APRA failing workers

Australian Unions are calling out APRA for failing to sufficiently monitor for-profit super funds, impacting the retirement savings of all working Australians.

APRA has instead directed its resources toward the high performing profit-to-member, industry super, fund sector, while failing to monitor the growing systemic risk of predatory behaviour among for-profit super trustees.

APRA and ASIC have overseen the collapse of First Guardian and Shield amid ongoing complaints that they misused investor money. The two platforms managed over $1 billion in the retirement savings of 12,000 investors.

APRA and ASIC’s failures mean all working Australians’ retirement funds will take a financial hit because high-performing, profit-to-member, industry super funds have been compelled to contribute mandatory levies to help bail out the failures of the for-profit sector.

APRA has a responsibility to provide oversight of platform trustees, an oversight it failed to adequately perform. APRA focused its regulatory resources on high performing, industry super, funds instead of the rapidly expanding, and highly visible, systemic risks in the predatory for-profit super sector.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus:  

“It appears to outside observers that APRA responded more to partisan press releases from Liberal politicians who have ideological and partisan reasons for attacking profit-to-member industry funds rather than focusing on what actually matters which is protecting Australian workers’ retirement savings.

“Nothing is likely to excite APRA’s attention more than an industry fund having a stall at a union conference, when they should be all over the scams that have robbed Australians workers of their retirement savings.

“Working people demand more from APRA than the political gamesmanship waged against high-performing industry super funds while ignoring the real threat to workers’ retirement savings from the under-regulated, for-profit, super funds and their dodgy platform products.

“Australians deserve a retirement income regulatory authority which does a proper job of monitoring and preventing predatory providers from destroying workers’ retirement savings.”