How to claw back your super as billions remain unclaimed

The Australian Tax Office is urging all Australians to update their super fund contact details to see if some of the money belongs to them.

First Nations Foundation chief executive Phil Usher helps to reunite First Nations people with super they never knew they had through financial literacy training, outreach and community engagement, including a Financial Wellness Week initiative.

"We've done [reunited] hundreds of thousands of dollars in superannuation before, particularly some people that have worked at council or worked in public service roles," he said.

He said one of his clients who had hundreds of thousands of dollars in super didn't understand how super worked so he never engaged with it after retiring.

The initiative has been running for 10 years and has connected First Nations people with $26 million in lost super in 24 communities Australia-wide.

Mr Usher said a reason for disengagement with super from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was because of their lower life expectancy.

"An Aboriginal male's life expectancy is 71 and you can't access your super until you're 60 or 65, so straight away from that structural set-up, First Nations people are really disengaged because they don't think they'll ever be able to access their superannuation," he said.

The chief executive believes more than half a billion dollars of the ATO's lost super would belong to First Nations people.

Association of Superannuation Funds Australia chief executive Mary Delahunty said it was important for Australians to learn about super as it would likely be their biggest financial asset when they retired.

"Super is in your name only, it's the one thing that's your asset and not a shared bank account, so it becomes really important for financial independence as well," she said.

She would like to see more young people educated on super. She said some may be disengaged about the topic because they could not access it for a long time.

The government will begin a Payday Super initiative from July 1, 2026, where super will be paid at the same time an employee is paid instead of quarterly.

"That will hopefully stop some of this lost super so we should see this $18 billion figure go down quite significantly after this," Ms Delahunty said.

ATO deputy commissioner Emma Rosenzweig said all Australians needed to make sure their details were up to date to prepare for retirement.

"If you've changed job, moved house or simply forgotten to update your details, you may have lost or unclaimed super," she said.

Research from Finder Australia shows about 4 million Australians hold two or more superannuation accounts and were losing about $287 million in extra account fees.

Retired Australians are also encouraged to check their super details as the ATO is holding $471 million on behalf of people aged over 65.

The ATO's Super Health Check could be used to look at super balances, transfer amounts and confirm nominated beneficiaries.

Lost and unclaimed super could also be transferred straight to your bank account if you are over 65 or if the amount is less than $200.

Almost $6.4 billion of unclaimed super has been reunited with its owners since 2021.

For more information visit the ATO website.