What is super stapling and how does it affect working holiday makers in Australia?

For working holiday makers, super stapling reduces fragmentation but does not eliminate it. Most working holiday makers in their first Australian job do not yet have a stapled fund, so the first employer's default applies, and the stapling chain starts from there.

How does stapling work?

When you start a new job, the employer asks you to nominate a super fund using a Standard Choice form. If you do not nominate one, the employer is required to:

1. Check the ATO database for your existing "stapled" fund
2. If a stapled fund exists, pay super to that fund
3. If no stapled fund exists, pay super to the employer's default fund

The stapled fund is normally the fund that holds your most recent active super balance. Once set, it follows you between employers until you actively choose a different fund.

Why stapling does not work cleanly for working holiday makers

For Australian workers who entered the system as teenagers, stapling works as intended: their first super account is stapled, and every subsequent job pays into that fund. For working holiday makers, several practical issues reduce the effectiveness:

• No prior super on arrival. A working holiday maker arriving in Australia has no Australian super account, so the first employer's default fund applies.
• Multiple defaults in quick succession. Working holiday makers often change employers frequently in their first few months, and stapling does not update fast enough to catch up. The second and third employers may default to their own funds before the first contribution has been recorded as the stapled fund.
• Cancelled accounts. Small balances are sometimes transferred to the ATO as unclaimed monies, breaking the stapling chain.

The net result is that working holiday makers commonly still end up with super in two or three funds despite stapling.

How do you use stapling to your advantage?

The best practical approach for a working holiday maker is to:

1. Choose a super fund actively from the first job, using the Standard Choice form
2. Nominate the same fund at every subsequent job, again using the Standard Choice form
3. Keep a record of the fund details so you can give them to every new employer

See our article on how to choose a super fund for the criteria that matter, particularly insurance options and low fees for small balances.

What if your super has already been split between funds?

If you have already accumulated super in multiple funds, stapling does not retroactively combine them. The existing balances stay where they are unless you actively roll them over. See our article on consolidating super across multiple funds for how to bring them together before DASP.

Stapling and DASP

When you lodge a DASP, every fund that holds contributions must be claimed separately. Stapling reduces the number of funds for working holiday makers who arrived after late 2021 and chose a single fund early on, but it does not eliminate the need to check every potential fund. The ATO super register lists every account linked to your TFN, and our team searches it before lodging DASP to make sure no fund is missed. See our article on DASP documents required for the full DASP process.

How does our service handle super stapling?

When you register a TFN with us or lodge a tax return that includes super contributions, we can:

• Identify your current stapled fund through the ATO record
• Confirm whether new employer contributions are going to the right place
• Search for all funds linked to your TFN so no contributions are lost
• Lodge DASP separately for every fund that holds a balance

For working holiday makers planning to stay in Australia for the full visa period and a possible second year, getting the stapling right early saves significant fees over time. Get in touch with our team to review your super setup.