Superannuation regulators
Treasury
Treasury provided an update on several items of interest, including consultation on Payday Super and Delivering Better Financial Outcomes, Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions.
There will be future consultation on:
- member services
- best practice principles
- retirement phase reforms
- innovative income stream changes.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) continues to focus on member services. ASIC will undertake a second review on a new theme and will follow up on progress made in death benefit claims handling.
The focus on retirement continues, including a thematic review of pre-retirement communications, a pulse check on progress implementing the Retirement Income Covenant with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and upgrades to retirement content on Moneysmart.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
A joint APRA and ASIC letter relating to data collection and transparency issued to trustees in May 2025. It included a pulse check with a trustee survey to follow.
Data on the retirement phase will be released in June 2025.
In October 2024, APRA wrote to trustees about fund expenditure, noting that there will be supervisory attention on fund expenditure that does not appear to be in the best interest of members, or where there is questionable expenditure in high-risk categories. APRA will publish an update in due course.
Australian Financial Complaints Authority
From 1 July 2024 to 30 April 2025, superannuation complaints trended down. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) predicts there will be around 1,000 fewer complaints than the previous year. AFCA noted that improvements being made by funds are helping improve processes.
Complaints around scam activity in super are very low and funds have remediated when fraud has occurred.
There have been spikes of complaints around limited-service periods when funds undergo a change of administrator, successor fund transfer or merger. The group discussed how limited-service periods impact members, and whether funds need to ensure members are better informed of what it means for their account interactions.
Australian Taxation Office
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) noted continued engagement with a broad range of stakeholders on Payday Super co-design. The ATO will provide regular updates to stewardship groups and stakeholder relationship groups.
While consultation paused for the caretaker period, the technical working group consultation has recommenced on key topics where a significant amount of external change is required, such as Single Touch Payroll and SuperStream.
The Payday Super Working Group provides overarching advice on the end-to-end administrative solution for Payday Super. Key outcomes, including notes from the technical groups, are available online at Payday Super Working Group.
The ATO noted the Superannuation Industry Stewardship Group (SISG) would hold an out of session meeting on the ATO's Vulnerability Framework, which opens for public consultation from 12 June to 18 July 2025.
The ATO reminded fund members to be on the lookout for false information regarding changes to the superannuation preservation rules. Always consider the source of information, and if in doubt go to trusted sources such as:
- ato.gov.au
- super fund website
- registered tax agent
- licensed financial adviser.
Beware of websites that might try to harvest your personal information such as your tax file number, identity details or myGov login details.
Environmental scan – industry members
The SMSF Association shared recent priorities and areas of interest, including Division 296, the need for additional financial advisers, sustainability concerns regarding the compensation scheme of last resort, and a call for legislative certainty for wholesale investor rules for self-managed super funds (SMSFs).
Super Consumers Australia shared recent priorities and key focus areas including an upcoming report on First Nations super consumers, the need for better visibility of financial services provided by government agencies for consumers in the retirement phase, shining a spotlight on insurance in the sector, and developing strategies for people who do not actively engage with their super.
Shaping super
The Actuaries Institute shared an overview of Mercer's report Shaping Super 2025. The report examines the continuing evolution of the super landscape, and the ongoing consolidation set to significantly reshape the market.
Fraud and cyber security
Earlier this year, the super industry experienced a cyber-attack that compromised thousands of accounts and resulted in some members having their accounts accessed by cyber criminals.
Members discussed how the cyber-attack unfolded, the response from both regulators and industry, and opportunities for improvement to uplift controls and strengthen the system against future attacks. Members noted the SISG has discussed cyber security and fraud several times over the past 12 months.
The National Cyber Security Coordinator explained the role of the National Office of Cyber Security (NOCS). NOCS leads whole-of-government cyber preparedness and response efforts, including responsibility for the full spectrum of situation response activities. NOCS was established on 1 May 2023 to ensure Australians are better protected, and businesses and critical infrastructure entities are cyber resilient.
If a cyber-attack is suspected, contact the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian Signals Directorate. When engaging with the Australian Signals Directorate and relevant regulators, it is important to advise if assistance from NOCS is required to engage additional stakeholders or supporting incident coordination and consequence management.
Members were reminded to lodge a suspicious matter report to Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre when there has been suspected fraud activity. This allows the ATO to monitor impacted accounts and take any protective measures necessary.
APRA will meet with industry following the recent cyber-attacks and APRA's concerns about persistent weaknesses in registrable superannuation entities licensee information security controls. The meeting will seek to share insights on cyber resilience, and development of industry wide protocols to be used in future cyber-attacks.
NOCS noted 3 steps Australians can take to improve their protection against fraud:
- use passphrases instead of passwords
- activate multi-factor authentication
- keep software updated on all devices.
Attendees
|
Organisation |
Attendee |
|---|---|
|
ATO |
Usha Narain (Co-chair), Superannuation and Employer Obligations |
|
ATO |
Alastair Ramsay, Superannuation and Employer Obligations |
|
Actuaries Institute |
Timothy Jenkins |
|
Australian Financial Complaints Authority |
Heather Gray (Co-chair) |
|
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority |
James Douglas |
|
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority |
Sarah Nicholson |
|
Australian Securities and Investments Commission |
Nicole Chew |
|
Australian Securities and Investments Commission |
Pippa Lane |
|
Business Council of Australia |
Stephen Kirchner |
|
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand |
Tony Negline |
|
COTA Australia |
Corey Irlam |
|
Financial Services Council |
Kirsten Samuels |
|
Gateway Network Governance Body |
Michelle Bower |
|
Law Council of Australia |
Tony Nemec |
|
MUFG Pension & Retirement Solutions |
Deborah Schembri |
|
SMSF Association |
Peter Burgess |
|
Super Consumers Australia |
Xavier O'Halloran |
|
Super Members Council of Australia |
Hannah Cole |
|
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia |
Julian Cabarrus |
|
The Tax Institute |
Phil Broderick |
|
Treasury |
Benjamin Murphy |
|
Treasury |
Brendan McKenna |
|
Treasury |
Neena Pai |
|
Treasury |
Victoria Woolley |
Guest attendees
|
Organisation |
Attendee |
|---|---|
|
ATO |
Brendan Woolcock, Superannuation and Employer Obligations |
|
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority |
Alison Bliss |
|
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority |
Chanum Torres |
|
Australian Securities and Investments Commission |
Susan Wieczkiewicz |
|
National Office of Cyber Security |
Joe Smith |
|
National Office of Cyber Security |
Michelle McGuinness |
Apologies list
|
Organisation |
Member |
|---|---|
|
ATO |
Emma Rosenzweig, Superannuation and Employer Obligations |
|
ATO |
Justin Micale, Superannuation and Employer Obligations |
|
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority |
Ian Beckett |
|
COTA Australia |
Patricia Sparrow |
|
Grow Inc |
Adam Gee |
|
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia |
James Koval |