Taking time out? What a career break can mean for your super

Taking time away from work is part of real life for many of us. Career breaks can happen for lots of reasons – parenting, caring for family, health, study, or simply needing time to reset. Some are planned, others aren’t. One thing they often share is that when your pay pauses, employer super contributions usually do too.

Because super sits quietly in the background, it’s easy to overlook during a break. Understanding what might be happening can help you see the longer‑term picture when it comes to your super balance.

What really happens when the contributions pause

Super grows through contributions and investment earning returns. Over time, those returns are reflected in your account – compounding happens as a result of this ‘snowball’ effect.

When contributions pause, even for a short period, the impact isn’t just the money that didn’t go in.

Here’s a simple way to picture it.

Getting set before you go on break

If you’re planning a career break, it can be helpful to tick off a few simple tasks before you go on leave. These are all things that may help your super be in the best possible position when you return.

• Know what happens during Leave Without Pay
  You’ll generally not receive SA Government employer contributions while on leave without pay. We’ve put together a handy Leave Without Pay fact sheet to help you understand what to do when planning your leave.

• Consider topping up before the break
  Some members choose to give their super a boost while they’re still being paid – for example, by setting up salary sacrifice for a short period before stepping away from work. This can help smooth the impact of reduced contributions during the break.

• Talk with your partner if the break is for parenting
  Some couples decide the working partner will add to the other’s super during the break, so contributions don’t completely stall. This could be through making a spouse contribution, or contribution splitting (for example, sharing some of their employer or salary sacrifice contributions).

  For Triple S members, employer contribution splitting can only be done to another Triple S account, so it’s worth factoring that into the conversation early.

• You may be eligible for super on Paid Parental Leave
  From 1 July 2025, if you’ve welcomed a child through birth or adoption, you may be eligible to receive a super contribution based on your Parental Leave Pay. This could help keep your super growing while you’re away from work. Learn more about how Super on Paid Parent Leave works.

• Check if you have super spread across multiple funds
  Consolidating super accounts before a break can help reduce multiple fees while you’re not receiving super contributions. You should consider the loss of any benefits such as insurance cover that you may lose before consolidating.

If the break has already happened

If you took a career break without giving much thought to your super at the time, you’re not alone – and it doesn’t mean you’ve missed your chance to get things back on track.

Once you’re back at work, it can be a good time to look at how your super is tracking and consider ways to make up for lost time.

That can include making after‑tax contributions or setting up a salary sacrifice arrangement, so there’s money flowing into super alongside your employer contributions. If you’re eligible, after-tax contributions could also help you receive a Government co‑contribution – which could give your super an extra boost if your income was below $62,488 in the 2025/26 financial year.

If you’d like to understand the difference extra contributions could make over time, our Contributions calculator can help you explore different scenarios using your own details.

This can also be a useful moment to:

• Check your super balance and understand where it’s sitting now

• Use our Super Projection calculator to see how your current balance might change over time

• Consolidate multiple super accounts (if you have them) to help reduce duplicated fees.

Taking some time to review where things stand after a career break can help you feel more confident about how your super is tracking going forward.

A quick check on insurance

Many Triple S members have insurance through their super, and it’s something worth being aware of when you take a career break. If your account doesn’t receive employer contributions for a period of time – such as while you’re on Leave Without Pay – your insurance arrangements can change.

Income Protection insurance generally stops when you stop working, including during Leave Without Pay. Death and Total & Permanent Disablement (TPD) cover, however, can usually continue, with premiums coming out of your super balance while contributions are on hold.

That’s why we ask you to complete a Super SA Leave Without Pay form before or during your break. It helps us understand your situation so we can manage your super and insurance appropriately while you’re not receiving employer contributions.

Making room for life, without losing sight of later

Career breaks are rarely just about money. They’re about priorities, people, and moments you don’t want to rush past.

Understanding how super fits around those breaks doesn’t take anything away from the decision – it simply puts you in a clearer position for whatever comes next.

Super is there to support your future. And when you understand how it works during the pauses, it becomes one less thing to worry about.