The Morrison Government has today passed legislation through the House of Representatives that will reunite Australians with more of their lost superannuation.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Reuniting More Superannuation) Act 2021 requires that accounts transferred from Eligible Rollover Funds to the ATO will, where possible, be proactively reunited with a member’s superannuation account, or directly with the individual where eligible, within 28 days.
This will remove large numbers of duplicate superannuation accounts from the system. By reuniting these lost accounts with their rightful owners, Australians will reduce duplicate fees and end up with higher balances.
ERFs were intended to act as a temporary measure for the benefit of members who had lost their superannuation accounts. However, in practice, members’ money languished in ERFs for years.
The changes are consistent with recommendation 5 of the Productivity Commission’s report, ‘Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness’ and they will facilitate the timely and efficient exit of all ERFs from the market by early 2022.
These improvements complement the Morrison Government’s Protecting Your Superannuation reforms, which have seen the ATO reunite superannuation accounts with their members at a rate far exceeding anything previously achieved by ERFs. As of December 2020, the ATO has proactively consolidated $3.7 billion held in unintended multiple accounts on behalf of almost two million people.
The Morrison Government continues to make our superannuation system stronger and more efficient, ensuring more people have all their super in a single account. This means less waste, lower fees and improved retirement outcomes for Australians.