Can I choose a superannuation fund or does my employer choose one for me?

Most Australians can choose their own superannuation fund, though a small number may have limited super options available to them. If you don’t choose a superannuation fund, your employer will choose one for you.

When you start a new job in Australia, in most cases your employer is obliged to contribute a percentage of your salary to a superannuation fund that helps you save for your retirement. Your employer should ask you to provide the details of your super fund so that it can fulfil its obligations under the super guarantee, plus any salary sacrifice you may choose to make.

In the past, if you didn’t provide your super fund details to your employer, they would pay your super into the employer’s nominated default fund, which is often a relatively basic super fund. This could lead to some Australians having multiple super accounts in their name, especially if they frequently changed jobs and opted for the employer’s default fund each time. This could in turn lead to super being lost or eaten up by fees, making it important to consolidate super if possible.

However, from November 2021, if an employee doesn’t provide a new employer with details of their super fund, the employer should pay into the employee’s stapled super fund if one exists. This is the employee’s “default” super option that’s linked (or ‘stapled’) to the employee’s Tax File number (TFN), so it follows them from job to job, limiting the risk of losing super. It’s still possible for an employee to open another super fund or to change their stapled super fund in the future.

Some Australians may only have limited options for selecting their superannuation funds, such as if they work in an area where their super fund is selected as part of the industrial award or enterprise agreement (EA) under which they are employed, or they’re a member of a defined benefit super fund. However, some of these rules changed in January 2021, giving more Australians the option to select their own super fund.

If you have a choice of super funds, it’s important to compare your options before making a decision. Remember to consider not only the potential returns, but the fees, features and other benefits.

Compare super funds

Compare super funds