Superannuation funds should only have to provide data to the regulators once – not multiple times.
That is the message being delivered by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) which has used a submission to the Federal Treasury to argue that it be made mandatory for regulators such as ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to “collaborate on the collection of data and broader communication with the industry”.
It said that the objective should be that data and communication is reported only once through centralised, consistent, points of data collection and access or shared by the relevant regulators and other agencies as necessary.
“Currently regulators can communicate or request the same thing from superannuation providers at the same time,” the ASFA submission said. “This is highly inefficient and increases risks and costs significantly.”
“Ultimately it is superannuation fund members who pay for these additional costs, for little discernible benefit,” it said.
In its pre-election policy document, the FSC highlighted 15 priority reforms, with superannuation featuring prominently, urging both major parties to avoid changing super taxes without a comprehensive tax review.
The Grattan Institute has labelled the Australian super system as “too complicated” and has proposed a three-pronged reform strategy to simplify superannuation in retirement.
Super funds delivered a strong 2024 result, with the median growth fund returning 11.4 per cent, driven by strong international sharemarket performance, new data has shown.
Australian Ethical has seen FUM growth of 27 per cent in the financial year to date.