The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) has made a strong call to be freed from the budgetary oversight of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), arguing that it needs better control of its own resourcing.
The SCT has gone so far as to urge Government changes to its underlying legislation to ensure its separation from ASIC.
In a submission to the Government's inquiry into financial services external dispute resolution services, the SCT has added to a growing body of complaint about the involvement of ASIC in the funding and resourcing process.
Faced with concerns around the length of time it takes for the SCT to deal with complaints, the submission said that where operational challenges currently exist they relate "improved efficiency of the governance operations of the tribunal, the need for greater transparency in relation to the allocation of funding to the tribunal and increased funding".
"These governance issues can be dealt with by Government consideration of reviewing and improving the Superannuation (Resolution of Complaints) Act 1993," it said.
"This would provide the mechanism for improved delegations to the tribunal itself in terms of management of its resourcing both financial and people and transparency of tribunal funding."
"This would enable the tribunal Chairperson to align resourcing and outcomes with business decisions," the submission said.
"Currently this does not occur (with ASIC responsible for tribunal resourcing) and as a result there is significant disconnect between the resource requirements of the tribunal and the provision of resources from ASIC."
The profit-to-member super fund’s MySuper default option has returned 9.85 per cent for the financial year 2024–25.
Colonial First State (CFS) has announced solid double-digit returns for its MySuper balanced and growth equivalent funds during the financial year.
The super fund’s Future Saver High Growth option delivered an 11.9 per cent return for the financial year 2024–25, on the back of a diversified portfolio and actively managed investment strategy.
HESTA has delivered a 10.18 per cent return for its MySuper Balanced Growth option in the 2024–25 financial year, marking the third consecutive year of returns above 9 per cent for the $80 billion industry fund’s default investment strategy.