If you read the cover story from yesterday’s Sunday Tasmanian newspaper, you will be familiar with how much lost super is out there in super land….over $12 billion in total, with over $215 million in lost super accounts for Tasmanians alone. 

A lost super account is one where the fund no longer has a valid address for the member, or the fund had received returned or unclaimed mail. A member is not regarded ‘lost’ if their address had been confirmed in the past two years. 

Finding lost super seems to be one of those issues people find a little daunting, and just keep putting into the ‘too hard’ basket. According to a recent Westpac survey, 15.8% of people questioned knew they had unclaimed or lost super but had not actively tried to find it. 

The ATO maintains Lost Members Register which lists super accounts that have been forgotten. This can be found on the ATO website – it’s called ‘Superseeker’ - and you can click here to do a search. You’ll need your Tax File Number to conduct a search.

If you find any lost super, you can then contact the super fund to update your details and inquire about your lost accounts or consolidate your super into a single account, which may reduce fees and costs.

As I’d really like to reunite as many of your staff as possible with their lost super, Tasplan can arrange to conduct a search for anyone who wants us to do that for them. This can be done by completing and returning a Lost Super Search Request form, or alternatively, I’d be happy to visit your workplace and make myself available to run a search for staff.    

If you’d like to help your staff and colleagues (and why wouldn’t you?) just email me, and I will happily assist you put in place a process that works best for your business.