QSuper Class Action

On 18 June 2026, the Court issued its orders and reasons for judgment relating to the approval of the settlement of the QSuper Class Action.

The administrator will follow the process set out in the settlement distribution scheme approved by the Court to determine who will receive payments and estimate payment amounts.

The administrator will provide the list of eligible group members, and their respective payment amounts, to Australian Retirement Trust who will distribute the payments to Group Members who registered to participate by the Court-ordered deadline. Distributions cannot be made until the Settlement Administrator has determined:

• the final number of group members who are eligible to participate in the Scheme; and

• their respective payment amounts.

It is difficult to confirm how long it will take for the administrator to confirm the number of eligible group members and payment entitlements. This is because the data validation process is still ongoing and some claims are more difficult to verify than others.

You are a group member if you meet the criteria set out in the statement of claim, which is a court document filed by the Applicant when the class action began.

You may be a group member (or “Fund Member”) in this class action if you held a QSuper superannuation account from May 2016 and were eligible for:

• White Collar or Professional occupational rates; or

• Standard occupational rates and you were under 39 years of age.

You may also be a group member if at any time after 1 July 2016:

• you represented or received a payment from a deceased Fund Member who met the eligibility criteria above; or

• you were the former spouse of a person who met the eligibility criteria above and you received a transfer from a Fund Member, pursuant to an order or settlement in a Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) proceeding.

Occupational rating affects how much you pay for insurance in your superannuation to reflect the level of risk related to your job or occupation.  

The class action alleges QSuper failed to introduce a system to occupationally rate members and/or failed to sufficiently communicate these changes to members.    

If you were eligible for Standard (and under 39 years of age), White Collar, or Professional occupational rates, the class action alleges you were:  

• Charged significantly more for your life insurance than you should have been; and  

• Suffered superannuation investment losses. 

In the class action, Standard, White Collar and Professional rates all refer to the premium you were charged for insurance cover within superannuation. Generally, each of these rates were lower than the ‘Default’ rate.

Whether you fall into Standard, White Collar or Professional for the purpose of the class action, depends on the level of risk related to your job or occupation from 1 July 2016.

• Standard rate – Applicable if your occupation was not classified as high risk, professional or white collar. For example, this may include nurses, health care workers/carers, or manual light positions. A person eligible to be occupationally rated as “Standard” is only a group member if they were aged between 17 and 39 as at 1 July 2016. This is because the “Standard” rates for persons aged over 39 years were higher than the “Default” rates QSuper charged fund members who had not elected to be occupationally rated, meaning they suffered no loss.

• White collar rate – Applicable if you spent 80% of your time in an office or classroom environment performing primarily administration or managerial duties as at 1 July 2016. For example, this may include managers, teachers, or call centre operators.

• Professional rate – Applicable if you were university educated relevant to your occupation, or a senior manager working in an office with an annual salary of $120,000.00 or more, as at 1 July 2016. For example, this may include surgeons, doctors, or executives.

The types of occupations that are likely to fall into one of the above occupational rates include:

• Teachers, teacher’s aides and school principals

• Lawyers

• Engineers

• Information technology roles

• Finance / accounting roles

• Doctors and other allied health professionals

• Executive or management roles (with a primary office-based job)

• Nurses (aged under 39 as at May 2016)

• Marketing roles.

The class action does not include police, emergency services, cleaners, security guards and heavy manual and other hazardous occupations. Under the occupational rating system introduced by QSuper in May 2016, these were classified as 'High Risk’ and were not eligible to pay to lower premiums for insurance in superannuation. Generally, High Risk rates were higher than standard, white collar and professional rates.

For more assistance about whether you might be a Group Member based on your occupation, please review the guidance on page 11 of the Settlement Notice.

The class action does not include ‘High Risk’ occupations, such as heavy manual and other identifiable occupations with higher risks such as police, emergency services, cleaners, security guards.  

This is because under the occupational rating system introduced by QSuper in May 2016, occupations which were classified as high risk were not eligible to pay to lower premiums for insurance in their superannuation. Generally, high risk rates were higher than standard, white collar and professional rates.   

No. The registration deadline has now passed, and registrations can no longer be amended or updated.

Eligibility has been assessed based on the information provided in your registration form and the criteria set out in the SDS. The Settlement Administrator does not have discretion to alter the eligibility criteria or make exceptions outside of the approved scheme. 

The registration process allowed individuals to provide information so their eligibility could be assessed. Submitting a registration form did not automatically mean a person was eligible to participate in the settlement. Eligibility could only be determined after the information provided was reviewed against QSuper’s records and the requirements of the SDS.

No. As the registration period has closed, additional information cannot be submitted or considered as part of the assessment process.

The SDS also provides that the Settlement Administrator is not responsible for verifying the accuracy of information supplied by group members or for any consequences arising from inaccurate or incomplete information provided during registration.

No. Eligibility has been assessed in accordance with the SDS approved by the Federal Court of Australia. The determination communicated to you is final and there is no appeal, review, reconsideration or escalation process available under the SDS.