Superannuation is the cornerstone of Australia's retirement savings system. Your employer must pay 11.5% of your wage into your super account (the 2025-26 financial year rate, rising to 12% from July 2026). It's the law — not paying is illegal.
But for new Chinese migrants, the typical attitude towards super is "file the letter and forget it." This guide clears up three core questions: where your money is invested, what you can control, and whether you can access it before retirement.
Where Your Super Is Invested
Super is not a bank deposit. The money in your account is invested by your super fund across a mix of assets (using the default option as an example):
- Australian shares: 25-30%
- International shares: 25-30%
- Property (mostly commercial): 5-10%
- Fixed income (bonds/cash deposits): 10-15%
- Infrastructure + private equity: 10-15%
- Cash: 2-5%
Here's the important part: you get to choose your investment strategy. Most super funds offer 5-10 preset investment options:
- Balanced (default): roughly 70% growth / 30% defensive
- High Growth: around 85-90% growth, suited to under-45s
- Conservative: around 30% growth, suited to those nearing retirement
- Ethical / Sustainable: excludes fossil fuels, gambling, weapons and the like
If you're under 40 with 20-25 years until retirement, the default Balanced option is too conservative — consider switching to High Growth. Over the past 20 years, High Growth options have returned around 8-9% annually, compared with about 7% for Balanced.
What You Can Control
1. Choosing Your Super Fund
You don't have to stick with your employer's default super fund. You can choose your own. Here are Australia's largest industry super funds (not-for-profit, low fees):
| Fund | Management Fee | 5-Year Return (High Growth) |
|---|---|---|
| AustralianSuper | 0.66% | 8.2% |
| Hostplus | 0.89% | 8.7% |
| UniSuper | 0.51% | 8.5% |
| REST | 0.72% | 8.1% |
Avoid retail super funds (the bank-owned ones — such as BT/Westpac, MLC/NAB, Colonial/CommBank). Retail funds typically charge 1.5-2 times the management fees of industry funds, yet deliver lower long-term returns.
2. Extra Contributions (Salary Sacrifice)
On top of the mandatory 11.5%, you can voluntarily contribute more to super from your pre-tax salary. The annual cap for concessional (before-tax) contributions is $30,000. These contributions are taxed at just 15% (instead of your marginal rate of 37% or 45%).
When it's worth doing: when your income exceeds $120,000. For example, if you earn $150,000 a year, your tax rate is 37%. If you put an extra $10,000 into super, you'd normally pay $3,700 in tax — but via salary sacrifice you only pay $1,500 (15%), saving $2,200.
3. Consolidating Your Accounts
If you've changed jobs a few times, you probably have multiple super accounts. Multiple accounts = multiple sets of fees. You can consolidate all your super into one account in a few clicks via the ATO service on myGov. Do it now.
When You Can Access It
You can't just withdraw your super whenever you feel like it. Your preservation age (the age at which you can start accessing your super) depends on your year of birth:
- Born 1964 or later: 60 years old
- Born 1960-1963: 56-59 years old (phased transition)
The only exceptions (early release):
- Severe financial hardship (requires evidence, approved by your super fund)
- Permanent departure from Australia (Departing Australia Superannuation Payment, DASP) — if you hold a temporary visa and leave Australia permanently, you can apply to withdraw your super. But you'll pay 35-65% DASP tax (depending on your visa type and employment category)
What You Should Do
- Find out where your super is today — log into myGov → ATO → Super to see how many accounts you have.
- Switch to the High Growth investment option — if you're under 45.
- Consolidate all accounts into one fund — eliminate multiple sets of fees.
- If you earn $120,000+, consider salary sacrifice to save tax.
Super isn't a one- or two-year thing. It's a compounding engine that runs for 20-30 years. The sooner you understand it and take action, the more you could have at retirement — potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars more.