What is Super Fund Lookup?

What is the Super Fund Lookup?

The Super Fund Lookup is the official source of truth for key information about all Australian super funds. This includes retail and industry super funds regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and SMSFs.

You can find the register here.

Basically, it's a way for employers, SMSFs and other super funds to verify that a super fund exists and is compliant with relevant legislation. An employer can't pay an employee's super guarantee into a fund that isn't compliant.

This reduces the chance of money accidentally being sent to an illegitimate or non-existent super fund.

Super Fund Lookup shows information like:

• Compliance status
• Unique Superannuation Identifier (USI)
• ABN and ABN status
• Contact details
• Previous fund names

How can you use the Super Fund Lookup?

You can search for a super fund by name or using its Australian Business Number (ABN). The advanced search filter lets you look at funds by state or postcode.

You can also toggle between active funds, all funds and fund products.

The search functionality is quite simple, and there's no easy way to filter out SMSFs. For example, a search for "Australian super" returns over 200 results. You have to search "australiansuper" as one word to find that specific fund.

Who uses Super Fund Lookup?

Super Fund Lookup is most useful for:

• Employers. It's the quickest way to find a fund's USI and determine whether an employee's nominated fund is legitimate, allowing the employer to pay super correctly and meet its super guarantee obligations.
• Accountants. Financial advisors and accountants use Super Fund Lookup to confirm a client's fund is compliant before recommending their client rolls and funds over or consolidates multiple funds.
• Super funds. Individual super funds also use the register to determine another fund's status before rolling any funds over when a customer is consolidating their funds.
• SMSFs. A self-managed super fund can use Super Fund Lookup to check their compliance status (more on this in the next section).

How SMSFs use Super Fund Lookup

Super Fund Lookup is the quickest way for an SMSF to check its compliance status. It also lists details like the fund's location, ABN, business address and contact details.

Understand SMSF compliance status

SMSFs receive a compliance status you can check with Super Fund Lookup. According to the ATO, the five different compliance statuses are:

• Registered. This means the fund can receive super contributions, rollovers or transfers from other funds. The fund is regulated but has not yet been issued a notice of compliance (or non-compliance).
• Complying. The fund is regulated, issued with a notice of compliance from the ATO and qualifies for the 15% tax rate that is one of the main benefits of being a super fund.
• Non-complying. The fund either doesn't meet Australian residency conditions or has been issued with a notice of non-compliance. The fund can't receive rollovers or super guarantee contributions and does not qualify for the 15% tax rate.
• Regulation details withheld. This means the ATO has "concerns about how an SMSF is operating" and is investigating the fund. The ATO recommends employers not to make contributions to one of these funds. Retail and industry super funds do not make rollovers to these funds.
• Regulation details removed. An SMSF has its regulation details removed if its annual returns are more than two weeks overdue. Once the SMSF annual returns are lodged the fund's regulation details are updated. Again the ATO recommends employers not to make contributions to one of these funds.

What happens if my SMSF is non-complying?

Being non-compliant means an SMSF can't receive funds via rollovers, transfers or contributions. It's not an eligible fund to receive an employee's super guarantee contributions, and the fund does not qualify for the 15% tax rate that super funds typically receive.

Instead, funds are taxed at 45%. And in the year in which the fund is labelled non-complying, a further tax burden is imposed. An amount equal to the market value of the fund's total assets (minus non-taxable contributions) are included in the fund's assessable income and taxed at 45%.

This is a disastrous outcome for a super fund and is a very heavy tax burden. And individual trustees can also face penalties for any compliance breaches.

Frequently asked questions

• Can I find lost super with Super Fund Lookup?

  You can log into your own account with the ATO via myGov to find your lost super. Super Fund Lookup lists details of super funds but doesn't have details about any individual's super balances.

• Does it cost anything to use Super Fund Lookup?

  No, Super Fund Lookup is a free register that costs nothing to use.

• Can I look up someone else's super fund details?

  You can look up details about a specific retail or industry super fund, like the fund's ABN, USI or compliance status. And you can find a bit more information about every SMSF in Australia. But you can't look up financial details of any fund or individual.

• What is the difference between an ABN and USI?

  Most Australian businesses need an ABN. A USI is an identification number that's specific to superannuation funds. Some super funds may have multiple USIs but only one ABN.

• How often is Super Fund Lookup updated?

  According to the ATO, it updates Super Fund Lookup on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Written by

Richard Whitten

Senior Money Editor

Richard Whitten is Finder’s Senior Money Editor, with over eight years of experience in home loans, property, credit cards and personal finance. His insights appear in top media outlets like Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine, and the Herald Sun, and he frequently offers expert commentary on television and radio, helping Australians navigate mortgages and property ownership. Richard started his career in education and textbook publishing in South Korea. He holds multiple industry certifications, including a Certificate IV in Mortgage Broking (RG 206) and Tier 1 and Tier 2 certifications (RG 146), as well as a Bachelor of Education from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Communications from Deakin University. See full bio

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