If you’re leaving your employer’s service you may be eligible to access your super and have it paid directly to you after you have left Australia. You must meet the following criteria:

  • you have held an Australian  temporary visa, and
  • you will be leaving (or have left) Australia, and
  • your temporary visa will soon expire or will be cancelled, and
  • you are not an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.


Mercer Super Trust members should contact the Helpline on 1800 682 525 for more information on how to make an application to the trustee for the release of your super for this reason.

If at least 6 months has passed since your temporary visa has expired, or been cancelled and you have left Australia and have not claimed your super from your plan, the trustee can be required to transfer your super to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).  You can still claim your super from the ATO.  It will be paid after the deduction of any tax* required.  Your super will generally not earn any interest (investment earnings) while it is held by the ATO.

The ATO will provide the trustee with details of the members whose super must be transferred.  A transfer to the ATO can be required even if you are still employed by your Australian employer.

If your benefit is transferred to the ATO because you have left Australia and you need assistance to prove to the ATO that you are entitled to that benefit, please contact the Helpline.

* The tax rates that apply to super payouts paid to a temporary resident who has left Australia are higher than those which apply to permanent residents or Australian or New Zealand citizens.

If your super is transferred to the ATO in these circumstances, you will not receive any communication or exit statement from the Mercer Super Trust advising you of the transfer.  This is because, as the trustee was required under law to transfer your super to the ATO, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has provided relief from the requirement for a trustee to provide an exit statement in these circumstances.  However, you may still contact the Helpline for information about your transferred super or information about how to claim your super from the ATO.

For more information call the Mercer Super Trust Helpline on 1800 682 525.