Number of multiple accounts in slow decline

The number of people in Australia holding multiple superannuation accounts is reducing, but not as quickly as either the Government or the industry had hoped.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed that as at 30 June 2018, over 15.6 million people had a super fund account with about 39 per cent of these people having more than one account.

In data presented to the recent Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) conference, in Adelaide, ATO deputy commissioner, Superannuation, James O’Halloran, said the ATO estimated that the proportion of individuals holding only one super account increased from 55 per cent in 2013 to 61 per cent in 2017.

He said that, similarly, the percentage of individuals with three or more accounts was also gradually reducing, from 19 per cent in 2014 to 14 per cent in 2017.

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However, O’Halloran said that, notwithstanding these positive results, there were over 160,000 individuals with six or more accounts.

“In support of the proposition that people need good information to support a change in behaviour, in the 2017-18 financial year through ATO online services (via myGov), some 532,000 accounts were consolidated by individuals, to the value of $3.18 billion,” he said.

“Further, over the past five financial years (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018) about 2.21 million accounts to the value of $11.3 billion have been consolidated or transferred by individuals, using our online services.”