Evidence-backed. Sourced from the ATO, Treasury, and APRA. General information only — not financial advice. Consult a licensed adviser for your situation. Last updated: June 2026.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- The ATO’s Lost Member Register held $18.9 billion across 7.3 million accounts as at June 2025 — an average of $2,950 per account. [1]
- Treasury’s February 2026 consultation puts the figure even higher at $21.5 billion when investment earnings are included — and notes the number is growing. [2]
- The ATO reunited 3.1 million accounts worth $5.5 billion between 2022 and 2025 through proactive matching — but millions remain unclaimed. [3]
- You can find and claim lost super in under 5 minutes through myGov — no phone calls, no forms.
- Once found, consolidate into your best-performing fund immediately — lost super sitting idle earns fees and erodes in real terms each year.
How to Find Lost Super Australia: $19 Billion Is Sitting Unclaimed — Is Any of It Yours?
The ATO is sitting on $18.9 billion in lost superannuation held across 7.3 million accounts — and it’s growing. Most of it belongs to ordinary Australians who changed jobs, moved house, or simply forgot about a small account from a casual job years ago. The average unclaimed amount is $2,950 — enough to make a meaningful difference if you find it and consolidate it into your current fund now. And thanks to myGov, finding yours takes less than five minutes.
General information only. Not financial advice. Consult a licensed financial adviser for advice specific to your situation.
Table of Contents
- What counts as “lost” super?
- How big is Australia’s lost super problem?
- Step-by-step: How to find your lost super in myGov
- What to do once you find it
- Why you shouldn’t leave it sitting there
- Frequently asked questions
What Counts as “Lost” Super?
Under superannuation law, your super is classified as “lost” under two main conditions: [4]
- Lost member (uncontactable): Your fund has lost contact with you — they’ve sent two consecutive correspondence pieces and both have been returned unclaimed. This commonly happens when you move house without updating your fund.
- Lost member (inactive): Your account is classified as inactive — no contributions received for 12 months, your balance is under $6,000, and you haven’t made an investment choice, insurance change, or other transaction. (Changed from 5 years to 12 months under 2019 reforms.)
Lost accounts are reported to the ATO and appear on the Lost Member Register. Once reported, your super sits there earning returns (if still in the fund) or transferred to the ATO as unclaimed money — where it earns the Consumer Price Index rate only, not investment returns.
How Big Is Australia’s Lost Super Problem?
The ATO has been proactively reuniting accounts through automated matching — it matched 3.1 million accounts worth $5.5 billion between 2022 and 2025 without any action needed from members. [3] But this matching only works when accounts can be linked to a current fund — older, genuinely lost accounts with stale contact details remain on the register until members claim them directly.
Who is most at risk of having lost super? Australians who: worked casual or part-time jobs in their 20s; changed their name (after marriage or divorce); moved interstate or internationally; worked for multiple employers across different industries; or simply never thought about super when young.
Step-by-Step: How to Find Your Lost Super in myGov
- Log into myGov at my.gov.au. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one — you’ll need your Tax File Number and to verify your identity.
- Link the ATO service if not already linked. From the myGov home screen, select “Link a service” → “Australian Taxation Office” and follow the prompts.
- Navigate to Super. From the ATO service within myGov, select “Super” from the top menu.
- View all your super accounts. The Super page shows every fund the ATO has linked to your TFN — including any you may have forgotten. Lost and unclaimed amounts appear here too.
- Initiate a consolidation. If you find old accounts, you can roll them into your current fund directly from this page. Select the accounts to consolidate, choose your destination fund, and confirm. The transfer typically completes within 3 business days.
Before you consolidate: check insurance. Some old super accounts — especially industry fund accounts — carry death, total and permanent disability (TPD), or income protection insurance. If you close an old account, you lose that cover permanently. Check whether any old account has valuable insurance before rolling it over. [5]
What to Do Once You Find It
- Check insurance on every old account before closing it. Log into each old fund’s portal to see your cover.
- Compare your funds. Use APRA’s YourSuper comparison tool to check whether your current fund outperforms any old funds. If an old fund is actually better, consider switching to it instead.
- Consolidate into your best-performing, lowest-fee fund. Fewer accounts means fewer fees, less admin, and a clearer picture of your retirement savings.
- Update your address with every fund. After consolidating, make sure your primary fund has your current address, email, and TFN on file to prevent it becoming lost again.
- Make a binding death benefit nomination on your consolidated account — especially if you haven’t reviewed it recently.
Why You Shouldn’t Leave It Sitting There
Once super is transferred to the ATO as unclaimed money, it no longer earns investment returns — it earns only CPI, which rarely keeps pace with the returns you’d get inside a balanced super fund. [4] On a $3,000 balance, the difference between CPI (say 3% p.a.) and a super fund return (say 7.5% p.a.) over 20 years is significant: approximately $3,000 vs $12,600. That’s $9,600 in foregone returns just from leaving money sitting on the ATO register.
Additionally, the government has proposed reforms to proactively consolidate inactive small accounts into members’ active funds — but these reforms are not yet law. Until they are, the action sits with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find my lost super?
Log into myGov → link the ATO → select “Super.” Every account linked to your TFN appears, including lost and unclaimed amounts. You can consolidate directly from this page in under 5 minutes.
What happens if I don’t claim it?
It transfers to the ATO as unclaimed money and earns only CPI — not investment returns. A $3,000 balance earning CPI for 20 years grows to ~$5,400. The same amount in a balanced fund at 7.5% p.a. grows to ~$12,600. That’s $7,200 in foregone returns.
Will I lose insurance if I consolidate?
Yes — closing an old super account cancels any attached insurance. Check each old account for death, TPD, or income protection cover before rolling over. If the old fund has better insurance terms, you may want to keep it open (you don’t have to consolidate).
How long does consolidation take?
Rollovers through myGov typically complete in 3 business days. You’ll get a confirmation from both funds once done.
🔍 The Fine Print Verdict
$18.9 billion in lost super isn’t a rounding error — it’s real money belonging to real Australians, sitting on a government register earning below-inflation returns. The average account holds $2,950. For a 35-year-old, $2,950 consolidated into a well-run fund earning 7.5% p.a. becomes $20,000+ by retirement. The entire process takes five minutes in myGov. There is almost no other financial action that delivers a better return on time invested.
Do this today: myGov → ATO → Super → Check for lost accounts → Confirm insurance → Consolidate into your best fund.
Sources
- ATO, Lost Member Register statistics, June 2025. ato.gov.au
- Treasury, Consolidating Lost and Unclaimed Superannuation — Consultation Paper, February 2026. treasury.gov.au
- ATO, Super reunited — reuniting members with their super 2022–2025. ato.gov.au
- ATO, Lost and unclaimed super. ato.gov.au
- ASIC Moneysmart, Consolidating your super. moneysmart.gov.au
Disclaimer: The Fine Print 🇦🇺 provides general financial information only. This content does not constitute financial advice. Always check insurance implications before consolidating super accounts. Consult a licensed financial adviser for advice specific to your circumstances. Content accurate as at June 2026.