How to consolidate your super — the safe way

Why consolidate

Every super account you hold charges its own set of admin and investment fees. For most Australians with 2–3 accounts, that's $300–$600 a year in duplicate fees — and because those dollars would otherwise be invested at ~6% a year for decades, the compounded lifetime cost is commonly $15,000–$40,000. Our consolidation calculator shows the number for your actual balances and fees.

Most accidental multi-accounts come from changing jobs and the new employer enrolling you in their default fund because you didn't supply your existing fund's details. The ATO and your new employer both technically have to follow "stapling" rules now (since Nov 2021), which ties you to your first fund — but the rules aren't bulletproof and older accounts from before stapling still hang around.

The four pre-checks (do these before touching anything)

1. Check insurance on each account

Most super accounts include default life and TPD cover. Income protection is common too. Closing an account cancels the insurance attached to it — and if your health has changed since you first got the cover, you may not be able to replace it at the same price, or at all. Before consolidating any account, log into that fund and note:

• Sum insured for Life, TPD and Income Protection
• Annual premium
• Any age-based premium escalation
• Whether cover is "default" or "tailored" (tailored is harder to replicate)

If you want to keep cover, most funds let you transfer it to your primary account via an "insurance transfer form" — you submit this to your target fund before consolidating. The target fund will usually accept equivalent cover without new medical underwriting if the transfer happens cleanly.

2. Check exit fees and withdrawal fees

Exit fees were banned on MySuper products from July 2019, but investment-switch fees and buy-sell spreads are still fair game. For very large balances or for Choice products, these can be non-trivial. Look at the target fund's PDS — the "Fees and costs" section — for "Buy spread" or "Sell spread."

3. Check employer contributions are pointing at the right fund

If your employer still sends SG to the fund you're about to close, those contributions will bounce or re-open the closed account. Download a new Standard Choice Form from your new target fund's website, fill it in, and give it to your payroll team before consolidating. Your next pay run should land in the right place.

4. Check investment option and fees on the target fund

Consolidating into your worst fund is worse than staying diversified across several. If you're about to merge everything into a fund you haven't compared, pause and check it against YourSuper first. Our compare funds tool is a better filter because it shows asset allocation and insurance too.

The myGov process

1. Log into my.gov.au and select the Australian Taxation Office service.
2. From the top nav choose Super.
3. Fund details shows every super account the ATO knows you have, including any ATO-held super (unclaimed, inactive low-balance accounts, co-contributions).
4. Select Manage → Transfer super.
5. Pick the destination account and tick the source accounts you want to roll in.
6. Confirm. The ATO sends an electronic request under SuperStream. Most rollovers complete in 3 business days.

You'll get a confirmation once the rollover has landed in the target fund. Check the fund's online portal or your next statement to verify the amount matches what left the source account.

What about ATO-held super?

ATO-held super is money your old funds have transferred to the ATO because your accounts were inactive or lost contact. It doesn't earn investment returns sitting at the ATO — it's indexed by CPI. From the same Manage screen, you can transfer it directly into an active fund. See our lost super guide for more.

Consolidation and your insurance — the worked example

Liam has three super accounts: $60k at AustralianSuper (primary, default TPD $250k), $14k at REST (from a hospitality job, default Life $200k + TPD $150k he forgot about), and $2k at Sunsuper (from 2018, no active insurance). Combining directly into AustralianSuper would close his REST insurance entirely — so he'd lose $200k of Life cover. Instead, he submits an insurance transfer form to AustralianSuper requesting the REST cover be grafted on, then consolidates. Post-merge he has a single account at $76k with Life $450k + TPD $400k and a single set of fees.

One more trap: capital gains

Inside super, rollovers between funds don't trigger personal CGT — the super system handles it internally. However, some funds internally sell investments when you roll out, which can crystallise a small "sell" cost inside the fund's unit price. It's generally immaterial (0.05–0.15%) but worth knowing about if your balance is large.

The one-minute version

• Multiple accounts = duplicate fees = tens of thousands at retirement. Calculate yours.
• Before closing any account, check the insurance attached to it.
• Transfer insurance to your target fund before consolidating if you want to keep cover.
• Update your employer's Standard Choice Form so SG lands in the right place.
• Do the consolidation through myGov → ATO → Super → Manage → Transfer super.