The short version:
Combining your super accounts is also called consolidation.
Here’s how it works.
- Find all your super accounts
- Visit the myGov website, or check with the ATO
- View any and all super accounts
- Compare different super accounts to pick one
- Research fees and costs
- Check Investment performance
- Confirm insurance benefits
- Seek financial advice
- Combine your accounts
- Use myGov
- Use the ATO’s online service
- Or use your super fund’s app or website.
⚠️ Important: This generally applies to super in the accumulation phase, and not all super accounts can be combined, such as defined benefit accounts. Check your insurance coverage before combining super accounts, as you’ll lose any insurance attached to accounts you close.
Keep reading
- Why you might have multiple super accounts
- Why multiple super accounts are a bigger deal than they seem
- What happens to inactive and lost super
- What should you do about multiple super accounts?
- How to choose which super fund to keep
- How to combine your super
Why you can end up with multiple super accounts
It used to be so easy to end up with multiple accounts, that the government introduced legislation to reduce it.
You want fries with that?
Remember your first job? Maybe it was fast food: by 2019, 5% of Aussies had worked at McDonald’s.
Maybe it was shelf stacking or working the checkout at a supermarket: at the time of writing nearly 200,000 Aussies worked for Woolies.
When you got your first job:
- You probably got your first super account.
- Your employer should have paid your first super contributions to it.
- Those contributions have been growing since then.
New job, new super
But here’s the thing: each time you got a new job, it was up to you to give your super details to each new employer.
If you didn't, they could start paying your new super into a different fund.
People were ending up with multiple balances all over the place.
And by EOFY 2022, approximately three million people still had multiple super accounts.
Here’s why that’s a big deal
The thing is, your super balance doesn’t just sit in your super account for free, waiting around until you can access it.
It’s not like a fee-free savings account.
You pay fees for your super to get managed and invested.
And the more super accounts you have, the more set of fees you pay.
This can eat into your balance and returns.
When it comes to super, a little bit now can snowball into a lot down the track.
And ultimately, multiple accounts can leave you with less money to retire with.
Are you at risk?
It’s still up to you to supply your super details to any new employer.
But they have to make an effort to find your primary fund, now, too.
It’s called super stapling and it was introduced in 2021.
So if you only want one super fund, and you give the correct details to your employer, your super should get paid into it.
What happens if you have multiple super accounts?
Generally, your employer pays your super contributions into your active super fund.
If you have more than one super account, your other balances will still rise and fall with the market, but they may have fees taken from them, and they won’t be added to.
Not sure if you have multiple super accounts? Here’s how to find and check your super.
If you have a low-balance, inactive super account
If you have a super balance under $6,000 and haven’t made any contributions to it in the past 16 months, it’s generally classified as inactive and low-balance.
It’s likely to get transferred to the ATO, where they will choose how to consolidate it.
(There are some more conditions it must meet. Visit the ATO if you think this applies to you.)
If you have lost super
In mid-2024, the ATO was holding more than $17 billion worth of lost super across 7 million accounts.
When super funds can’t contact their members, or their members are temporary residents, are entitled to benefits from a former marriage, or pass away, their super balances can end up there.
There are other reasons, too.
Sidenote: this is why it’s important to keep your contact details up to date.
What should you do about multiple super accounts?
If you want to simplify your admin, and potentially reduce super fees, you could consider combining your super into one account.
It’s called super consolidation.
It means that you decide on which super fund will be your main account, and you move the rest of your super into it.
Keep in mind there are some types of super funds that can’t be combined, such as defined benefit accounts. If you’re unsure, you can check with your super fund.
How to choose which super fund to keep
First of all, check the benefits and risks of each fund you have so you can decide which one is best for you.
Make sure your current employer has the correct super details so your super gets paid to the right place.
Be extra careful to make sure you get your desired level of insurance (if any) before you combine your super.
Consider how the fees, risks and benefits of your other super funds compare to the fund you would be consolidating into.
By rolling over the full value of an existing super account, your existing super account will be closed, and you may lose some benefits, such as life insurance.
Basically, the point is that not all funds have the same benefits. Talking to a professional financial adviser can help you make this decision.
How to consolidate your super
If you already know which super fund you’re choosing, then consolidating it can be as easy as visiting the ATO website or your super fund’s app.
Spaceship Super customer? Here’s how we make it easy for you.
