Visibility of Superannuation Law

How can I find out information about my former spouse/partner's superannuation entitlements?

Up until very recently, the only way to obtain information about your former spouse/partner’s superannuation interests in property settlement proceedings was to either contact the superannuation fund directly (which often involves a fee to the party requesting the information) or rely upon the former spouse/partner being honest about disclosing which superannuation funds they are a member of.

New Visibility of Superannuation law

This all changed on 1 April 2022, when changes to the Taxation Act 1953 (more commonly referred to as the “Visibility of Superannuation law”) came into effect. The new law provides for the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to share information directly with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) about the superannuation entitlements of an individual involved in property settlement proceedings upon the request of a party to those proceedings. The aim of the new law is to enable parties in property settlement proceedings to have easy and quick access to the superannuation assets held by their former spouse/ partner.

If your matter is before the Courts

The request for your former spouse/partner’s superannuation information must be done through lodging the approved ATO Superannuation Information Request form through the Commonwealth Courts Portal. It is important to understand that you must have current property settlement proceedings before the Court to obtain this information.

In order to submit the request through the Commonwealth Courts Portal, you must have the other party’s full name, date of birth and, if possible, their last known address, email address and contact telephone number. Once you submit the request:-

1. The Court will verify there are current property settlement proceedings before the Court before then sending the request to the ATO;
2. The ATO will respond to the Court, notifying them of the outcome within five (5) business days of receiving the request; and
3. The Courts will publish the superannuation information to the Court file which is then viewable by all parties and/or their legal representatives electronically.

It is important to remember that whilst the ATO can provide information about the funds of which a person is a member, they can only provide the name of the fund and the balance of the fund as at 30 June for the previous financial year. This is often not an up to date balance of each fund so it is sometimes still necessary to lodge a Form 6 Declaration/Superannuation Information Form with each superannuation fund in order to obtain a current balance.

What if my matter isn't before the Court?

If you are separated and trying to resolve your property settlement but you are not before the Court, then the existing process in place for you to gain information directly from your former spouse/partner’s superannuation fund (through submitting a Form 6 Declaration/Superannuation Information Form) is not impacted by this new process. There is however, a fee usually charged by superannuation funds to provide you with this information.

If you are someone who is separated and you are wanting advice in relation to your property settlement entitlements in general, you are encouraged to seek legal advice about the best options available to you to resolve this issue.  Contact our office to make an appointment with one of our solicitors to obtain advice on your situation on (07) 4963 2000 or through our online contact form below.