“There needs to be a better pathway”: Data suggests First Nations people twice as likely to have lost and unclaimed super

Australia-wide, there is $16 billion in lost super held by super funds or the ATO. CHOICE and Super Consumers Australia can reveal that in the 20 postcodes with the highest First Nations populations, people are more than twice as likely to have lost and unclaimed super compared to the national average.

A joint CHOICE and Super Consumers investigation [link] has found that areas with a higher number of First Nations people have more than double the amount of lost and unpaid super compared to the national average. 

Across the country, there are 11.3 lost and unclaimed super accounts per 100 adults. Shockingly, when it comes to the 20 postcodes with the highest number of First Nations people, the figures more than doubled to 27.2 lost and unclaimed super accounts per 100 adults. Lost and unclaimed super can occur when a super fund has lost contact with the member, or when someone passes away and their super isn’t paid out to their family or dependents. 

The joint investigation found that the super system is currently failing First Nations members, especially those in rural and remote communities. According to community members and financial counsellors, red tape and poor customer service is making it sometimes impossible for people to access the super of loved ones who have passed away. 

“When someone’s passed away and you’re trying to … find out who the person’s super fund is with, it’s impossible,” says Mob Strong Debt Help financial counsellor and Dunghutti man Mark Holden. “People just feel like they just want to give up on it.”

“There needs to be a better pathway, all the money that is sitting with superannuation funds, deceased super, lost super, any money sitting with the ATO should be made a little bit easier,” says Veronica Johnson, a financial counsellor with Broome Circle. Johnson helped Stella Watson, a Bardi Jawi and Nyikina woman from the Kimberly region of WA, access her late husband’s super. It took Stella three years to uncover and gain access to $1,600 of super from the ATO. 

Financial counsellor Belinda Walton from Anglicare Northern Territory says, “At the end of the day it’s [people’s] money, it’s not the government’s, it’s not the ATO’s, it’s their money, they have a right to access it, why is it so hard for them to do so?” She says, “There is a total lack of acknowledgement of First Peoples, a lack of [staff] training, and understanding of protocols even within the [super] companies”. 

Super Consumers Australia Policy Manager Rebekah Sarkoezy says “We are consistently hearing that the system is letting First Nations people down when it comes to lost super. Something must change to accommodate the needs of First Nations people, and many others who have been caught up in this mess of a system”.

“The first step is the government changing the law to allow the ATO to provide relatives information about the existence of super when someone passes away. This is a quick fix that will make a lot of people’s lives easier. On top of that, the government should establish a First Nations Superannuation working group, properly resourced and led by lived experience, to get to the bottom of these issues more broadly”.