Hundreds of thousands of Australians shortchanged on their superannuation entitlements have shared in more than $1.1 billion in make-good payments.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) revealed it had clawed back the huge sum for 900,000 super funds in the 2025-26 financial year following reminders, check-ins and compliance action with slow-moving employers.
WATCH THE ABOVE VIDEO: Making sense of your superannuation statement
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
It was a significant increase from the $795 million in super guarantee charge liabilities that needed to be corrected the previous year.
“We understand how important it is that workers are not shortchanged on this vital entitlement as it can have a significant impact on their future financial position,” ATO deputy commissioner Ben Kelly said.
The tax office will continue to press employers around the country to ensure they meet their “non negotiable” super obligations.
“We know the vast majority of employers do the right thing, with nearly 93 per cent of super guarantee obligations being met without any ATO intervention,” Kelly said.
“However, for a small proportion of employers who chose not to act following our prompts, we have used firmer compliance activities and raised almost $250 million in penalties.”
The Super Members Council said the return of more than $1.1 billion is “welcome progress” but there is still plenty of work to do given the scale of unpaid super.
It estimates 3.4 million Australian employees were underpaid $6.3 billion in super 2023-24, working out to about $1850 per impacted worker.
The simple check that could score Australians a nest egg boost
The figures come three months after the tax office urged Australians to carry out a quick check that could score them a nest egg boost, with $21 billion in superannuation waiting to be claimed.
The money is super that workers may have lost track of, which happens most often when an account is inactive and contact details are out of date.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission also revealed earlier this year it was holding onto $2.7 billion that Aussies had failed to collect from forgotten banks accounts, lost shares and insurance policies.
The biggest single amount waiting to be collected was $1.3 million, and the commission said the process was quick and simple to check if you are owed a share.
To check for lost super, workers are advised to log in to ATO online services via MyGov, go to Super, and select Fund Details to view active, lost, or ATO-held unclaimed super accounts.
Payday Super changes mean more cash in the bank
Meanwhile the ATO’s warning to businesses comes after the introduction of Payday Super in July, requiring employers to pay their workers’ superannuation concurrently with salary and wages.
It was brought in to benefit workers’ retirement funds — a 25-year-old median income earner is tipped to be about $6000 better off when they call time on their career — and make it harder for them to be exploited by dodgy employers who fail to pay up each quarter.
”More frequent payments mean employees receive their super sooner, giving their savings more time to grow,” Kelly said.
“Employees also have greater visibility of their super entitlements, helping them better understand and track contributions throughout their working lives.
“We expect the shift to the Payday Super system will also help us identify any unpaid super earlier and take more timely action.”
The Super Members Council said Payday Super would be a “gamechanger” for tackling unpaid obligations, giving the ATO more timely information about where workers could be being shortchanged.
“The task now is to make full use of those tools to detect unpaid super early, recover it quickly, and deter it from happening in the first place,” Council chief executive Misha Schubert said.
“We want to see the ATO continue stepping up proactive compliance and recovery, backed by clear public targets and strong action against deliberate or repeat offenders.”
