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The Senate Economics Committee is busy with several superannuation related bills currently being scrutinised. We expect committee reports on the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Objective Bills in the coming months. The Bill which seeks to exempt trustees of APRA regulated superannuation funds from NALE tax and adjust AFCA’s jurisdiction remains in the Senate and wasn’t prioritised for debate during February, we hope to see passage soon. There was further consultation by APRA in relation to changes to the ORFR standard and guidance, and ASIC released findings concerning trustee oversight of investment performance of Choice products. There were also some interesting criminal law developments which are relevant to trustees of superannuation funds.

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After a busy December, it was a quiet month in January with Parliament still on summer recess meaning no new legislation was introduced nor progressed.

However, the long-awaiting Final Report from the Australian Law Reform Commission was published, including 58 recommendations for reducing complexity with financial services legislation.

Additionally, Treasury moved us one step closer to mandating climate-related financial disclosures with an Exposure Draft into the regime released.

Finally, the Department of Home Affairs released a consultation into cyber-security regulation with the intention to strengthen the underlying legislation surrounding business practices.

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There were also technical changes to keep policy wonks busy, with the ATO issuing guidance on taxation treatment of both adviser service fees and a draft determination on the deductibility of payments from a fund to the trustee to be used as a quasi-risk reserve. The long-standing deferral of the consistency requirement under s29QC of the SIS Act enters its second decade with a further two years relief.

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There was plenty of activity in Parliament this month with three new Bills introduced, including the long-awaited Bill to legislate the objective of super. Treasury released several significant consultations, including the Government’s Sustainable Finance Strategy which incorporates the introduction of mandatory climate-related financial disclosures and supporting taxonomy. Superannuation in Retirement and Delivering Better Financial Outcomes was also released. ASIC was also busy with its enforcement activities, announcing 2024 enforcement priorities, issuing several infringement notices and receiving a successful judgement in several Federal Court cases.

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There were several significant developments in October, with the Government released a much-anticipated consultation proposing to require employers to pay SG contributions at the same time as their employee’s wages. Additionally, the Australian Accounting Standards Board released an Exposure Draft outlining the proposed data collections for climate-related financial disclosures. This will be particularly significant for superannuation trustees as both disclosing entities and consumers of such reporting. Finally, ASIC introduced some minor exemptions for the reportable situations regime, whilst also releasing the second edition of key insights into the regime.

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Commonwealth Parliament will sit for one week in October from 16 - 19 October. Additionally, the Crimes Amendment (Corrupt Benefits for Trustees) Bill 2023 (NSW) passed NSW Parliament and received Royal Assent on 20 September 2023. This Bill introduced an element of corruption to the offence of corrupt benefits for trustees and provides more certainty when appointing a new trustee as part of a merger of successor fund transfer.

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The Financial Accountability Regime legislation has finally passed both Houses of Parliament, but there are still several superannuation related bills before the Senate. APRA also released the final CPS 511 Remuneration Prudential Standard.

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APRA finalised the long-awaited Operational Risk Management Prudential Standard (CPS 230) and released draft guidance (SPG 230), and also finalised SPG 530 Investment Governance guidance. Jointly, ASIC and APRA released findings into a review of trustee implementation of the Retirement Income Covenant and separately released draft Regulator Rules for the Financial Accountability Regime.

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After several months of little activity, we finally saw several pieces of superannuation-related legislation progressing through Parliament, including with the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort and financial reporting and auditing requirements for superannuation trustees. Additionally, the much-anticipated response to the Quality of Advice Review was released by the Government, citing acceptance of many of the recommendations made within the Report.

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The Commonwealth budget came and went without any unexpected surprises for trustees of superannuation funds. There were, however, several important policy consultations initiated by Treasury. Two of these seek to legislate changes which would remedy “unintended consequences” of decisions in the Federal Court.

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Parliament has been quiet in the lead up to the May Commonwealth Budget, but it was still a busy month of policy and regulatory change. Significantly, the Government announced their intention to require employer superannuation contributions to be made at the same time as the wages they relate to are paid.

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It was a busy month for Commonwealth Parliament with three full sitting weeks for both houses. A bill was introduced to legislate superannuation contributions as a workplace entitlement, whilst Treasury released a consultation on the proposal to increase the tax payable on superannuation balances above $3m.

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