Your Say on Super: At least 15.5 million Australians may not have a binding death benefit nomination
Our latest Your Say on Super survey found that at least 15.5 million Australians may not have a binding death benefit nomination, a form that tells your fund who should get your super when you die. Despite so many people not having the right paperwork in place, a concerning 67% said their fund had not contacted them about making one in the past 12 months.
If you don’t have a binding death benefit nomination, you have less say over who gets your super when you die. Your will does not automatically cover your super, so you need to tell your fund separately who you want it to go to.
A valid binding death benefit nomination means your fund must pay your super and any insurance to the eligible people you nominate, in the proportions you choose. It can also make the process faster for loved ones making a claim (Source: ASIC REP 806).
We need more Australians to know about binding death benefit nominations and make one. But our latest Your Say on Super survey shows at least 15.5 million Australians may not have one in place. Despite this, a concerning 67% said their super fund had not contacted them about making a binding death nomination in the past 12 months.
We already know death benefit claims can be slow and difficult for grieving families. In 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reviewed how 10 super trustees handled death benefit claims. It found delays were common, especially when a valid binding nomination was not in place, and many delays were caused by issues within the fund’s control (Source: ASIC REP 806).
A follow-up ASIC review in 2026 found only a 3% improvement across the industry in the number of death benefit claims completed within six months (Source: ASIC REP 831).
Our research shows funds need to do more before and after a claim is made. They should be helping members understand binding nominations, get the right paperwork in place and process claims quickly when loved ones need to access their super.
Super Consumers is calling on the Government to introduce mandatory customer service standards that require funds to communicate clearly, make binding nominations easier to complete and meet enforceable timeframes for death benefit claims.
Read more about what our research found below.
Key takeaways
Our latest Your Say on Super survey found that just 13% of Australians said they had made a binding death benefit nomination setting out who should receive their super when they die.
Despite millions of Australians not having a binding death benefit nomination in place, two-thirds (67%) said their super fund had not contacted them about making one in the past 12 months.
In our latest Your Say on Super survey, 13% of people said they had a binding death benefit nomination, down from 24% in 2024. We think this may reflect a better understanding of the difference between binding and non-binding nominations, with some people now realising they do not have a binding nomination after all.
Insight 1: Two-thirds of people say they haven’t heard from their super fund about binding death benefit nominations
Our Your Say on Super 2024 survey found that 36% of people, or at least 6.5 million Australians, wouldn’t have a say in who inherits their super, because they didn’t have a death benefit nomination with their super fund.
We wanted to know: has anything changed, and are super funds doing anything about it?
Our recent Your Say on Super survey found at least 15.5 million Australians may not get to decide who gets their super after they pass away.
Our survey found that:
- Two-thirds (67%) of respondents said their super fund had not been in touch over the past year encouraging them to make a binding death benefit nomination.
- A further 10% of respondents reported that they didn’t remember if they were contacted.
- Just 10% of all respondents and 11% of people aged 50+ said their fund had been in touch with them about making a nomination.
Without a binding nomination, families can face more delays and uncertainty when trying to access a loved one’s super. With so few people hearing from their fund, super funds are missing a clear opportunity to help members get the right paperwork in place before it is needed.
Figure 1: Contacts by super funds about making a binding nomination
Question: Did your super fund contact you in the last 12 months encouraging you to make a binding death nomination telling them who to pay your super to after you die?
Note: see Table 1 below for the data shown in this figure (accessible version).
Insight 2: Only 13% of people reported having a binding nomination
Our latest Your Say on Super survey found that just 13% of people overall, and 24% of people aged 50+, said they had made a binding death benefit nomination.
This means about 15.5 million Australians may not get to decide who receives their super when they die.
The low number of people with a binding nomination is concerning. A valid binding nomination means your fund must follow your wishes, and ASIC has found it can make the payment process significantly faster (Source: ASIC REP 806). More Australians need to know why these nominations matter and how to make one.
