Leaving Australia? Every dollar your employers paid into superannuation is yours to claim once you’ve gone. It’s called a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP), and after a year or two of full-time work it can be worth a few thousand dollars, even after tax. Here’s how to claim your super back in 2026, how much tax comes off, where the money can be paid, and how to make sure you get all of it.
The short version
- Employers pay 12% of your ordinary earnings into super (the rate since 1 July 2025). There’s no minimum you have to earn.
- You can claim once you’ve left Australia and your visa has ended. You can start the application before you go.
- If a fund holds super from your working holiday (417 or 462), that fund’s payout is taxed at 65%. Other temporary visas pay 35% (45% on any untaxed element).
- Claiming is free through the ATO’s DASP online application.
- Payment usually lands within 28 days of a complete application.
- Not claimed 6 months after you’ve left and your visa has ended? It goes to the ATO, and you can still claim it.
Who can claim a DASP?
You can claim if all of these apply:
- you built up super while working in Australia on a temporary visa (not the 405 or 410 retirement visas)
- that visa has ended, because it expired or was cancelled
- you’ve left Australia and you don’t hold any other active Australian visa
- you’re not an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident.
The working holiday visa catch
Your visa doesn’t end just because you fly home, and you can’t submit until it does. Home Affairs won’t cancel a 417 on request, or any visa with less than 6 months left, so you wait for it to expire. Check your expiry date on VEVO.
On a temporary sponsored work visa with more than 6 months left? Once you’ve finished the job and left, you need to ask Home Affairs to cancel it through ImmiAccount before you can claim. Read their cancelling a visa page first.
How to claim your super back, step by step
The ATO’s DASP online application is free, covers super in your funds and super already sent to the ATO, and takes about 30 minutes.
What you need
- your name, date of birth, email and postal address
- your passport number and passport country
- your tax file number (TFN): optional, but enter it and the system finds your super accounts for you
- your fund details: the fund’s name and ABN, your member number and the date you joined (all on your statements)
- a plan for how you’ll be paid (see below).
The steps
- Before you leave, find every account in myGov (more below).
- Check your employers have paid everything. The ATO recommends this before you submit.
- Start the application in Australia. You can save it and set a “shared secret” question. Write down exactly what you enter, because you need the same details to get back in.
- Get your ID certified if a fund holds $5,000 or more. That fund may ask for certified copies, and it’s much easier to do before you leave.
- Leave Australia and wait until your visa has ended.
- Log back in and submit. Use the same name, date of birth, passport details and TFN (or no TFN) as the first time. Check it carefully: you can’t change it once it’s submitted.
- Wait for the money. Each fund pays separately and sends a DASP payment summary within 14 days of paying you.
The system checks your visa status with Home Affairs for you. It also shows whether you’ve held a working holiday visa. If that’s wrong, don’t submit: email [email protected].
Paper claims and certified documents
For a paper claim, send form NAT 7204 to each fund, with certified copies of your ID. The fund may charge a fee. At $5,000 or more, it may also want a Certification of Immigration Status from Home Affairs (Form 1194), which costs a fee. Under $5,000, your own proof that you’ve left and your visa has expired can do. ATO-held super uses form NAT 74880, which is free.
How long does a DASP take?
The service standard is 28 days from a complete application. The online system doesn’t show progress, so after 28 days contact your fund (or the ATO, for ATO-held super).
How much will I get back?
1. Contributions tax: 15%. Your fund takes 15% off employer contributions as they go in. It’s already gone from the balance on your statement.
2. DASP tax: when you claim. A final tax withheld from the payout:
- Working holiday makers (417 or 462): 65% on the taxable component.
- Other temporary visas: 35% on the taxed element and 45% on the untaxed element, which is most common in public sector funds.
- Tax-free component: nil. This generally comes from after-tax money you paid in yourself, so most people won’t have any.
Employer super is generally taxable, so for most people the whole balance gets the 65% or 35% rate. The 65% rate has applied since 1 July 2017.
Worked example: a year’s work
Say you earn AUD 60,000 in ordinary pay. Your employer pays 12%: AUD 7,200. The fund takes 15% (AUD 1,080), leaving AUD 6,120. On a working holiday visa, 65% of that is withheld (AUD 3,978), so you’d get about AUD 2,142. On another temporary visa at 35%, you’d get about AUD 3,978.
What your balance turns into
Take the balance on your latest statement and apply the DASP rate. For a working holiday maker at 65%:
| Super balance | Roughly what you get |
|---|---|
| AUD 2,000 | AUD 700 (AUD 1,300 withheld) |
| AUD 5,000 | AUD 1,750 (AUD 3,250 withheld) |
| AUD 10,000 | AUD 3,500 (AUD 6,500 withheld) |
| AUD 20,000 | AUD 7,000 (AUD 13,000 withheld) |
On another temporary visa at 35%, you keep 65% instead: AUD 6,500 from a balance of AUD 10,000, or AUD 13,000 from AUD 20,000.
These are estimates. Fees, insurance premiums and investment returns keep changing your balance until it’s paid. Your DASP payment summary shows exactly what was withheld.
Had a working holiday visa and another visa?
This is where people get caught. Each fund sets its own rate. If a fund’s payout includes any super from contributions made while you held a 417 or 462 (or a linked bridging visa), 65% applies to that fund’s whole payment, including super you earned later on a sponsored or other visa. A fund with no working holiday super in it pays the ordinary rates. So talk to your fund before you merge accounts.
DASP tax is final, and your DASP doesn’t go in your tax return. If a fund withheld the wrong amount, ask it for a refund in the same financial year. After that, write to the ATO.
