While the Federal Budget contained few changes to superannuation, what was there could lead to significantly fairer outcomes for Australian women in retirement.
NGS Super chief executive, Laura Wright, said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s changes to allow 65 and 66-year-olds to make voluntary super contribution without meeting work test requirements could be “particularly relevant” to older women who have had career breaks.
Wright also pointed to changes to increase the age limit for spouse contributions from 69 to 74 years as beneficial to women’s retirement savings.
“This is a great outcome and aligns the window that Australians can continue to contribute to their super savings with the Aged Pension age … [these] are measures that will assist in bridging the gender gap in superannuation balances, and ensuring the reliance on the aged pension lessens as our population ages,” she said.
The winners have been announced for the 2025 Super Fund of the Year Awards, held in Melbourne on 26 November.
Australian Ethical Superannuation has seen additional licence conditions imposed on it by APRA over the fund’s expenditure management.
The fund has strengthened its leadership team with three appointments to drive its next phase of growth and innovation.
ASIC and APRA have warned many trustees have failed to meaningfully improve retirement strategies despite the retirement income covenant being in place for three years.