Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Key Takeaways
Finding and consolidating your lost super could significantly boost your retirement savings:
- Consolidating accounts reduces fees and makes tracking your retirement savings much easier.
- You can search for lost super for free through myGov or by contacting your super fund directly.
- Check every time you change jobs, move house, or change your name; these are the most common reasons why super gets lost.
- Multiple super accounts mean you could be paying duplicate insurance premiums as well as duplicate administration fees.
- Before transferring funds, check for exit fees and ensure you won’t lose valuable insurance cover.
- Keep your contact details up to date with your super fund to avoid losing track of your accounts in the future.
Millions of Australians have more than one superannuation account (super fund). That can mean paying more fees leading to less superannuation for your retirement.
The good news is that, these days, it’s easy to find lost superannuation accounts and combine them into just one account. This makes keeping track of your super and growing your balance much easier.
Why Do I Have Multiple Super Accounts?
How do so many of us end up with lost super?
If you don’t nominate your own superannuation fund when you start a new job, your employer will typically enrol you in their preferred fund. This happens with each new job, which means you can easily accumulate multiple super accounts over the years, without realising it. This is how super accounts get lost!
21% of Australian super holders have more than one account. The good news is, these days, it’s not as hard as it seems to track down your lost super once you know how.
Source: ATO, as of October 2025
What Is Lost Super Costing Me?
Each superannuation provider charges an administration fee to manage your money. Super funds can also include insurances, which have additional fees. The more super funds you have, the more fees you’re paying, and the less money you have when you retire.
Australians have nearly $19 billion sitting in lost or unclaimed superannuation accounts. That’s money that could be growing for retirement.
Source: ATO, as of October 2025
Lost Super vs Unpaid Super: What’s the Difference?
Lost super is money in superannuation accounts that you’ve forgotten about, lost track of, or maybe don’t even know exists!
On the other hand, unpaid super is when an employer doesn’t pay enough into their employees’ super funds. You can read more about unpaid super here.
How to Find Lost Super in Australia: Step-by-Step Guide
Ready to find and get back your lost super? Here’s what you can do:
- Contact your current super fund:
Many funds offer free consolidation services and can handle the transfer for you.
- Search through myGov:
Log in to myGov, go to ATO online services, select ‘Super’, then ‘Fund details’ to check for lost super.
- Check before you transfer:
Once you’ve found a lost super account, confirm there are no exit fees and understand how the transfer to your active account affects any insurance(s) you have.
- Keep your details updated:
Make sure your super fund always has your current address and contact information.
Note: The information provided here is general in nature. Before making decisions about what to do with a superannuation account, consider seeking advice from a qualified financial advisor.
What to Do When I Find My Lost Super
If you discover that you’ve got multiple super accounts, or find super you didn’t know about, you should consider consolidating those accounts as soon as you can. You are likely paying fees on all your super fund accounts, which will be eating away at your retirement savings.
When you’re ready to go ahead there are a couple of options:
Option 1: Let your chosen super fund handle the transfer
With your signed approval, your preferred superannuation provider can request the funds from your other super accounts to be transferred into your preferred account.
Option 2: Do it yourself via the ATO
If you want to take care of it yourself, you can do this through myGov. Before you start, you’ll need to decide which super fund you’d like to stick with and nominate it during this process.
Please consider this before you move super funds:
Before you decide to move your lost super, we strongly recommend getting advice from a superannuation advisor or qualified financial planner, who can help you determine if:
- Any termination or exit fees apply on the account you’re transferring from.
- You have any existing insurance included on the account you’re closing.
- Your current employer can contribute to your preferred fund.
Your superannuation is important — it might be the only money you have when you retire! It really is worth spending the time now to find your lost super or consolidate multiple super accounts because:
- You’ll pay less fees.
- You’ll see your balance grow faster.
That means more money to spend when you retire. Now, that’s got to be worth it!
Case Study: Emma’s Lost Super Discovery
Background:
Emma, a 42-year-old marketing professional from Brisbane, had worked for five employers over her career. Like many Australians, she didn’t pay much attention to her superannuation in her earlier years and didn’t always nominate a preferred fund when starting new roles.
The problem:
When Emma reviewed her super, she discovered that contributions from several employers had been spread across multiple funds. In total, she had four super accounts, which together were costing her about $1,520 per year in administration and account fees.
Taking action:
Emma identified her current super account with a balance of $165,000, along with three older accounts totalling $47,500. After confirming she wouldn’t lose any important insurance cover with her advisor, she consolidated the older accounts into her main fund.
The result:
Bringing everything together eliminated duplicate fees, reducing the ongoing costs deducted from Emma’s super and leaving more money invested for the future. Emma consolidated $47,500 from forgotten accounts and cut her annual super fees from $1,520 to $420, saving approximately $1,100 every year.
Emma’s advice:
The whole process took less than 30 minutes. When I realised I was paying over $1,500 a year in fees for accounts I’d forgotten about, I wished I’d checked sooner. That money could have been adding to my retirement balance instead.
Note: Case study based on a real Etax client experience with details modified for privacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lost super refers to superannuation accounts or balances you’ve forgotten about or lost track of, often from previous jobs where you didn’t nominate a fund. These accounts can incur fees which lowers your overall superannuation balance leaving you less money in retirement.
Finding and consolidating lost super can reduce the number of accounts you have, lower ongoing fees, and help your retirement savings grow more efficiently, since you’re not paying multiple administration charges or insurance policies.
You can locate your lost super by asking your current super fund to help you search for old accounts, logging into myGov and accessing the ATO’s super search function or by contacting the ATO directly.
To search for lost super, it helps to have your Tax File Number (TFN) linked to your myGov account. This makes it easier for the system to identify all accounts associated with you.
Once you locate lost super accounts, consider consolidating them into your preferred fund to reduce fees, insurance policies and simplify management. Before transferring, check for any insurance or fees that could be affected by closing an old account.
Still need help to find your lost super? Send us a message via Live Chat or My Messages in your Etax Account. We’d be happy to help point you in the right direction.
Addition superannuation resources for further reading
The above article on lost super is general in nature and should not be taken as detailed advice. Before making a decision on superannuation you should seek professional advice from a superannuation advisor or financial planner.