Insight 3: More people may know what a binding nomination is this year
Far fewer people said they had a binding death benefit nomination in our latest Your Say on Super survey. Just 13% said they had one, down from 24% in our Your Say on Super 2024 survey.
At first, that looks like a big drop. But our recent result is very close to ASIC’s own data. In its 2025 review of 10 super funds, ASIC found that 12% of living members had a binding nomination in place (Source: ASIC Report 806).
That suggests the change may be about awareness, rather than fewer people actually having a binding nomination. When we published our 2024 survey results, we questioned whether some people may have thought they had a binding nomination when they actually had a non-binding one.
Since then, there has been more attention on how death benefit nominations work. That may mean people now have a better understanding of what type of nomination they actually have.
What needs to happen
The Government should introduce mandatory customer service standards that require funds to:
- Remind members annually to make a binding death benefit nomination, explain how to do it and why it’s important.
- Provide easy access to information and forms to make a valid binding death benefit nomination.
- Have systems to detect whether a member’s nomination may be an ineligible beneficiary, and alert the member to this.
Super funds should act now to make small but important changes to avoid delays for loved ones, including:
- Proactively and clearly communicate with consumers about the value of making binding death benefit nominations, particularly older members.
- Provide more accessible options for consumers to make a binding death benefit nomination, e.g. online forms.
About Your Say on Super
Your Say on Super is a recurring consumer survey run by Super Consumers Australia. The aim is to understand how Australians experience, engage with, and make decisions about their super in real life. It is a nationally representative survey that provides insights into where people need better support, clearer information and stronger protections to navigate an increasingly complex super system. These insights are used to influence policymakers and hold super funds accountable in our fight for a fair super system.This research was supported by a philanthropic grant from Ecstra Foundation. Ecstra is committed to building the financial wellbeing of Australians within a fair financial system.
Citation
Super Consumers Australia. (2026, August 10). Your Say on Super: At least 15.5 million Australians may not have a binding death benefit nomination (https://superconsumers.com.au/research/your-say-on-super-super-funds-still-arent-doing-enough-to-help-members-choose-who-gets-their-super-after-they-die/).
Appendix
Our methodology
This report is based on Your Say on Super, a repeated cross-sectional national survey of Australians aged 18–75.
Across all survey waves, respondents were recruited through the same online panel provider, Online Research Unit (ORU). Surveys were completed online on any internet-enabled device, and participants were financially compensated for their time.
Before each survey, a small pre-test was conducted via ORU to check question clarity and ensure survey logic and routing worked as intended.
The survey begins with screening questions, which are asked of all respondents and determine survey pathways. Participants then answer questions about their behaviours, attitudes and expectations in relation to the superannuation system. Some questions are tailored based on age, superannuation status, and whether respondents are in the accumulation phase or retired.
Respondents then complete knowledge questions assessing their understanding of key features of the super system. These questions are largely based on the Productivity Commission’s 2018 survey of super fund members. The survey concludes with demographic questions and an opportunity to provide general feedback.
To ensure data quality, responses were excluded where two or more indicators of low-quality responding were detected. This included unusually fast completion times, straight-lining, high levels of missing responses, or inconsistent answers.
To date, three survey waves have been completed:
- Pilot/benchmark survey (N = 1,559), 25 Oct–3 Nov 2022
- Second survey (N = 1,526), 14–24 May 2024
- Latest survey (N = 4,815), 7 Aug–9 Sept 2025
Accessible versions of figures
Table 1: Contacts by super funds about making a binding nomination
Question: Did your super fund contact you in the last 12 months encouraging you to make a binding death nomination telling them who to pay your super to after you die?
| Response | % |
| Yes | 10% |
| No | 67% |
| I can’t remember | 10% |
| I already have a binding death benefit nomination | 13% |
| Total | 100% |
Note: This is data shown in Figure 1.