If you worked in Australia on a temporary visa, there is almost certainly money sitting in a super fund with your name on it. You can get it back after you leave. What most people find out too late is how much of it the ATO keeps.
The rate is either 35% or 65%. The difference is not about how much you earned, how long you stayed, or which fund you were with. It comes down to whether you ever held a working holiday maker visa, and that can be a visa you held years before the job that generated the super.
First, check you are actually eligible
A departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) is not available to everyone who leaves. The ATO requires all of the following to be true:
| Condition | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| You accumulated super while working in Australia on a temporary resident visa issued under the Migration Act 1958 | Subclasses 405 and 410 are excluded |
| Your visa has ceased to be in effect | Expired or cancelled. Still holding a valid visa means you cannot claim yet |
| You have left Australia | And you do not hold any other active Australian visa |
| You are not an Australian or New Zealand citizen, and not a permanent resident | NZ citizens leaving permanently have a separate path: transferring super to New Zealand |
Source: ATO, Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP), page updated 21 April 2026.
The practical read on this: if you got permanent residency, DASP is off the table. Your super stays in the system until you meet a normal condition of release. That is a different set of rules, and we cover the retirement side separately on our superannuation services page.
How much tax comes out
DASP is taxed as a final withholding at the moment the payment is made. It does not go into a tax return and you cannot get it back through one.
| Payment component | Ordinary DASP rate | Working holiday maker rate |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-free component | Nil | Nil |
| Taxable component, taxed element | 35% | 65% |
| Taxable component, untaxed element | 45% | 65% |
Source: ATO, Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP), page updated 21 April 2026.
For almost every temporary worker, the balance is taxable component, taxed element, because it came from compulsory employer super guarantee contributions that were already taxed inside the fund. So the number that matters is the middle row.
What that looks like on a real-sized balance:
| Illustrative balance of $12,000, all taxable taxed element | DASP tax withheld | You receive |
|---|---|---|
| Student, graduate or sponsored worker (never held a WHM visa) | $4,200 | $7,800 |
| Anyone who held a working holiday maker visa | $7,800 | $4,200 |
These figures are illustrative, not a real client case. They are the 35% and 65% rates applied to a round number so the gap is visible: the same balance, and the person who once held a 417 or 462 visa walks away with $3,600 less.
Why a visa from years ago can set the rate
The working holiday maker rate is not applied only to super earned while on the working holiday visa. If you held a WHM visa at any point, the higher rate applies to the DASP.
This catches a common Australian path: arrive on a 417 or 462, do the regional work, then move onto a student visa or an employer-sponsored visa and spend several more years building super in a professional job. All of that super is then paid out at 65%.
You can check what happened after the fact. The payer must issue a DASP payment summary within 14 days of making the payment, and it tells you how much was withheld. On summaries issued by the ATO, an H indicator against the DASP type means the working holiday maker rate was applied. A blank indicator means the ordinary rate was used. If you never held a WHM visa and you see an H, that is worth querying.
The six-month rule that moves your money
If you do not apply, your super does not sit in the fund waiting for you. The fund transfers it to the ATO as unclaimed super money once both of these are true:
- six months or more have passed since you left Australia, and
- your visa has ceased to be in effect.
The money is not lost. You can still claim ATO-held super as a DASP. But you are now claiming from a second organisation, with a different form, from overseas, often years later and after your Australian phone number and address have stopped working. The clean version of this process happens in the first six months.
How to claim
Three routes, all of them open to you:
- DASP online application system. Free of charge, and it covers both fund-held and ATO-held super. It confirms your immigration status directly with the Department of Home Affairs, so you do not need to apply for a Certification of Immigration Status unless your fund tells you to.
- Paper forms. NAT 7204 for super held by a fund, sent directly to the fund. NAT 74880 for ATO-held super, sent to the address on the form.
- Authorise someone to claim on your behalf.
