The annual superannuation statement that lands in the letterbox or inbox each year usually gets a quick glance at the bottom line before it’s filed away. But this year’s statement is also a useful prompt to ask a different question: is there another account out there, forgotten after an old job or a house move, still carrying a balance?
Across Australia, $21.2 billion in superannuation currently sits unclaimed or lost, spread over nearly 7.5 million accounts. Some of it may belong to people reading this. Here is what separates “lost” super from “unclaimed” super, how the figures have grown, and how to find out through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) whether any of it is theirs.
How much super is sitting unclaimed?
As of 30 June 2026, the ATO recorded just over $21.2 billion in lost and unclaimed superannuation held across close to 7.5 million accounts. The figure has grown every year the ATO has published comparable data, climbing from $16.0 billion in 2023 to $17.8 billion in 2024, $18.9 billion in 2025 and now $21.2 billion in 2026.
That total is made up of two separate categories, and the distinction matters because it determines where the money is sitting and who is holding it.
What counts as lost super?
Lost super, sometimes called fund-held lost super, is money still sitting inside a superannuation fund. It is classed as lost when the fund reports to the ATO that it has lost contact with the member, or that the account has gone quiet. An account becomes “uncontactable” when the fund cannot reach the member and there has been no contribution or rollover for 12 months. It becomes “inactive” when there has been no contribution or rollover for five years.
In 2026, lost super (fund-held) totalled $14.7 billion across 356,000 accounts, up from $10.1 billion across 320,000 accounts in 2023.
What counts as unclaimed super?
Unclaimed super is a different thing again. This is money a fund was legally required to transfer to the ATO rather than keep holding itself, and the ATO then keeps it as “ATO-held super” until it is claimed or moved into an active account. It includes unclaimed super money, amounts held in the Superannuation Holding Account, and unpaid employer super guarantee shortfalls that funds could not place into an active account.
ATO-held super totalled $6.6 billion across 7,129,000 accounts in 2026, up from $5.9 billion across 6,710,000 accounts in 2023. The sheer number of ATO-held accounts compared with fund-held lost accounts, 7.13 million against 356,000, reflects how many small, inactive balances end up transferred to the ATO rather than sitting idle inside a fund.
Who ends up with a lost or unclaimed account?
Industry Super notes that anyone who has “ever changed jobs, or held a second job that paid superannuation” may have an account they do not know about. A change of name, a change of address, or a short period working two jobs at once can all be enough to break contact between a member and a fund.
Under current rules, small balances under $6,000 with no contribution for 16 months can be swept automatically to the ATO, which means an account can become “unclaimed” without the member doing anything at all.
Why it matters if money is sitting lost or unclaimed
Super sitting as lost (fund-held) money can continue to attract fees even though it is not actively managed or added to. Money that has reached the ATO as unclaimed super, by contrast, does not earn investment returns while it is held there, unlike money sitting in an active super account. Holding several accounts, lost or active, can also mean several sets of fees being deducted across separate balances rather than one.
A fund’s annual statement only shows the balance and activity in that one account. It does not show whether the same person has a separate lost or ATO-held amount sitting elsewhere, which is why the two have to be checked separately.
How the ATO search works
The ATO calls this process a “super health check” and sets out step-by-step instructions on its website. The search can be done at any time of year through ATO online services or the ATO app via myGov, through a lost super search self-service phone line, by paper form, or by asking a super fund or third party to check. Lost and ATO-held super remains the member’s money and can be claimed or consolidated into a preferred account once conditions are met. It does not expire.
The ATO relies on funds correctly reporting lost accounts and on a member’s tax file number matching their current details, so very old accounts, or ones recorded incorrectly, may not always surface automatically. Anyone wanting to confirm their own figures can check directly through the ATO’s lost super search page or through myGov.
For anyone who once held a weekend job decades ago, moved house a few times, or worked two part-time roles while raising a family, the search costs nothing and takes only minutes. If any of that $21.2 billion carries their name on it, it is still theirs to claim.
