On 9/2/24, we provided our submission into the Superannuation (Objective) Bill 2023. This Bill was referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry with a report due by 28 March 2024. In our submission to this inquiry, we outlined our concerns with legislating the objective of superannuation and also recommended a number of changes be made, including revisiting the sole purpose test, creating an objective for the whole retirement income system, and undertaking a holistic review of superannuation system.
Our association has also collaborated with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) on a joint submission on the objective of superannuation, which can be read alongside our own submission.
Our submission on objective of super – Second reading speech
On 18 March 2024, the second reading speech of the Superannuation (Objective) Bill 2023 acknowledged our joint submission with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) on the objective of superannuation. It was recommended the government take this bill back to the drawing board and adopt the recommendations put forward by CA ANZ, IPA and IFPA. That is, that the government should create an objective for the entire retirement system – this would include housing, the age pension, superannuation and savings outside superannuation – rather than focus solely on superannuation.
You can read the second reading speech here.