Super policy united under FSC/ISN alliance

The Financial Services Council (FSC) and the Industry Super Network (ISN) are trying to unite the retail and industry fund sectors, signalling they have formed a relationship to lobby for sector-neutral super policies.

Speaking at the FSC's annual conference in Brisbane, FSC chief executive John Brogden said the ISN's presence at the conference signalled a new relationship and era in super policy making.

"It is critical that we put our differences of the past aside and focus on building Australia's next major export industry," he said.

"Because we have allowed ourselves to be divided, the significance of the industry and our prominence in the minds of government and consumers has been diminished — ultimately, it is superannuation that suffer(s)."

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ISN chief executive David Whiteley said ISN and the FSC should be leaders in dragging the super policy debate out of political discourse and ensuring it is "considered, sector-neutral and even-handed."

"A clear message from our industry to the Australian public and policy makers that we have the future in our sights, and not the past, would be our lasting contribution to creating stability and certainty," he said.

Whitely said the partnership would emulate Treasurer Bowen's proposed five year freeze on super policy settings, and said industry funds should not advocate for or support any major changes for the next five years.

"From here on in, the first instinct of the FSC and ISN should be to pick up the phone, not fire off a press release," he said.

Brogden said Australia's super system needed a commitment to medium to long-term policy settings that were "sustainable, consistent with community expectations and which can attract bipartisan support".

"On the eve of the election we are signalling to Canberra that the ISN and the FSC will work together on many key issues impacting fund members."