Where is the DASP paid? Can it go to an Irish bank account?
Sometimes. The ATO lists three ways to be paid:
- Transfer to an Australian bank account. The ATO says this is usually the most effective option.
- An Australian dollar cheque.
- International money transfer to an overseas account, such as your Irish bank. This is only for claims to super funds, not every fund offers it, and fees and currency conversion charges may apply.
ATO-held super can only go to an Australian bank account in your name, or by cheque. So keep your Australian account open until everything lands, give the ATO its details (myGov: My profile, then Financial institution details), and check with your bank that you can send money to Ireland from overseas.
Getting it home
Before you move the money, compare your bank’s exchange rate and fees with a money transfer service:
Our money transfer guide has more.
Finding all your super before you leave
Use myGov linked to the ATO, or the ATO app. Go to Super, then Fund details to see every account. “Contact fund” next to a fund means it’s a lost account: the fund still holds the money, so update your details with it. Super already sent to the ATO shows as ATO-held super. Balances there are often just the 30 June figure, so check your fund’s app for the latest.
Consolidating before you go
More accounts mean more fees and doubled-up insurance. Go to Super, Manage, then Transfer super to move them into one. Check the fees and insurance of the fund you keep, and remember the visa point above. It’s less of a problem now anyway: if you don’t choose a fund at a new job, your employer has to pay into your existing “stapled” fund.
If you can’t use myGov once you’ve left
- Enter your TFN in the DASP online application and it searches the ATO’s records for your super, including ATO-held money.
- Phone the ATO from overseas on +61 2 6216 1111, 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday, Sydney time, and ask for the super line, 13 10 20.
- Stuck linking myGov to the ATO? From outside Australia, the linking help line is +61 2 6216 3444.
- Still in Australia? The automated lost super search line is 13 28 65.
Check your employer actually paid
- Payslips must show the super paid (or to be paid) for that pay period and the fund’s name.
- myGov: go to Super, then Information, then Employer contributions. Select Transactions to see each payment.
- Your fund: its app, your statements, or a phone call.
Payday Super is now law. Since 1 July 2026, employers have to pay super at the same time as wages, and it must reach your fund within 7 business days of payday (longer in some cases, such as new employees). Before that, they had until 28 days after the end of each quarter. So your super should now show up soon after each payday, which makes gaps easier to spot.
If something’s missing, ask your employer when they paid, which fund and how much. Still wrong? Use the ATO’s report unpaid super tool with your TFN, the dates and your employer’s ABN (it’s on your payslip).
Special cases
- Moved from a 417 or 462 to another visa: rates are set fund by fund, and any working holiday super in a fund means 65% on its whole payout.
- On a bridging visa: it’s still an active visa, so you can’t submit until it has ended and you’ve left. A bridging visa straight after a 417 or 462 counts as working holiday time for DASP tax if another 417 or 462 follows it, or no other visa does.
- Became a permanent resident: you can’t claim a DASP. If your old super already went to the ATO, you can move it into a fund or, if eligible, have it paid to you, still taxed at DASP rates.
- New Zealand citizens: can’t claim a DASP, but may be able to move Australian super to a KiwiSaver scheme.
- Less than $5,000 in a fund: a paper claim can use your own proof of leaving instead of a Certification of Immigration Status.
- Unclaimed after 6 months: it goes to the ATO. It doesn’t vanish, and you claim it the same way.
- Coming back later: claiming a DASP won’t affect future visa applications.
Should I use an agent?
You don’t need one, as the ATO’s application is free. A registered tax agent can claim for you with your written authority, and can then act for you and update your details, so choose carefully. Check they’re on the TPB register first: generally, only registered agents can charge for tax agent services.
Super questions that come up in the groups
How do I claim my super back?
Apply for a DASP through the ATO’s free online application. Start it before you leave, then submit once you’ve gone and your visa has ended.
How much tax do backpackers pay on super?
Your fund takes 15% off contributions as they go in, then 65% of the payout is withheld when you claim. From a balance of AUD 10,000, you’d get about AUD 3,500.
How long does a DASP take?
The service standard is 28 days from a complete application.
Can I get my super paid into an Irish bank account?
Only if your fund offers international money transfer. Otherwise it’s an Australian bank account or an Australian dollar cheque. ATO-held super can’t be paid overseas.
Can I claim super on a 417 visa?
Yes, once the 417 has expired and you’ve left. Home Affairs won’t cancel a 417 early on request.
Can I claim my super while I’m still in Australia?
No. You can start and save the application, but only submit it after you’ve left and your visa has ended.
What happens if I never claim it?
Six months after you’ve left and your visa has ended, your fund sends it to the ATO. You can claim it from there any time.
Is a superannuation refund the same as a tax refund?
No. The DASP and your final tax return are separate, and the DASP doesn’t go on your return.
Heading home for good?
Super is one of about ten things to sort. The rest are in what to do when you are leaving Australia and our guide to moving back to Ireland from Australia, and the Irish Expats Returning to Ireland group has thousands of people who have done it before you.
Doing your final tax return too?
Your final Australian tax return is a separate job from the super claim, and it can get you back tax you overpaid. Our guide walks you through it.
Checked October 2026 against the ATO’s DASP, DASP online application, DASP tax rate, super guarantee, Payday Super, unpaid super, lost and ATO-held super, Super health check and contact pages, plus Home Affairs’ cancelling a visa page, Fair Work’s pay slips page and the TPB register.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means Irish Around Oz may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.