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Temporary residents permanently leaving Australia

You can apply to claim your account balance, subject to withholding tax if you:

  • are not a citizen of Australia or New Zealand or a permanent resident of Australia
  • have left Australia and your visa has either expired or been cancelled.

How to apply

Using the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) online facility is the easiest way to claim your super and there is no fee to have your immigration status verified.

  1. Complete the ATO’s online application. Take note of Australian Retirement Trust’s fund ABN 60 905 115 063 ­– you’ll need this for your application. If you’re eligible, the ATO will contact us directly.
  2. If the account balance is above $5,000 or the ATO application has been submitted by a third party, the member will need to complete and post in our DASP Additional Information form, current certified proof of identification and bank statement if paying via EFT/IMT.
  3. If your payment is made after 1 July 2017 a higher rate of tax may apply, please refer to the ATO website for more information on these changes.

Claiming more than six months after leaving Australia 

If you do not claim your super within six months of leaving Australia, or within six months of the cancellation or expiry of your visa if later, the ATO will instruct us to transfer your balance to them. If this occurs, you’ll need to make a claim with them directly.

For more information on accessing your benefit when you leave Australia, please call the ATO superannuation line on 13 10 20 (within Australia) or email daspmail@ato.gov.au.

Important information 

Super funds will be issued with a notice by the ATO identifying members who are not Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents of Australia and who have left Australia after holding an Australian temporary resident visa. On receipt of the ATO notice, we will be required to transfer the benefit of any member recorded on the notice to the ATO.

As Australian Retirement Trust adopts the ASIC legislative relief that provides disclosure exemption for the former temporary residents, information regarding the transfer of a member's benefits and significant event notices may not be provided to a member whose benefit has been transferred.

After departing Australia, a former temporary resident can claim their benefit from Australian Retirement Trust (if we have not paid it to the ATO) or from the ATO. If you are applying to the ATO to claim your benefit and require information about the transfer, please contact us. The taxable component (taxed element) of a former temporary resident's benefit will be taxed at 65% for holder of visa subclass 417 (working holiday), 462 (work and holiday) and associated bridging visas, and 35% for other visa types.

For Income accounts, the Federal Government may:

  • restrict the conditions under which a former temporary visa resident can start a superannuation pension, and
  • require superannuation pensions, when held by a person who we are told by the ATO has become a former temporary visa resident who has not met certain conditions, to be stopped and either cashed out or transferred to the ATO.