Frequently Asked Questions

Superannuation is a compulsory pension fund that is paid into by employers for their employees. Once you earn over $450 in a calendar month then your employer is legally obliged to pay a certain percentage of your earnings into a superannuation fund for you. You are entitled to this no matter what visa you are on.

When you start a job you can either nominate your own super fund or your employer can choose one for you. You may receive some paperwork and a membership card from your fund - keep these in a safe place. You may also see the name of your super fund on your payslip. If you do not know the details of your fund(s), we can obtain this information for you.

You are eligible to claim your superannuation back as soon as you have departed Australia. Your current visa needs to have expired or we can cancel it early for you. The payment that you will receive is called a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP). Please note that this payment is not available to Australian citizens, permanent residents or New Zealand Citizens.

Pinkcow ensures that you receive the maximum amount possible. The balance of your Super Fund is subject to fluctuations in the share market and management fees applied by your fund. Due to changes in the tax law, it is now subject to 65% tax upon withdrawal for working holiday makers and 35% tax for those who never held a working holiday visa.

Pinkcow charges a fee of $249 (inc. GST) per superannuation fund. This is taken from the refund itself once received so you pay nothing up front.

Claiming back your superannuation will not affect any future visits or visa applications to Australia. However, we do recommend that If you intend on returning whilst we are still processing your refund (within 12 weeks approximately) that you do not apply for your super refund just yet as it can affect visa applications in progress at the time.

We communicate with the Department of Immigration to cancel/confirm expiry of your visa. We will then confirm with your employers your superannuation details in order to ensure that they have paid all of your super into your fund.

We will also check for any lost super with the funds themselves, as well as the ATO, in order to make sure that you do not leave anything behind.

Once your super has been paid in full by your employer, we then apply to your super fund for your refund and complete all forms and documents required for this. We will engage with your super fund(s) on your behalf until your monies have been released.

Once we receive your refund, we will immediately initiate a bank transfer to you - this can be paid into any Australian or International bank.

For international transfers, pinkcow uses a third party broker to obtain the best possible rates for customers - much more competitive than high street bank rates. As a result of this, pinkcow charges an administration fee of $50 (inc. GST) for each international transfer.