Unclaimed money and temporary residents' benefits
Your superannuation may be treated as unclaimed if you have reached age 65 and we have not received an amount on your behalf for at least two years and five years have passed since we last had contact with you. We will make all reasonable efforts to contact you in such circumstances, however, it is important that you notify us of any changes to your details.
If we are unsuccessful in contacting you we must pay your unclaimed money to the ATO. After payment to the ATO, we are discharged from any further liability for payment of the benefit and you may claim your benefit by contacting the ATO.
Under legislation which commenced in December 2008, your superannuation benefits are treated as unclaimed money if you were a temporary resident who has permanently departed Australia and you did not claim your benefits within 6 months of your departure (except if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen). For information regarding the conditions of release available to former temporary residents, please refer to the section titled Conditions of release for preserved benefits page.
From 1 July 2010 the Government proposes to require superannuation funds to transfer lost super accounts to the ATO. Lost accounts affected are those which have:
- balances less than $200; and
- been inactive for a period of 5 years and have insufficient records to identify the owner of the account
Former account holders will be able to reclaim their money from the ATO at any time. This 2009 Federal Budget measure has not become law at the time of publication.
