QSuper Class Action: Settlement, Payout and 2026 Update
Settled for $67m and approved in May 2026. The per-member figure has not been published — anyone quoting you one is guessing. Here is the realistic shape of the answer.
Settled and approved. Distribution being administered.
| Case | QSuper class action, Federal Court of Australia (VID691/2024) |
|---|---|
| Firm | Shine Lawyers |
| Settlement sum | $67 million, inclusive of legal costs |
| Approval hearing | 16 April 2026 |
| Approved | May 2026 |
| Fund now | Australian Retirement Trust (QSuper merged into ART) |
| Per-member payout | Not yet published |
The 2026 update, if you are returning to this
Two things have changed since most of the coverage you may have read:
- 1The parties agreed to settle for $67 million, resolving the claims of the applicant and group members in full.
- 2The Court approved the settlement in May 2026, following the approval hearing on 16 April 2026. In doing so the judge criticised the litigation funder's claimed commission as "brazen and unjustified" and trimmed it — a ruling that, unusually, works in members' favour, because every dollar taken off the funder's cut is a dollar that stays in the members' pool.
The case is now in the administration phase: entitlements are being calculated and distribution prepared.
How much will I get?
The per-member figure has not been published, and anyone quoting you one is guessing.
Individual entitlements cannot be fixed until three things are known: the final deductions from the fund (legal costs, administration, and the funder's commission — which the Court has only recently determined), the total number of eligible group members, and each member's own balance-and-time profile over the relevant period.
What can be said about the shape of the answer:
- ✓The $67 million is inclusive of legal costs, so the members' pool is meaningfully smaller than the headline.
- ✓QSuper was a large fund. A large numerator divided by a large denominator does not produce a large quotient.
- ✓In comparable Australian super fee settlements, average member payments have landed in the tens to low hundreds of dollars. The AMP settlement averaged under $100 per member.
- ✓Your own amount scales with your balance and how long you held the affected product during the claim period.
Treat "tens of dollars, possibly a few hundred" as the realistic expectation until the administrator publishes actual figures.
How the payment will reach you
- ✓If you still hold an Australian Retirement Trust account — which most former QSuper members do, given the merger — expect the amount to be credited directly into your super account rather than paid to you in cash.
- ✓If you have left the fund entirely, the settlement scheme will specify the treatment for former members. In comparable schemes, amounts owed to people no longer holding an account are transferred to the ATO as unclaimed superannuation, recoverable through myGov.
Update your contact details with Australian Retirement Trust and check your myGov ATO super listing. Distribution correspondence goes to the details on file, and stale records are the main reason people miss these payments.
What to do now
- 1Check whether you are a group member. Eligibility is limited to members meeting the specific criteria in the settlement — it is not every person who ever held a QSuper account.
- 2Confirm your contact details with Australian Retirement Trust.
- 3Do not pay anyone. There is no fee to participate. Claim-chasing outfits offering to "recover your super settlement" for a percentage are taking a cut of money that would reach you anyway.
- 4Wait for the administrator's notice. That document, not a news article, will state your entitlement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the QSuper class action settled?
Yes. It settled for $67 million and the Federal Court approved the settlement in May 2026. It is now in the distribution phase.
When will I be paid?
No distribution date has been published. Superannuation settlement administration typically takes several months to a year after approval, because member-level fee and balance histories have to be reconstructed across the whole claim period.
Do I need to do anything to receive my payment?
Check the administrator's requirements for your case. Some Australian settlements distribute automatically to current account holders; others require registration or verification steps by a Court-set date. Missing a registration deadline is the one error that reliably costs people their payment.
What happened to the funder's commission?
The Court reduced it. The judge described the funder's claim as "brazen and unjustified" when approving the settlement. The reduction increases the amount available to members.
QSuper merged into Australian Retirement Trust. Does that affect my claim?
No. Liability follows the merged entity, and ART is administering the outcome. Your entitlement is based on your holding during the claim period, not on which entity holds your account today.
See every settlement you qualify for
Tell SettleScout which brands you use and it matches you with open settlements, estimates your payouts, and reminds you before every deadline.
Free to download. Premium plans available.