2 December 2019

Consumer advocacy body for superannuation expression of interest

The Morrison Government is continuing to put the interests of superannuation consumers first by today taking the first step towards establishing a consumer advocacy body for superannuation.

An expression of interest (EOI) process has opened to give interested parties the opportunity to contribute to the development of this new body.

This fulfils the Morrison Government’s commitment in the 2019–20 Budget to identify options to support the establishment of the advocacy body.

The establishment of the advocacy body was a key recommendation of the Productivity Commission’s report Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness, which found that superannuation discourse is dominated by the interests of funds and trustees rather than members. It is also consistent with commentary in the final report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry on the benefits of funding consumer advocacy services.

With 15 million members and over $2.9 trillion worth of superannuation savings, it is vital that the superannuation system works in the interests of all Australians. The body will fill a critical void in superannuation policy debates by becoming the voice of consumers.

Interested parties are invited to respond to the EOI to provide feedback on how the body should be established and funded, its functions, and its governance and accountability arrangements. This will help inform the final decision of Government on these issues.

The EOI will be open for a period of six weeks until 13 January 2020. Further guidance on responding is available on the Treasury website.