Rules that apply to all members

Permanent exclusions from being a lost member

A member is permanently excluded from being a lost member if one of the following apply:

• The member is an inactive member who has indicated by a positive act that they wish to continue to be a member of the provider.
• The member has contacted the super provider at any time after they joined and indicated that they wished to continue being a member of the provider.
• The member is a member of a self-managed super fund (SMSF).

Note: a permanent exclusion decision based on a positive act can be used for an inactive member account only.

As this test can be applied to both types of lost members, further guidance has been provided about:

• lost and inactive members
• lost and uncontactable members.
• For more information, see Inactive members and permanent exclusion.

Funds do not have the discretion to consider any other permanent exclusion tests. You're not obliged to accept any member as being permanently excluded and can change a member's status from being permanently excluded.

SMSF accounts

Accounts linked to SMSF membership are permanently excluded and must never be reported as lost. Where you become aware that a member has an SMSF account, in addition to the SMSF interest they hold with you, you must still consider whether the member meets the lost criteria in relation to the super interest held with you.

Verified address

A member is taken to be a lost member at a particular time if they meet the criteria listed above unless, within the last 2 years, you have:

• verified that the member's address is correct
• no reason to believe that the address is now incorrect.

Address verification may include the following scenarios:

• You have never had an address for the member. The member contacts you and provides their current address.
• You contact the member and either
  • confirm the current address is correct and record the confirmation
  • the member provides their new address and you update their records with the new address.
• The ATO provide you with an address for a member which confirms the address held in your records. You have no reason to believe that the address is now incorrect as this could be out of date.
• A third party authorised to act on the member's behalf (e.g. their financial adviser) confirms the current address held by you is correct or provides the member's new address. You record the confirmation or update your records with the new address.

Actions to verify addresses include the following:

• You call a member to confirm their address details and record the confirmation.
• if the member receives employer contributionscontact them viatheir employer to confirm their address.
• After having received returned mail, you write to the member at an alternative address which was located using an external source, such as the White pages. An acknowledgment is subsequently received from the member (by letter, telephone, email or similar) and you update your records.
• You use system enhancements such as an ‘Address verification’ button which is automatically made available when a member enters or exits the website. You have a record that a member confirmed or updated their details during a login event.