Media Release

Be your own Santa – get your super back

15 December 2016

Be your own Santa – get your super back

Get your super back

Australia’s peak superannuation body, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, is urging hundreds of thousands of Australians with forgotten or inactive super accounts to reclaim their money before it goes into consolidated revenue.

ASFA CEO Dr Martin Fahy said Australians should do themselves a festive favour and find their missing money.

“$2.5 billion currently sits in consolidated revenue as unclaimed super,” he said.

“Super belongs to individuals and families so gift yourself and give super a go to boost your savings. Take an interest in your super now, while you may have a bit of holiday time, then reap the long term rewards. In addition to getting your money back from the government there are compound interest benefits from being invested in super.

You can check your super accounts by registering for the ATO’s online services via MyGov or contact your current super fund for assistance.

“There are currently around 300,000 people with more than six super accounts, so it’s clear many could enjoy a boost to their funds by consolidating missing amounts, particularly balances that have or will soon go to the ATO as unclaimed,” Dr Fahy said.

More than 14.8 million Australians have super and many have lost and missing super.

Currently lost or inactive super account balances under $4,000 must be transferred to consolidated revenue, via the ATO.

From December this year that threshold rises to capture accounts valued at up to $6,000.

For a person who has a $5,000 account taken by the ATO this means a loss of around $225 a year in earnings on average compared to what you would receive if that account was consolidated into your active super account.

ASFA estimates up to 100,000 additional accounts could be captured when the threshold rises to $6,000 this month.

Last year when the threshold lifted from $2,000 to $4,000, more than 130,000 extra accounts were transferred to the ATO.

“Fund members with missing or lost accounts are more likely to generate earnings with their balance in a super fund, rather than with the ATO, where balances only attract interest at a current rate of 1.5 per cent per year,” Dr Fahy said.

“Additionally, at least half the inactive accounts, whether it’s $2,000, $4,000 or $6,000 are likely to have insurance cover. Acting now can preserve these benefits from being lost.”

For further information, please contact:

Teresa Mullan, Media Manager, 0451 949 300.

About ASFA

ASFA is the peak policy, research and advocacy body for Australia’s superannuation industry. It is a not-for-profit, sector-neutral, and non-party political national organisation, which aims to advance effective retirement outcomes for members of funds through research, advocacy and the development of policy and industry best practice.

Daniel Mulino MP

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services

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Born in Brindisi, Italy, Daniel was a young child when he moved with his family to Australia. He grew up in Canberra and completed his first degrees – arts and law – at the ANU. He then completed a Master of Economics (University of Sydney) and a PhD in economics from Yale.

He lectured at Monash University, was an economic adviser in the Gillard government and was a Victorian MP from 2014 to 2018. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer of Victoria, Daniel helped deliver major infrastructure projects and developed innovative financing structures for community projects.

In 2018 he was preselected for the new federal seat of Fraser and became its first MP at the 2019 election, re-elected in 2022 and 2025. From 2022 to 2025, Daniel was chair of the House of Representatives’ Standing Economics Committee in which he chaired inquiries; economic dynamism, competition and business formation and insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims.

In 2025, he became the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services.

In August 2022, Daniel published ‘Safety Net: The Future of Welfare in Australia’, which aims to explore the ways in which an insurance approach can improve the effectiveness of government service delivery.