Waiting on a death benefit: where the AustralianSuper case stands, and what you can ask

The court case over delayed death benefit claims at AustralianSuper has not finished. A penalty hearing listed for 9 September 2026 was adjourned. It is now listed for 18 December 2026.

The fund also says it now processes death claims in half the time. For a family still waiting on a payment, neither fact answers the question that matters most: where is our claim, and what is it waiting on? Here is what the public record shows, and what you can ask.

Status checked 9 November 2026.

Where the case stands

ASIC began the case in March 2025. ASIC alleges that between 1 July 2019 and 18 October 2024, AustralianSuper failed to handle at least 6,897 death benefit claims efficiently, honestly and fairly. It says those claims took between four months and four years to assess, counted from when the family returned the claim form. ASIC also alleges the fund did not pay benefits as soon as practicable for at least 752 members.

These are ASIC's allegations. The court has not made findings or ordered a penalty in this case. We covered the filing in The corporate regulator is suing AustralianSuper over delayed death benefits.

The timetable has moved several times:

1. ASIC filed its Statement of Claim on 30 May 2025.
2. Case management hearings listed for 27 February and 27 March 2026 were vacated.
3. The hearing listed for 29 May 2026 was adjourned to 4 September 2026.
4. The matter was then listed for a penalty hearing on 9 September 2026.
5. That penalty hearing was adjourned until 18 December 2026.

Source: the editor's notes on ASIC media release 25-034MR, checked 9 November 2026. The case is in the Federal Court's Victoria registry, file VID289/2025.

ASIC's release records the listings and the adjournment. It does not record a penalty or any other outcome. A hearing being listed does not mean a penalty has been ordered. ASIC is seeking penalties, declarations, an adverse publicity order and orders for compliance measures to be put in place.

A separate penalty, already decided

One AustralianSuper penalty has already been decided, and it is a different matter. On 21 February 2025 the Federal Court ordered the fund to pay a $27 million penalty for failing to merge members' duplicate accounts (ASIC media release 25-017MR). That case was about account administration, not death benefits. The detail is in AustralianSuper's duplicate accounts penalty.

What AustralianSuper says has changed

In an update dated 20 August 2026, AustralianSuper said:

• its in-house Bereavement Centre, set up in May 2024, has 75 specialist case managers
• each claim has a dedicated case manager from start to finish
• it has halved the time it takes to process death claims
• as at June 2026, 80% of cases were resolved within four months of the first claim

These are the fund's own figures. They describe its overall results. They do not set a deadline for any one claim, or show how a particular claim has been handled.

The fund also explains a practical point. Once it is told a member has died, it stops charging administration fees and moves the account balance into its Cash investment option (AustralianSuper's death benefit information).

AustralianSuper separately announced a compensation program for past death benefit delays in December 2024. If an earlier delay affected your family, you can ask the fund whether your claim was reviewed under that program, and what the outcome was. Asking does not mean anything is owed. The fund's answer is what tells you where you stand.

The wider picture: ASIC's progress review

In 2026 ASIC published Report 831, a progress review of 45 superannuation (super) trustees. It followed ASIC's earlier review of how trustees handle death benefit claims, which we cover in ASIC Report 806 on death benefit claims.

Report 831 found real improvement. Internal complaints about death benefit delays fell 53% from early 2024 to late 2025. That happened while claims volumes rose 10% in the 12 months to October 2025. But ASIC also found that some trustees still had not made basic process improvements.

ASIC asked trustees to:

• measure claim times from start to finish, against targets linked to good outcomes for claimants
• take responsibility for how low-value, low-risk claims are handled
• explain key steps early, such as making a valid binding death benefit nomination
• improve support for First Nations members and claimants

ASIC called the review a "wake-up call" ahead of the Commonwealth Government's proposed mandatory member services standards (ASIC media release 26-116MR).

AustralianSuper is not the only fund to face court action over claim delays. In November 2025 the Federal Court ordered United Super, the trustee of Cbus, to pay a $23.5 million penalty over delays in death and total and permanent disability (TPD) claims (ASIC media release 25-286MR). We explain that case in Cbus ordered to pay $23.5 million over claim delays.

If your family is waiting

A death benefit can include the member's super balance and any insurance held in the account. The trustee has to work out who should receive it. That is usually why timing varies. Missing documents, competing claims and estate paperwork can all affect how long it takes.

A short written request often works better than a phone call, because it creates a record. Four questions are usually enough:

• What stage has the claim reached?
• What information is still outstanding, and who is it needed from?
• What is the next step, and when should we expect an update?
• Can one person be our point of contact for this claim?

Keep the reply, with copies of any forms and a simple note of calls and dates. It makes a later complaint easier, if you ever need one.

If the answer does not resolve your concern, ask the fund for its formal complaints process. After that, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) offers free external dispute resolution. It can consider super complaints, including death benefit matters.

If the dispute is about who receives the benefit, read the decision letter closely. Particular rules and time limits apply to super complaints, and some are short. AFCA can tell you which apply.

More on claims that go quiet: when a claim stops moving. More on this fund: AustralianSuper.

ClaimsGuide does not run claims or assess anyone's entitlements. We explain how the system works, in plain English, and connect people with specialist firms when that would help.

If it would help to talk it through, get in touch.

Sources

• ASIC media release 25-034MR, "ASIC sues AustralianSuper alleging significant death benefit claims failures", 12 March 2025, including editor's notes 1 to 7 on the progress of the proceeding (checked 9 November 2026).
• ASIC v AustralianSuper Pty Ltd, Federal Court of Australia, Victoria Registry, file VID289/2025 (originating process filed 11 March 2025, published by ASIC with 25-034MR).
• ASIC media release 25-017MR, "AustralianSuper fined $27 million after ASIC investigation into failing to merge multiple superannuation accounts", 21 February 2025; ASIC v AustralianSuper Pty Ltd [2025] FCA 102.
• ASIC media release 26-116MR and ASIC Report 831, "Delivering on death benefits: Have super trustees stepped up?", 2026.
• ASIC media release 25-286MR, "Cbus ordered to pay $23.5 million penalty for serious failures in processing members' death benefits and insurance claims", 25 November 2025.
• AustralianSuper newsroom, update on its Bereavement Centre, 20 August 2026.
• AustralianSuper, super death benefit information page.
• AustralianSuper newsroom, "AustralianSuper to compensate beneficiaries for death benefit claim delays", December 2024.
• Australian Financial Complaints Authority, superannuation complaints guidance.