In a statement issued by Vision Super, the industry fund said it will contact members with inactive and low account balances before they are transferred to the ATO.
Vision Super chief executive Stephen Rowe said: “People who have experienced multiple job changes since the introduction of compulsory super are the most likely candidates for having lost or inactive accounts.”
Mr Rowe said the fund will allow members to keep their fund active and commence making contributions again.
“We will also assist with consolidation of other accounts – even if they wish to consolidate into a different fund to ours.
“And we are offering free super searches, where we will go out and look for any other lost super accounts, and bring it all into the one fund for members,” Mr Rowe said.
Mr Rowe noted that there are significant “pitfalls” associated with having an active or low balance super account.
“When an account with a low balance does not have super paid into it for five years, funds have an obligation to move it to the ATO. When this happens the member may lose valuable insurance that they had with the account and other benefits.
“It also means that in future the account balance will only grow at CPI, as super is not invested in the same way when it is sitting with the ATO,” he said.
