By Paul Feeney, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Otivo
There is around $21.5 billion of superannuation in Australia that nobody is watching. It sits across roughly 7.3 million accounts, and the typical lost balance is about $2,950 — small enough that people assume it is not worth chasing, large enough that four of them add up to a decent car. The finding part takes about five minutes and is unambiguously worth doing. The consolidating part is where it gets more interesting, because closing an old account can cost you something that is not on the statement. Here's the sequence.
Lost super can be found through ATO online services through myGov, which lists every account linked to your tax file number plus anything the ATO holds for you. Consolidating means transferring accounts into one fund. Before doing so it is worth checking the insurance attached to each account, since closing an account generally cancels its cover.
What counts as lost super?
Lost super and unclaimed super are different things, and the distinction changes where the money is sitting.
Lost super is still held by your fund. Your fund reports an account as lost if it is uncontactable, meaning the fund has lost contact with you and no contribution or rollover has arrived for 12 months, or if it is inactive, meaning no contribution or rollover for five years.
Unclaimed super has been transferred to the ATO. Funds must report and pay super to the ATO in defined circumstances, including for members aged 65 or over who have not contributed for two years and whom the fund has been unable to contact for five years. Once transferred, it is called ATO-held super.
In both cases the money is still yours. The practical difference is that ATO-held super is not invested in the market while the ATO holds it.
How does super get lost in the first place?
Almost always through an administrative gap rather than anything dramatic. The common causes:
- Starting a job without nominating an existing fund, so the employer opens a new account.
- Moving house or changing a mobile number without telling the fund.
- Changing your name.
- Short-term, casual or seasonal work that generated a small balance and then stopped.
- Working overseas for a period.
Treasury reported that the ATO reunited around 360,000 Australians with about $600 million in a single half-year, which gives a sense of the scale of the administrative backlog rather than any failure on the part of the members.
How do you search for lost super?
Three steps, all free.
- Log in to myGov and link your ATO account if it is not already linked.
- Open ATO online services, then Super, then Fund details. Every account linked to your tax file number appears, marked as active, lost or ATO-held.
- Note the fund name, account number and balance for each, and check whether insurance is attached.
The ATO app shows the same information. If you would rather not use either, the automated lost super search line is 13 28 65.
One caution worth stating plainly: commercial services that offer to find your super for a fee are doing something the ATO does for nothing.
What does having several super accounts actually cost?
Two things, and the second is usually larger than the first.
Administration fees are charged per account. Holding three accounts generally means paying three sets of them, and on a small balance a fixed dollar fee is a large proportion of the account.
Insurance premiums are the bigger leak. Default cover is attached automatically in most funds and deducted from the balance. Someone with four accounts can be paying four sets of life and total and permanent disability premiums while only ever being able to claim meaningfully on one — and total and permanent disability cover in particular does not stack usefully across accounts in the way people assume.
For a 34-year-old with three dormant accounts holding a few thousand dollars each, the premiums can consume a meaningful share of the annual return on those balances. That is the real argument for tidying up.
What should you check before consolidating?
Consolidating is straightforward to do and hard to reverse, so the checks matter. Call them the four checks before you consolidate.
- Insurance in each account. Closing an account generally cancels the cover attached to it. New cover depends on your age, health and occupation at the time you apply, and some older or occupation-specific cover cannot be replaced on the same terms. If anyone depends on your income, this is the check to do first.
- Exit or withdrawal costs. Some accounts charge on the way out. Most modern accounts do not, but it is worth confirming.
- Whether any account is a defined benefit interest. Defined benefit interests calculate your entitlement by formula rather than by account balance, and are not directly comparable to accumulation accounts. They warrant separate consideration.
- Which investment option you will land in. A rollover goes into the receiving fund's option, which may not be the one you would have chosen. Otivo's super investment options module compares the options available inside your existing fund using your age, your current option, its five-year history and its fees.
Otivo's personal insurance inside super module can help you work out what level of cover your situation suggests, taking into account existing cover, dependants, debts, age and income. That is the input worth having before you close anything.
How do you actually consolidate?
Once you have chosen the receiving fund, there are two routes.
Through myGov: open ATO online services, go to Super, then Transfer super, select the account you are moving from and the account you are moving to, and confirm. Transfers usually complete within a few business days.
Through your fund: most funds have a roll-in or consolidate function online, which requires the details of the account you are transferring from.
Afterwards, three follow-ups are worth doing. Give your employer the details of the account you are keeping, so contributions land in the right place — particularly relevant now that payday super requires employers to pay within seven business days of each payday, so an error shows up quickly. Check your investment option in the receiving fund. And make or update a beneficiary nomination, since nominations do not transfer with the money.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to consolidate super through myGov?
Yes. The transfer runs through the ATO between two complying funds and the money moves directly between them. The main risks are not security risks but the ones covered above: losing insurance cover and landing in an investment option you did not choose.
Will I be taxed for consolidating my super?
Rolling over between complying Australian super funds is generally not a taxable event for the member. Where an account contains an untaxed element, tax may apply on transfer, which is more common with some public sector funds.
Can I consolidate super the ATO is holding?
Yes. ATO-held super can be transferred to an eligible active super account through ATO online services. If you are 65 or over, the ATO can also pay it directly to you.
Does lost super keep earning returns?
Lost super held by your fund stays invested. Super transferred to the ATO as unclaimed money does not remain invested in your fund's options, though interest is applied in defined circumstances. That is one reason finding it earlier is better than finding it later.
Finding your super is the easy half and there is no argument against doing it. Consolidating is the half worth thinking about for ten minutes first. Otivo is a licensed digital advice provider holding AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665, and our super investment options and insurance modules cover the two checks that matter most before you close anything.
Sources
- ATO, searching for lost and unclaimed super.
- ATO, ATO-held super.
- ATO, total lost (fund-held) and ATO-held super.
- Treasury, Reuniting Australians with their lost superannuation.
Disclaimer
The information in this communication is current as at August 2026 and has been prepared by Otivo Pty Ltd ABN 47 602 457 732, AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665. This content is general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not personal financial or taxation advice and should not be relied on as such. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your personal circumstances. This material must not be reproduced in whole or in part, or posted on any social media platform, without the prior written consent of Otivo Pty Ltd.