consolidating.
Run a quick cost review so there are no surprises:
- Administration and investment fees shown on recent statements or product pages
- Any exit fees (uncommon, but worth checking)
- Buy/sell spreads when units are sold in one fund and purchased in another
- Timing while markets move: ask how your funds handle unit pricing on the rollover day and whether transfers are processed as cash or internal switches
How do I consolidate once I’ve found everything (and avoid common mistakes)?
Choose the account to keep based on a simple set of factors: consistent multi-year performance, clear fees, responsive service, and digital tools you’ll actually use. Confirm the insurance and investment options there suit your needs, then use it as your main hub.
Consolidate using your fund’s online rollover or the myGov → ATO → Super → Transfer path:
- Confirm destination details match exactly: fund ABN, USI, and your member number.
- Check your personal details for mismatches in name, date of birth, or address.
- If a pending employer contribution is due into an old fund, either wait for it to land or ask payroll to redirect first.
- Submit the transfer and save the confirmations. Keep year-end statements for your records, especially if you’re a US expat who organizes documents for US filings.
After consolidation, close the loop so new stray accounts don’t appear:
- Give payroll your chosen fund’s USI and your member number for all future jobs
- Set your investment option in the surviving fund so your balance is invested the way you intend
- Turn on alerts in the app or portal for contributions and balance movements
- Re-check beneficiaries and contact details, and keep your documents in one folder
Keeping a secondary fund is optional and only makes sense if it clearly earns its place. A second account may be useful when its insurance or a specific feature is materially better and you can’t replicate it in your main fund. Otherwise, a single, well-chosen fund is simpler to manage from overseas and usually cheaper over time.
