The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal provides a fair, informal and quick alternative to the court system for the resolution of certain superannuation complaints.
The Tribunal's funding will be increased by a total of $6.3 million over the next four years to enable the Tribunal to meet increased demand for its services. The Tribunal has experienced a steady increase in the number of complaints received, which is not unexpected given the growing importance of superannuation and mature marketplace presence of the Tribunal.
In determining the amount of funding required, the Tribunal has been able to partially offset the impact of greater numbers of complaints by more effective use of conciliation. The cost of resolving a complaint depends to a large extent on whether it can be resolved at the conciliation stage, in which case a formal review is not required.
The Tribunal's Annual Report shows that it conciliated 222 complaints in 2001-02, compared with 200 in 2000-01 (an increase of 11 per cent), while the number of review meetings fell to 294 in 2001-02 from 325 in 2000-01 (a decrease of 10 per cent).
The Tribunal is funded from financial sector levies collected under the Financial Institutions Supervisory Levies Collection Act 1998. I will announce the financial sector levies for 2003-04 prior to the end of the current financial year.
Contact: Bob Lawrence
Office of the Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer
(02) 6277 7360