We have written up the form-by-form mechanics separately, including which form goes where: Claim your super: online, paper applications and authorising someone to claim on your behalf.
One detail worth repeating because it is free and it is the most common reason a claim comes up short: check with your employer that every super contribution has actually been paid into your fund before you submit. Once the DASP is paid and the account is closed, chasing a missing quarter is a much harder conversation.
What to do before you leave
You cannot submit a DASP application until you have left Australia and your visa has ceased. You can do everything else while you are still here, and doing it here is considerably easier.
| Do this before departure | Why it is harder afterwards |
|---|---|
| Find every super account you have | Multiple employers often means multiple funds. myGov linked to the ATO shows them in one place while you still have Australian ID verification working |
| Confirm your employer has paid all super owed | Employer payroll contacts stop replying to overseas numbers |
| Start and save the online DASP application | The ATO explicitly recommends starting before you leave. You submit it later from overseas |
| Decide where the money goes | Fund-held super can go to an overseas account. ATO-held super can only go to an Australian bank account in your name, or by cheque |
| Lodge your final Australian tax return | Separate from DASP, and still your obligation. See when to lodge your 2026 return |
That last row is the one people conflate. DASP and your tax return are two different processes with two different sets of paperwork. The DASP tax is final and never appears in the return.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim my super if I am still in Australia?
No. You can start and save an online application while you are here, but you can only submit it once you have left Australia and no longer hold an active Australian visa. Source: ATO, Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP), updated 21 April 2026.
I held a working holiday visa years ago but I am on a skilled visa now. Which rate applies?
The working holiday maker DASP rate of 65% applies to both the taxed and untaxed elements of the taxable component where you have held a WHM visa. It is not limited to the super you accumulated during the working holiday period. Check the DASP payment summary you receive: on ATO-issued summaries an H indicator against the DASP type means the WHM rate was applied.
What happens if I never get around to claiming?
Your fund transfers the balance to the ATO as unclaimed super money once six months have passed since you left and your visa has ceased. You can still claim it from the ATO as a DASP afterwards, using the ATO-held super process rather than the fund’s.
I became a permanent resident. Can I still take my super out when I leave?
No. DASP requires that you are not an Australian or New Zealand citizen and not a permanent resident. Once you hold permanent residency, your super stays in the system until you satisfy a standard condition of release, such as reaching your preservation age and retiring, or turning 65.
Do I pay tax again on the money when it lands in my home country?
The DASP tax withheld in Australia is final for Australian purposes. Whether your country of residence taxes the payment is a question for the tax rules there, and often for the double tax agreement between the two countries. That part is outside Australian tax law, and we would want to see your specific situation before commenting.
Sources used in this article
- ATO, Departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP). Covers eligibility, the DASP tax rate table, the six-month unclaimed super rule, application channels, and the payment summary H indicator. Page updated 21 April 2026.
This article covers the tax and compliance side: who is eligible, what is withheld, and by when. What you do with the money once it reaches you is personal financial advice and needs an adviser holding an Australian financial services licence.
Leaving Australia and not sure what happens to your super or your final return? Send us the outline: which visas you have held, how many employers you worked for, whether you have found all your super accounts, and your departure date. We will tell you which rate is likely to apply and what needs to be done before you fly.
👉 Book a free 20-minute call | Melbourne 03 9600 0803 | Brisbane 07 3188 8081
At Wiselink, bookkeeping, payroll, BAS, tax returns and ASIC changes are done under one roof, split by function, with senior review on the work that matters, and the ledger and the annual return built from the same data. Credentials: CPA, Registered Tax Agent, ASIC Registered Agent, NTAA member, and Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Partner, since 2013. You can check our registration yourself on the TPB public register. We work in English and Mandarin.
📍 Melbourne Camberwell (1381 Toorak Rd, Camberwell VIC 3124) · Brisbane Eight Mile Plains (3 Clunies Ross Court, Eight Mile Plains QLD 4113)
